33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Well done, my good and faithful servant…
In the past few months, we have been presented with fears that the growing development of AI may bring an end to humanity. Caution and correction are being recommended. As we near the end of the Church’s liturgical year, we are also being directed to reflect on how prepared we are for the end times.
The words addressed to the servants in the parable who invested their master’s talents express approval for what they had accomplished. As a result, they are given even more. The third servant, who, out of fear, simply buries his talent for safekeeping, ends up on the outside, stripped of even the little he had. The parable is told from the perspective of a male servant.
In the poem from Proverbs, we are given a description of worthiness from the perspective of a woman—a wife. She does everything well and cares not only for her husband and household but also for the poor and those in need. If we read deeper, we find that we have no job description for a good wife, nor an outline of an investment strategy for businessmen. Instead, we are invited to accept and live the gift of faith the Lord has implanted in our hearts.
The parable of the talents offers insight into possible responses. We can deepen the faith we have been given through prayer, discipline, and patience. Or, through fear of the risk of losing status or comfort or control, we can avoid responding to the Lord’s invitation for a relationship.
If we read the first reading not as a view of a good wife, but a view of a good life, we see the path we are to follow. Saint Paul invites us to stay alert. Wisdom invites us to live into the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Let Us Pray
Lord, we praise and thank you for the gift of our faith and the gift of the Eucharist. May we not only treasure these gifts but share them with others, enabling your Kingdom to come. Amen.
