Faithfulness From Each!

Saturday, August 30, 2025

1 Thess 4:9-11; Mt 25:14-30

Today’s Gospel invites us to grow in our faithfulness through the parable of the talents. 

The Gospel begins with the master distributing talents (a talent was roughly the wages of twenty years for a laborer!) to each of his three servants ‘according to his ability.’ Thus, one received five, another two, and the third servant, one. 

Though the number of talents is important, what is more significant is the expectation of faithfulness. Hence, at first glance, the parable looks like a lesson in commerce or productivity. However, there is something more to it. The master did not expect his servants to multiply the talents per se, but the multiplication of the talents was counted as a sign of their faithfulness. This is how we are called to read the text.

Another detail that we cannot overlook is that the master’s praise for the one with five talents and the other with two talents remains exactly the same, though their results were different – five versus two. How does the master hold both five and two equal? Because, for the master, what matters more is not the amount produced but the faithfulness shown. The master who represents God shows that it is faithfulness, not merely fruitfulness, that is rewarded. 

While the master recognizes the faithfulness of the first two servants, he is shocked by the third servant’s unfaithfulness, as he not only returns what was given by the master but also does it with an excuse. Moreover, to cover up his failure to act, he does not hesitate to portray the master in a bad light. The fact that the last servant did not try to do anything with the talent he received from his master makes him wicked and lazy, and that is regarded as the sin of unfaithfulness. 

The parable of the talents, which we also read as the parable of faithfulness, offers a direct challenge to our complacence and lukewarmness. 

Let us pray for the gift of faithful stewardship. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar