This parable is too familiar to us. It was from this parable that the word talent received its most common meaning as ability to do something. In the Bible talent is money. It was the largest single unit of currency throughout the Roman Empire. The master in the parable is extremely wealthy. Even a single talent was several year’s wage. The master would have given them only a fraction of his wealth. He gives five talents to the first servant, two talents to the second, and one talent to the third. Two of the servants earn 100 percent returns by trading with the funds, but the third servant hides the money in the ground and earns nothing. The rich man returns, rewards the two who made money, but severely punishes the servant who did nothing. The reason he was so cautious, according to himself, was because he perceived his master to be an overly demanding man, and, so, out of fear, he did nothing. In reality, however, his master was an extremely generous man, who entrusted vast amounts of money into the hands of his servants.
God has entrusted us with a very special treasure or talent which is the Gospel of Jesus. He has given us his Son from whose fullness we have all received. God expects us to bear fruits of the Gospel according to our capacity. Each of us is gifted in different ways; one person received five talents, another three and another one. St. Paul would tell us in 1 Corinthians that the Spirit chooses to give his gifts. What we are given is not important, but how we use what we are given is important. God has given us the gift of his Son, the gift of the gospel, not to lock it away somewhere safe but to take the risk of living the gospel to the full. We are often afraid to hold on to the values of the Gospel, to give witness to the truth and to uphold the teachings of the Church. We behave like this third servant whenever we consciously try to please others rather than pleasing God. Let us pray to God that we may work hard and take risks for the sake of spreading the Gospel of Christ which has been entrusted to us.
✍️CB