Parable of the Talents (Mt. 25:14-30)

It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one—to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately 16 the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. 17 Likewise, the one who received two made another two. 18 But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money. 19 After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ 22 [Then] the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ 24 Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; 25 so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ 26 His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? 28 Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

This parable is sometimes used to justify the pursuit of money.  However, the parable is about making the best use of the gifts God gives us to lead others to His kingdom in the present time before Jesus returns to Judge the world.  

It was not uncommon for masters to entrust certain slaves with great responsibility and this master gave to each of three slaves in accordance with their ability.  At the end of their earthly life, the first and second slaves won converts for the kingdom and were rewarded with even greater responsibility. The reward extended to the kingdom of God where they were invited to “Come, share your master’s joy (v. 21-22).  The third slave, out of fear, did little to win converts for the kingdom (vv. 24-25) so his master took everything he had from him and gave it to the slave who earned the most converts for the kingdom (vv. 29-29).  That slave was not welcomed into the Kingdom to share his master’s joy (v. 30).

God has given gifts to each one of us to use in building His kingdom here on earth in accordance with our ability and expects us to work diligently to further His kingdom.  God will be very generous to us if we do so.  Given that salvation of souls is the goal, God is both demanding and generous.  He demands more than simply avoiding wrongdoing or living a good life according to our standards.  We have the capacity and ability to do more by discerning what God wants us to do based on our talents and act in accordance with God’s will.

Almighty God, in your mercy forgive us for all the times we resisted your prompting to use our time, talent, and treasure to lead others to you.  In your goodness, allow us to regain the graces we have lost through fear, disobedience, and hardness of heart.  This we humbly ask, with contrite hearts, through Christ our Lord. Amen!

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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.