Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 25, 14-30
'It is like a man about to go abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them.
To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one, each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out on his journey.
The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more.
The man who had received two made two more in the same way.
But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
Now a long time afterwards, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them.
The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. "Sir," he said, "you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made."
His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness."
Next the man with the two talents came forward. "Sir," he said, "you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made."
His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness."
Last came forward the man who had the single talent. "Sir," said he, "I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you had not sown and gathering where you had not scattered;
so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back."
But his master answered him, "You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered?
Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have got my money back with interest.
So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the ten talents.
For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has.
As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth."
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This parable concludes the reading of Matthew. Obviously the commitment to be vigilant, that the Lord asks us, does not end. Today the Gospel speaks of a man who summons three slaves and entrusts his property to them. His faith in them is absolute, so much so that he entrusts a large sum of talents to each of them. A talent was an enormous sum; it was equal to about 100 pounds of gold. To the first he entrusts five talents; to the second, two; and to the third, one. Between the time of the owner’s departure and return, the three slaves must bear fruit with what has been given to them. The first doubles his amount. The second does the same. The third though, digs a hole in the earth and hides his talent. When the owner returns, the first and second slaves receive praise and compensation. The third gives back the talent he had received. That talent, those talents are life, our concrete lives, our everyday lives, which unfold in our encounters with brothers and sisters and the world. Life, relationships, our days and our commitment are the responsibilities given to each of us so that from them we can bear fruit. We are all given according to our abilities. This means that everyone is not given an equal amount. To whom much has been given (and the ways to receive are so many, including the gift of faith) much more will be asked. But the words of the Gospel tell us also that no one is incapable of bearing fruit in life, even if one has just one talent. In waiting for the return of the Lord, let us commit ourselves to live with love and we will receive just recompense. Even in this case, fear causes the slave to lose the talent. How many times have we lost everything because of the fear of making a mistake; believing we are fine just because we give back the gift as we have received it? This is not enough. Fear does not make us trust in the mercy of God who is so much greater even than our mistakes. The talent is a gift, extraordinary and underserved, from God who entrusts us with so muchto each according to his or her abilities and to everyone, something. Not to invest it means to lose it. Again: those who want to save their own life will lose it. “If it is the fear of making mistakes that hinders us, we need to think that we can get up and keep on going. Those who do not walk because they do not want to make a mistake make the greatest mistake,” said Pope Francis.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
