A: 33rd Sun of OrdTime (19 Nov 2017) - GAINING OTHERS FOR THE KINGDOM - Mt 25:14-21

“…and made five more talents… made two more talents.” (Mt 25:16-17).

Our gospel today sounds like a business entrepreneurship where we hear common banking terminologies like “property”, “money”, “entrusting”, “bankers”, “capitals”, “interest”, etc. Even the word “talent”, contrary to most interpretations that it really signifies human skill or craftsmanship, is a monetary denomination valuing to around 3,000 shekels (cf. Ex 38:25)—note that Abraham bought Sarah’s burial lot for 400 shekels (Gen 23:15), thus, one talent is like buying 7 portions of land; how much more are 5 talents!

The enormous amount given to the servants denotes that they are not simple tenants to a farmland but more like governors of a big city. They are tasked to double the capital at the return of the master. And when they do, they would be praised and entrusted further with an even more sizable sum. In our globalized world today, there is nothing novel to this. We are already accustomed to hearing that the barometer for a country’s development is its national income.

Philippines is not different from the rest. We continue to boast that we are one of the fast-growing economies in the world: 6.9% GDP growth in the 3rd quarter of 2017. However, this is the pitfall of most Philippine administrations for the past decades: they focus exclusively on economic growth to the point that the moral side has been sidelined. The better barometer is: Are we as a nation still keeping our moral standards high? Yet, the contrary is seen in the day-to-day news which narrate a cacophonous chorus of violence—this time spreading to the smallest fabrics of Philippine society as we see in fights among juvenile delinquents, killings after failed robberies, slayings performed by riding-in-tandems, or even shootings over mere traffic disputes.

It is true that our gospel today uses financial terminologies, but it should not be taken too literally. Rather, it will be best to inquire why Jesus uses such parable: what is he really driving at?

The phrase “made more talents” (used 4x) is truly a reference to making more material gain. The Greek verb used is “kerdaino” which means “to acquire by effort or investment”. However, in the New Testament it is employed as a missionary term to signify “gaining someone for the Reign of God” as in Mt 18:15 (“gaining a separated member of the Church”), 1 Cor 9:19–22 (“gaining a Jew for Christ”), and 1 Pt 3:1 (“gaining an erring husband”). By investing our so-called “talents” we need then to use all our efforts for the continual gain and development of the Reign of God on earth, not burying and hiding them with the intent of keeping salvation only for our individual selves. This entails gaining more persons for God, people who will respect the divine law and order of things and promote His values on earth.

The GDP indeed should continue to grow… yet not solely as the Gross Domestic Product but more as the authentic GDP, i.e., God’s Divine Plan, which should be above anything else in this world. For at the day of reckoning, all of us will be judged according to how we “gained others for the Kingdom of God.”

- Rex Fortes, CM