Saturday of 21st Week in Ordinary Time
MONICA
A convinced Christian, Monica (332-387) was married to a short-tempered, philandering husband. She succeeded in converting both him and her mother in law. Her son, Augustine, belonged to the Manichean sect and his moral conduct caused her much anxiety and shame. Yet Monica could finally win him to the faith by her prayers and penance – and what a man and Christian Augustine became! His mother’s tears had brought him to life in Christ (hence the Gospel). Thus, she was twice his mother. Her life was that of a lot of women – trials in marriage, worries about difficult children. But she knew that faith in Christ makes everything possible.
First Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”
Gospel – Matthew 25:14-30
“It’s also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master’s investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master’s money. “After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’ “The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master’s investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’ “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’ “The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. “‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’
Prayer
Almighty eternal God,
to give a human life to their children
is the great task you entrust to mothers.
We thank you today for St. Monica,
who prayed to you for her son, Augustine,
that he might find Jesus.
Grant to all parents
that they may help their children live and grow
in the life and the future
of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Reflection:
27 August 2022
Matthew 25: 14-30
Do not be afraid to take risks.
Pope Francis compares this parable with the life of every individual. He says this parable has a beginning, a middle and an end, which sheds light on the beginning, the middle and the end of our lives.
Everything begins with great good. The master does not keep his wealth to himself but gives it to his servants; five talents to one, two to another, one to a third, “to each according to his ability” (Mt 25:15). It has been calculated that a single talent was equivalent to the income of some twenty years’ work: it was of enormous value and would be sufficient for a lifetime. This is the beginning. The beginning of everything for us, too, is not with our efforts but always begins with God’s grace, who entrusts different talents to each of us. The life we have received, the good qualities we possess, the indelible beauty God has given us by shaping us in his image… This is the huge amount of talent that God has left with us. It is sufficient for our lifetime.
However, often, we look only at the things we lack and complain about what we do not have. We are seldom content or satisfied with what we have. We are so obsessed with the phrase, “If only…”! If only I had that job… if only I had that home… if only I didn’t have this or that problem… Those illusory words – if only! – prevent us from seeing the good all around us.
In the Gospel, good servants are those who take risks. They are neither fearful nor over-cautious; they do not cling to what they possess. If goodness is not invested, it is lost. How many people spend their lives accumulating possessions, concerned only about the good life and not the good they can do?
Jesus addressed those servants who took the risk, calling them “faithful” (vv. 21, 23). If you do not take risks, you will end up like the third servant: burying your abilities, your spiritual and material riches and everything”. There is no faithfulness without risk. Fidelity to God means handing over our life, letting our carefully laid plans be disrupted by our need to serve. “But I have my plans, and if I have to serve…”. Let your plans be upset; go and serve.
In God’s Kingdom, there is no room for lazy and scared people. The third servant had said that “he was afraid”. Fear is a game of the devil, showing our lack of faith and trust in God. One who trusts God will not be afraid of anything. He or she will cherish the freedom of being a child of God and dare to take risks.