A key aspect of today's gospel reading is that the slaves in question are all given money to invest: "to each according to his ability." (Mtt 24: 15) We can think of ourselves as having been given spiritual gifts according to our own ability according to God's good pleasure: "The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ..." (Eph 4: 11-12) When I consider my participation in the life of the parish what gifts have I been given and what have I done with them? Or, I am afraid of failure or do I think that others have greater gifts so I am not going to try anything? In the parable the king is shown to have been a harsh, demanding individual yet we know that the reality of God is that He is the best of fathers and loves us more than we can know. He wants my happiness even more than I do! Isn't this an even stronger argument for each one of us to use the gifts that we have been given in the mission that Christ has for the Church as well as encouraging us to help others who are yet to deploy the gifts with words of faith, hope and love? The amazing thing about responding to God's call is that we discover so much joy and this always far outweighs whatever contribution that we have made in the first place. Our greatest joy is found in meeting the needs of others. St Paul writes to the Philippians: If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." (Phil 2: 1-5)
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