The Age of the Woman
Gospel Commentary for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap

ROME, NOV. 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- This Sunday's Gospel is the parable of the talents. Unfortunately, in the past the meaning of this parable has been habitually distorted, or at least very much reduced.

Hearing talk of talents we immediately think of natural gifts of intelligence, beauty, strength, artistic abilities. The metaphor is used to speak about actors, singers, comedians, etc. The usage is not completely mistaken, but it is secondary. Jesus did not intend to speak of the obligation of developing one's natural gifts, but of developing the gifts given by him. On the contrary, sometimes it is necessary to curb this tendency to focus on one's own talents because this can easily become careerism, a mania of imposing oneself on others.

The talents that Jesus is speaking about are the Word of God and faith: in a word, the kingdom proclaimed by him. In this sense the parable of the talents stands alongside that of the sower. The different outcomes of the talents given correspond to the different fates of the seeds cast on the ground by the sower -- some produce 60%, some are buried beneath thorns or eaten by birds.

Today faith and the sacraments are the talents that we Christians have received. The parable thus obliges us to examine our conscience: What use are we making of these talents? Are we either like the servant who made them bear fruit or like the one who buried them? I would compare it to a Christmas present that one has forgotten and left unopened in a corner.

The fruits of natural talents become irrelevant to us when we die or, at best, pass on to those who come after us; the fruits of spiritual talents follow us into eternal life and one day will gain us the approval of the divine Judge: "Well done, good and faithful servant. Since you have been faithful in small things I will give you authority over greater things. Enter into the joy of your master."

Our human and Christian duty is not only to develop our own natural and spiritual talents, but also to help others develop theirs. In the contemporary world there are people whose job it is to be "talent scouts." They are people who can pick out hidden talents -- in painting, singing, acting, sports and so on. They help those with the talents to cultivate them and find them sponsors. They do not do this for free or for the love of art, but to get a percentage of the earnings of the talented people they discovered, once they succeed.

The Gospel invites us all to be talent scouts, not for the love of gain but to help those who are unable to begin developing their talents on their own. Humanity owes some of its geniuses and best artists to the altruism of the friends of these people, who believed in them and encouraged them when no one else did. One exemplary case that comes to mind is Theo Van Gogh, who supported his brother Vincent financially and morally his whole life, when no one believed in him and he was unable to sell any of his paintings. They exchanged more than 600 letters, documents of great humanity and spirituality. Without Theo Van Gogh, we would not have the many paintings of his brother that everyone loves and admires.

The first reading invites us to reflect on a particular talent that is both natural and spiritual: the talent of femininity, the talent of being a woman. This reading contains the famous praise of women that begins with the words: "A perfect woman, who can find her?" This praise, which is so beautiful, has one defect, which does not come from the inspiration but from the epoch in which it was written and the culture that it reflects. If we pay attention, we see that the praise has entirely to do with what the woman does for the man. Its implicit conclusion: Blessed is the man who has such a woman. She makes him nice clothes, brings honor to his house, allows him to hold his head high among his friends. I do not think women today would be enthusiastic about this laud.

Putting this limitation aside, I would like to underscore the relevance of this praise of women. Everywhere there is the demand to make more room for women, to value the feminine genius. We do not believe that "the eternal feminine will save us." Daily experience shows that women can lift themselves up, but also that they can let themselves down. They also need Christ's salvation. But it is certain that, once she is redeemed and "liberated" by him, on the human level, from ancient subjections, she can help to save our society from some inveterate evils that threaten it: violence, will to power, spiritual aridity, scorn for life, etc.

After so many ages that took their name from man -- from the ages of "homo erectus" and "homo faber," to the age of "homo sapiens" today, we might hope that there will finally come, for humanity, the age of woman: the age of the heart, of tenderness, of compassion. It was devotion to the Virgin that, in past centuries, inspired respect for women and their idealization in literature and art. The woman of today, too, can look to her as a model, friend and ally in defending the dignity and the talent of being a woman.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

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Father Raniero Cantalamessa is the Pontifical Household preacher. The readings for this Sunday are Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31;1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30.

http://www.h2onews.org/_page_videoview.php...292&lang=en

Introduction: The main theme of the three readings is an invitation to live in such a way that we make the best use of the talents God has given us, so that at the hour of our death Our Lord will say: “Well done, my good and faithful servant, come and share the joy of your master.” The readings challenge us to ask the questions: Are we using our talents and gifts primarily to serve God? Are we doing everything we can to carry out God’s will? Where do we need to change and grow so that we can fulfill our primary life mission to be a "good and faithful servant" of God?

Exegesis: The context: The parable is set in the last of Jesus’ five great discourses The three parables in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew (The Wise and Foolish Virgins, The Talents, The Last Judgment) are about the end times, the end of the world, and the end (intent, purpose, and upshot) of our lives. Matthew's version offers advice to his community as to how to behave in the period following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension while they await his imminent second coming.

The four lessons taught by Jesus through the parable.

1) God gives each person different gifts for their proper use. We are only asked to make full use of what we have been uniquely given and to use our talents for the benefit of the community as a whole. (2) The better your work the more your responsibility. God gives more responsibilities to those who make the best use of their God given talents. (3) Punishment for the lazy and the unproductive. Even the person with only one talent has something to offer to others. If he fails to do some positive good work he will lose what he has. If he had tried and failed, he would have met compassion and forgiveness. (4) God blesses generous sharers and punishes the selfish hoarders. Those who share generously the gifts they have been given are likely to find themselves constantly and immeasurably enriched, while those who jealously and selfishly preserve, out of fear, what they have been given, will lose it. In short, the parable outlines the strategy of abundant, grace-filled stewardship of God's resources.

The challenge given by the parable: Take risk for Christ. God, who risked everything in the person of Jesus Christ for the sake of our salvation, expects more than mere safety from us. Hence Jesus is encouraging His followers not to be afraid to take chances in using their talents for the glory of God and for the salvation of neighbors. Many of us identify ourselves with the servant who quickly buried the talent he received from his master. We concentrate only on the possibility of loss and become afraid of taking chances in our spiritual life. The parable teaches us that a “take no chances” policy is not Christian. That is why Jesus reminds us at the end of the parable that to the person who has his faith, much more will be given, while from the one who doesn't share his risk-taking faith what little he or she does have will be taken away. The risks God would have us take are for the sake of others. Other people should be the focus of our risk-taking. Relationships are the riskiest business around the truly profound risk that God wants us all to take

The object lesson: Our lame excuses invite punishment: The third servant decides to avoid risk-taking His excuse is that, after all, explicit orders were not given him how to do the business. Besides, any type of business is risky and the master may hold him accountable for any loss. He probably knew the long-standing rabbinic teaching that anyone who buries money that has been put into his care is no longer liable for its safety. His "fear" however masks laziness and inexcusable timidity, earning him his master's rejection and condemnation.

Through this description of a lazy servant Jesus teaches that that there is no "safe" position in life. Christian living is strenuous business involving occasional risk-taking. God expects us to use our every talent for personal growth, community service and religious witness. Hence this parable reminds us of the punishments which lie in store for those who do not produce new spiritual wealth from the talents God has placed in their stewardship. The parable of the talents is similar to last Sunday's parable of the ten maidens and to next Sunday's parable about the sheep and the goats. In all three, Christ's return brings judgment: the bridegroom admits the wise maidens but shuts out the foolish; the master joyfully praises the two industrious servants but banishes the lazy one; the king separates the sheep that care for the "least ones" from the goats, who do not.

Messages: 1) Trust God enough to make use of the gifts and abilities we have been given. Some of us are clearly very gifted with valuable abilities, but there is no one, absolutely no one, who can say he has been gifted with nothing. We may be especially talented in teaching children or cooking meals or repairing homes or programming computers. So we should ask ourselves how we are using our particular gifts in the service of our Christian community and the wider society. Why not follow the example of people who use their God given talents the best way possible Most workers will never achieve national recognition like the authors of best-selling books or sports heroes, music idols or film stars, but they’ll make a lasting impact on the world around them by their willingness to invest the talents they’ve been given.

2) Make use of your talents in your parish. God calls us to live in a world of abundance by taking risks and being generous. The best place to do this is our parish. This means that we should be always willing to share our abilities in creative worship in the church and innovative educational events in the Sunday school. We can fulfill needs right in our parish: feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and welcoming strangers in our midst. God doesn’t want us to live in a world of scarcity; instead, he wants us to invest our time and talents in ways that multiply our effectiveness as ambassadors of Christ in the parish. Make the bold assumption that there’s going to be a demand for every one of our talents in our parish community. We should step out, with confidence, believing that every God-given gift we have is going to be exceedingly useful and fruitful!

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