Daily Gospel Reflection for September 2, 2023

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Money. Spiritual gifts. Possessions. Special skills. It seems as though today’s Gospel has been analyzed and picked apart more than other parables because there is so much to unpack. Today, though, let us look not so much at what the talents are, in a physical or a metaphorical sense, but what the actions of the servants tell us about the expectations God has for us.

We see that the third servant buried his allotment in the ground, thus protecting it from harm, while the first two servants “went and traded with [the talents].”

I can see myself in that third servant: I am often timid, and the idea of taking someone else’s possessions to the marketplace to attempt to increase them feels reckless and irresponsible. I can imagine myself proudly unburying the talent and presenting it to my master to show just how trustworthy I am—and I can imagine expecting the other two servants to be reprimanded for being greedy and arrogant.

But that is not how this story goes.

The third servant is reprimanded for his wickedness and laziness while the other two servants, who each doubled their own allotments with their boldness and ingenuity, are praised for their faithfulness and careful attention to the master’s possessions. Not only are the first and second servants praised and rewarded, the third is thrown “into the darkness outside where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

God is interested in our action. The first two servants understood what was important to the master—harvesting where he did not plant and gathering where he did not scatter—and fearlessly engaged in active, diligent service on his behalf. The third servant, however, acted out of fear, and his inactivity was a serious offense against the trust of the master.

Ponder:

When do I use fear as a way to shirk responsibilities that God has given me?

Pray:

God, You are forgiving and loving. Help me to see Your will and to do the work You ask of me.

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The first two servants understood what was important to the master and fearlessly engaged in active, diligent service on his behalf. #DailyGospel

Daily Gospel 2