Daily Gospel Reflection for November 21, 2018

Today's Gospel: Luke 19:11-28 - Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Most of us are familiar with this parable. Demanding nobleman leaves his servants ten gold coins each, that one servant who was afraid of the King hid his coins, and returned them to him without any interest. So naturally, that guy? Well, he is killed. In front of the king. And not just him, but all of the king's enemies. And they all lived happily ever after. The End. Ok, not really. But some do. Now, I am not going to go the old familiar route and preach that we are given talents and we need to use them. I mean, we are and we should. But that’s not what this is about. At least not to me. Because when I pray with these verses, you know what I can not get out of my head? What latches to my heart? “Engage in trade with these while I am gone.” That is their instruction. It is simple. Straight forward. In essence, he asked that they use and grow the free gift they were given. And when he returns as their king, he lets them know that he is going to check in on them and see how well they had followed his command. Why on earth did they not listen? Especially that one scared guy. Why not just do what he says? “We do not want this man to be our king.” That is why. They refused him as their king. And I suppose there are times when I don’t want Jesus to be my King either. Not intentionally, but certainly, if you examined some of my less than holy behaviors, you might think this to be the case. Those times I do not want to share with others what He has given to me, because I am afraid there is not enough to go around. And so I hoard His grace. Or those times I do not want to use what I have freely been given to better His kingdom, because I am lazy and don’t feel like it. And so I store away His grace. Or those times I am in the midst of deep suffering and the last thing I want to do is rely on Him. I do not believe His grace is sufficient. I have hidden my own coins too, you know. Out of fear, I guess you can say I too have wasted what was given. Hidden and wasted, maybe, but yet to lose. And so I have to believe there is still hope for me. These coins...this grace...we all receive. He gives it out freely and to everyone. And like the servants, we too have been warned. Our King will return. And He will want to see what we have done., to know what we have gained. And the amazing truth here is this. Should we accept this grace and pass it on, growing it and building it into something glorious here on earth, the more grace we will be given. It’s just how grace works. And even when afraid, if we hold tight to that grace, we can still collect interest - it is still alive. But we must first accept Him as our King. And then we must engage in the trading. And when we do this, just as promised...we will never run out, we will be given more. His grace is sufficient. It is always enough. And when we do as he commands, we will live happily ever after.

Ponder:

Jesus, my King, help me please to be faithful in small matters, to do as You ask, and to engage in good trade while on this earth, so that upon Your return I too can hear, "Well done, good servant!" Amen.