Constantly at our mission

Thirty Third Ordinary Sunday Year A

Are you ready? Are you prepared? … Last week’s reading taught us that true wisdom is being always prepared to meet the Lord at any time. Are you prepared now? Perhaps, you may have forgotten what was read last Sunday. Just in case you’ve forgotten, today’s reading repeats and reinforces the same message.

This week’s reading gives us a little more insight on what it means to be ready. Being ready is not merely making sure that we have made our confession before our death. Being ready is not just merely avoiding wrong doing as much as possible. Being ready doesn’t mean just waiting for death to happen. These are insufficient.

Being ready means that we must be constantly at our mission, fulfilling the vocation that God has given us. Each of us is entrusted with certain talents. Each of us have been given certain responsibilities – we have responsibilities as a parent or as a child or as a worker or as a member of the community or as a Catholic etc. These talents are gifts from God and come with a responsibility. We are to use them for the mission which has been entrusted to us.

Many people go through life without living out their full potential. Many people are satisfied with only doing the bare minimum. Their philosophy is “Why do more when you can do less!” God did not create us to live only a fraction of our lives. If we only live 10% of what we are capable of living, then the other 90% is wasted.

Being ready means giving our all for the glory of God. We may not be able to do everything. We may not be able to do all things well. We may not even be able to achieve within our lifetime all our goals. Nevertheless, whatever we do, if we do it to the best of our ability and for the glory of God, is enough.

The first reading uses the symbol of a wise wife or the perfect wife as the model of a disciple. A wise wife knows that “charm is deceitful and beauty empty.” What is important is that she is able to fulfill her role and responsibility as a dutiful wife – bringing “advantage and not hurt to her husband all the days of her life.” She is always busy at work and has no time for idleness, gossip and unfruitful activity. The wise wife is thus a model for all of us. We are made for the glory of God and not to bring hurt to him or to others. We are created with gifts and talents in order for us to realize our mission and vocation in this life.

Similarly, the gospel tells the story of the three servants who receive different amount of talents from their master. The amount that they received is not important. Sometimes we may feel that others have more than we have. We feel that this is unfair. We may never know the reasons for this. But we know that the more one receives, the more is expected of that person. Those who have been given more have a greater responsibility to use those talents and gifts for the good of others and for the glory of God. If we just complain that we do not have enough, if we do not do anything with the little that we have, then even what we have will be taken away.

Make the best of your life. You may be rich or you may be poor, you may be beautiful or you may look ordinary, make the best of your life. Use whatever talents or gifts the Lord has given you for his greater glory. Don’t hesitate any longer because as St. Paul tells us in the second reading “the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night”, so stay wide awake and sober.