Gospel: Luke 19: 11-28
How are we to use the talents entrusted to us by the Lord? To what purposes should we use the treasure given to us? In the world, as in this parable, such wealth and talents are used to enrich the wealthy land owner and capitalist. The sole purpose of labor in the worldly sense is to continue feeding the pyramid scheme that is the economy wherein wealth is matriculated upward to the elite while those who produce it are given as little as possible.
But in the kingdom of God it is the exact reverse. Whenever wealth and talents are discussed it is done so in the context of helping others - those who are sick, hungry, and marginalized. The rich man was condemned to hell for failing to use his talents to help poor Lazarus. The priest and Levite did not use their talents to help the man dying in the ditch, while the Samaritan who does so becomes the model for the one who keeps the greatest commandment, the one who will inherit the kingdom of God.
Everyday we have the means and opportunities at our disposal to use our talents and treasures to help others. We can heal other people with our presence and interaction. We can lift people out of poverty with the wealth we have. We can welcome the outcast and marginalized, making their lives warm and safe once again. There are so many opportunities at our disposal to use our talents and treasures for the kingdom of God in the ways Jesus himself did in his life on earth.
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