For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, "Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.  Look, there you have what is yours.'  But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

- Matthew 25:14-30

In our recent readings, Jesus has been teaching the disciples about the end times, and the time of His Second Coming.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:  "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  And at midnight a cry was heard:  'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'  But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'  But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.  And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.  Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.  And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.  But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.  After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, "Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.'  Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.  Look, there you have what is yours.'  But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"   My study bible says that this parable illustrates the use of gifts given by God.  We need to understand that even one talent, at the time of Christ, was a great sum of money.  But here in Jesus' parable it represents the goodness that God has given to each person.  The amount that each receives is based on that person's abilities (Romans 12:4-7).  In the ultimate reward however, God does not show partiality, as all are invited to share in the same joy.  The wicked and lazy servant, on the other hand, could not evade responsibility for ignoring his talent.  My study bible says that idleness is as much a rejection of God as outright wickedness.  To bury the talent in the ground is an illustration of using one's God-given gifts for earthly pursuits.  The bankers represent other faithful people to whom the man could have turned to help him use talents wisely.  As there is help available in the Church and from its wealth of traditions, the man hasn't got an excuse.

What are talents, really?  What are they for?  We tend to think of talents as things that are worthwhile only if we can parlay them into some form of remuneration, something profitable in our own lives that can generate an income.  While it's naturally appropriate that we each need to consider our way in the world, it's also appropriate to consider ourselves as people of faith.  Even making our way in the world still comes under the heading of living our lives as those who love God.  How do we reconcile the two?  It's important to recognize that spiritual growth, and the growth of virtue in terms of our relationship to God and to neighbor, isn't really left out of any part of our lives.  Our lives aren't divided up into the life we live as faithful and then a separate life as part of "the world" (6:24).   It's all part of a whole.  What serves our faith life is also good for the rest of our lives.  God gives us talents to learn to develop and to express, and it can indeed be mysterious how those talents serve God's purposes.  What gets to be truly confusing and slavish is thinking that our lives are simply about plugging into what's available in the world, and not about a wholistic sense of the God who knows all the things we need but who also creates us as individuals with particular gifts.  One may have a gift of intelligence for a particular subject, another may love car engines, still another a passion for creating order.  Even our gifts for humility may serve us well in terms of how we express ourselves and even make a living in the world.   One may find that an intensive prayer life actually helps us to create and find the gifts and talents that help us in the rest of our lives.  Prayer can nurture talents in a number of ways, helping us to focus, to calm anxieties, to put into perspective insights into our lives, and to order our lives.   What the parable seems to suggest to us is that burying who we truly are, ways in which God has blessed us with gifts in one way or another, is the truly great sin.  Splitting our lives into the things we need to do in the world and neglecting the internal life where we find God's gifts isn't effective in terms of living the full and spiritually profitable life we need.  This fullness of life comes from finding ourselves within that relationship to God who created us and blessed us with innate capacities.  Let us turn to our Source to help us to find true talent and capabilities and ways to develop them as we are called to in each of our lives, for God's purposes.  We might be highly surprised at the capacities we find and talents we may multiply and use in our lives, with God's help.  What we trust in God to do is lead us to use our skills for God's purposes.  In the context of Jesus' discourse on end times and His Second Coming, we understand that this is our direction for being truly good servants, caring for all that God has placed in our charge.