Reflection: Luke 19:11-28

Luke 19:11-28 – 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

The parable Jesus tells today is about the Kingdom of God. Many of the people following Jesus were hoping that the Kingdom of God would come any day! Jesus knew this and he responds to their misconception by telling them another parable.

This parable is the story of the nobleman who traveled a long distance in order to obtain a “kingship” for himself! After he was crowned king his plan was to return to his home. However, while he was gone, he wanted to insure that his money and his kingdom would continue to prosper. He decided to entrust ten of his most trusted servants with ten gold coins each. His unspoken expectation was that they should use this money for trade while he was away. The nobleman naturally assumed that these servants would profit from their trading and thus his monies would increase. Then he continued his journey.

When the nobleman returned, he called each of the servants in and asked each one for an accounting of his monies. Each servant dutifully reported how they had used his money and what the results were. As we know, the first two servants had increased the amount of the money that had been entrusted to them. The amounts of the increase varied but the master was very pleased with both servants. He rewarded them by giving each of them more responsibility and more authority.

The 3rd servant (who had received one gold coin) came to the nobleman and handed his master one gold coin. This servant was a fearful man. He was afraid the master would be angry if he gambled with his money by investing it and then lost it! This servant decided that it would be best to simply “keep the money safe” rather than taking a risk and perhaps losing it.

When the master asked the 3rd servant for his accounting, the servant was sure the master would be very pleased with him. The servant was shocked when the master became angry with him and berated him! The master took the money away from him and gave it to the servant who had ten gold coins.

Will God be pleased with us when it is time for us to “go home” to God? Have we been good stewards of the many gifts God has given us? Have we used our gifts for the benefit of others?

We all have gifts (talents) to share! Today may we reflect and then ask ourselves: how am I using my gifts? Am I sharing my gifts with others? Or do I hoard them? Do I believe that I have gifts worth sharing? (Apparently God thinks so!)

Today may we give thanks for the many gifts that God has blessed us with!