The Time of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Homily of His Excellency Msgr Selim Sfeir
Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus
6th Sunday of the time of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Mattew 25 / 14 -30
Let's make the most of God's gifts
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
1. God trusts me.
Just as a master entrusts his slaves with his property, God has entrusted
me with several gifts: life, intelligence, education, material possessions,
and so on. He has given them to me because He expects me to use them
to bear fruit. To one slave, the master gives five talents, to another two
talents, and to the third, one talent. To each, he gives what he is capable
of investing. Likewise, God gives me exactly what I am able to invest.
Each of us is faithful to the extent that we praise God by making the best
use of our talents!
2. Taking risks.
The slave who was given five talents hurried to put them to make them
yield more, in order to gain five more. He takes a risk. When he starts
doing business, he is not sure whether he will lose all or part of his capital,
or whether he will make a profit. But it is only because he takes a risk that
he can present ten talents to his master upon his returns.
God wants us to take risks with what he entrusts to us. This means that we
may expose ourselves to possible failure and loss. If we do not take risks,
we may never produce the fruit that God expects from us.
What is reproached to this servant is his selfishness and laziness, because
he lived in isolation, focused only on his own existence.
This is a challenge to our Christian way of life. What happened to this
servant can happen to any of us, if we decide to live our lives for ourselves
and not for God. Anyone who seeks himself by refusing to give and share
his talents, ends up isolated from God, and on path to his own ruin.
3. More will be given to him.
It seems rather unfair that the slave who has ten talents receives the lazy
man's talent. Doesn't he already have enough? Isn't this taking from the
poor to give to the rich? Christ is surely teaching us a lesson about the
spiritual life. What does not grow, dies. If our spiritual life stagnates, it
will die, and the little spiritual life we may have had will disappear. On
the other hand, when our spiritual life is vibrant and growing, it produces
more and more fruit. It produces fruit in abundance.
Prayer
Thank you Lord for all the talents and qualities you have given me. Help
me not to be afraid to invest these talents to produce fruit for your
kingdom. Grant me the apostolic zeal, generosity and perseverance to bear
fruit in abundance.
† Selim Sfeir
Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus