Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary
 
On Saturdays in Ordinary Time when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary is allowed. [1] Mass texts may be taken from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from a Votive Mass, or from the special collection of Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary. (USCCB recommends: #28. The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.)

“The Parable of the Talents”
by Willem de Poorter, c. 1630’s

 
Readings for Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time [2]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
 
Readings and Commentary: [4]
 
Reading 1: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-11
 
Brothers and sisters:
On the subject of fraternal charity
you have no need for anyone to write you,
for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.
Indeed, you do this for all the brothers throughout Macedonia.
Nevertheless we urge you, brothers and sisters, to progress even more,
and to aspire to live a tranquil life,
to mind your own affairs,
and to work with your own hands,
as we instructed you.
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Commentary on 1 Thes 4:9-11
 
St. Paul is apparently satisfied with the level of charity shown among the members of the faith community at Thessalonica. He does relate charity to an expression of love for one another and encourages all to work for the wellbeing of the community, regardless of their station. There was a tendency among some to take advantage of Christian charity and live off the generosity of others. The apostle calls them back and tells them they must “work with your own hands” (see also 1 Thessalonians 5:12-14; 2 Thessalonians 3:10).
 
CCC: 1 Thes 4:11 2427
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 98:1, 7-8, 9
 
R. (9) The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.
 
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.
 
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands,
the mountains shout with them for joy.
R. The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.
 
Before the LORD, for he comes,
for he comes to rule the earth;
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.
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Commentary on Ps 98:1, 7-8, 9
 
Psalm 98 is a song of thanksgiving. This selection gives thanks for God’s creation and reminds the community that all things are subject to the Lord, and all the world rejoices under his rule. In the incarnation context, we see God’s victory accomplished through Jesus, who is the Christ, God’s right arm. As a consequence of that victory, all of God’s creation rejoices with us.
 
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Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30
 
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“A man going on a journey
called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.
To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one–
to each according to his ability.
Then he went away.
Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them,
and made another five.
Likewise, the one who received two made another two.
But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground
and buried his master’s money.
After a long time
the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them.
The one who had received five talents
came forward bringing the additional five.
He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents.
See, I have made five more.’
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.’
Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said,
‘Master, you gave me two talents.
See, I have made two more.’
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.’
Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said,
‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
harvesting where you did not plant
and gathering where you did not scatter;
so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.
Here it is back.’
His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!
So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant
and gather where I did not scatter?
Should you not then have put my money in the bank
so that I could have got it back with interest on my return?
Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.
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.
And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’”
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Commentary on Mt 25:14-30
 
The Parable of the Talents comes to us as part of Jesus’ dialogue about being prepared and vigilant. It combines two different but connected logions or morals/teaching points. The first is to use the gifts God has given for the benefit of God, who is represented by the master in the parable. The second is vigilance. This parable, directed at the disciples, exhorts Jesus' servants to use the gifts God has given them to the fullest, for the benefit of others (as well as God). It is an exclamation point to Jesus' earlier statement: “those to whom much is given, even more will be expected” (see also Luke 12:48).
 
CCC: Mt 25:14-30 546, 1936; Mt 25:21 1029, 1720, 2683; Mt 25:23 1029, 1720
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Reflection:
 
The Lord’s message strikes to the heart of our attitudes toward serving others.  Just when we think that we are doing so well, we are reminded that God will look at us in the end not against an arbitrary standard but against our own personalized yardstick. 
 
What that means, of course, is that we do not have the luxury of evaluating our own response to God’s call.  We don’t get to relax, thinking how well we are doing because look at Bob next door: he has hardly done any of the good works I am doing.  No, when we stand before the judgment seat of the Lord he will take out all of the gifts he has given us and stack them up and measure us like the servants given talents, based on what we were given.
 
For those of us to whom the pursuit of spiritual growth is important, this has a special meaning and implication.  It means that when we attain what we thought were our spiritual goals, we must re-examine our place on that path to Christ and see once more how much further we have to go.  We must understand that there will never be a point in our lives that we can stand back and say; “Ah, I’ve finally made it.  I am at last where God wants me to be.”
 
It is instructive for us to consider our own approach to the gifts we are given. “When the "useless servant" is in conclusion cast out into ‘τό σϰoτο τό έξώτεςεου’, the realm of "outer darkness" (v. 30) that is by nature antithetical to the joy of his master, he is given only what he has desired and worked for so insistently all along: a hole in which to hide. It is salutary for us to consider the possibility of this happening to us, too, of our doing the same thing to ourselves.” [5]
 
No, our faith journey is like climbing a mountain, we may not be able to see the summit from where we are, but the path is always before us.  And when we look back and see where we’ve been, we cannot say to ourselves: “What wonderful progress I’ve made.  See all those others still struggling to make it over that last obstacle.”  No, just when we think of looking back we must measure again the distance we have to go to reach as closely as we can to the Lord. 
 
When we think of looking back, we have a little tool to use, don’t we?  We can just compare our lives to those of the saints whose memorials we celebrate regularly and whose intercessions we crave constantly.  Today as we are reminded once more of how much the Lord expects of his servants, we ask those saints who have gone before us to intercede with the Savior with whom they wait in constant exultation.  We pray that the Lord will continue to support us with his Holy Spirit; that we might be found worthy of the gifts he has given us.
 
Pax

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[1] General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Miscellaneous Notes no. 5: “Outside Advent, Christmas Time, Lent, and Easter Time, on Saturdays which have no commemoration having the rank of Obligatory Memorial or higher, a Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be celebrated. This is indicated in the calendar by ‘BVM.’ The readings and prayers may be selected from the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
[2] The picture today is “The Parable of the Talents” by Willem de Poorter, c. 1630’s.
[3] S.S Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[5] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume IV, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 2021 p. 824.