by Sister Carlotta Ullmer
Today's Gospel story of the three servants and their talents has a tragic ending. Instead of utilizing his one talent, the unfortunate servant buried it. For this he was sentenced to darkness and wailing. He claimed, "Fear made me do it."
Fear? How aware was he of the value of his talent? Its
potential to do good?
How aware are we of the valuable potential we have? In
Baptism we have put on Christ as God anoints us: priests,
those empowered to discover the holy deep down in all; prophets,
those whose relationship with God brings His message to all; kings,
those who have sovereignty in their sacred boundaries.
Let us also consider family prestige. We have God as our Father
and Jesus as our Brother.
How does our Eternal Master expect us to use our talents?
God made everyone and everything precious and valuable.
Through His Church He has expressed His love in the Catholic Social
Teaching which extols the dignity of every human person:
Our talents call out, "Do not bury us!"
Thank you, Sr. Carlotta,
for your words and the witness of your life. Your message echoes what we heard from speaker Matthew Kelly at the Diocesan Leadership Convocation - be bold Catholics in our world today!
Sister Carlotta, your reflection reminded me of the words from Matthew's gospel (13:12) Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
If we use our talents for the good of others, more will be given us. If we fail to use them for the good of others, the few talents we have will be taken away.
May God be praise who gives us the gifts we need for the service of others!