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.”
In the parable of the talents, the master calls the servant who buries his talent wicked and lazy. To the servant who received two talents and made two more, the master says, “Well done.” To the servant whom the master gave five talents, on hearing that he made five more, the master says the exact same words: “Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities.” It’s not the amount of talent that the servants give back that matters; it’s the making good of the talents they received that counts. As a result, the first two servants share in the master’s joy.
Lord, help me recognize that everything you give me is a gift. Help me see and use your gifts to the best of my ability so I can share in your joy. Saint Monica, today’s saint, saw the talents in her son Saint Augustine and was relentless in prayer until she saw him use them fully, returning to you through his conversion. In this parable, Jesus, you say, “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.” Through your grace, Lord, keep me from growing spiritually destitute. Help me grow rich in inviting you into my daily life and in knowing and doing your will.
Stay with me today, God, in the people yo
u place in front of me. It is easy now to put myself in your presence, but no mean feat as the day wears on. The Psalmist says, “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield, For in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust.” Be my help and my shield, and show me how to use my talents to give glory to your holy name.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.