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

St. Philothei of Athens icon,  Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, Greece

"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.'  He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been 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 yesterday's reading, and in the context of His Second Coming and the end times, Jesus told the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins:  "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."

"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.'  He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'  His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been 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 tells us that this parable is meant to illustrate the use of the gifts given to us by God.  A talent was a very large sum of money.  (According to Wikipedia, approximately 130 pounds or 59 kilograms of precious metal such as silver or gold.)   Here, the talent represents the goodness which God has bestowed on each person.  It is because of this parable that "talent" has come to have its current meaning in English.  The amount each receives is based on that person's abilities (Romans 12:4-7).  My study bible says that God does not show partiality in the ultimate reward, as all are invited to share in the same joy in the parable.  It says that the wicked and lazy servant could not evade responsibility for ignoring his talent, as idleness is as much a rejection of God as outright wickedness.   To bury his talent in the ground, my study bible says, is an illustration of using God-given talents for earthly pursuits.  Bankers represent other faithful people to whom the man could have turned to help him use his talents wisely.  Since help was available to him in the Church, it says, the man has no excuse.

What is a talent?  In ancient times, a talent (from τάλαντον/talanton in the Greek, pl. talanta) was a measure of weight.  It later came to be monetized, assigned as a measure of money or wealth.  What seems to be indicated in the parable is just how much freedom is given to each servant in the use of the talent or talents entrusted to them.   Each one must find their own opportunities for using it wisely and growing it; each must think on his or her own in terms of how this will be done.  The opportunity for creativity, use of skills and intelligence, and diligent hard work is wide open.  So it is also with using our own talents.  There is nothing written in stone about how we are best to serve God.  We are each given capabilities, each has a unique life with unique opportunities, and most especially the ability to think and to create:  therefore each one is entrusted with initiative.  Plus, let us take note that there is help available in the figure of the bankers in the parable, which my study bible says indicates the Church.  We always have those around us who can help to pray for wisdom, discernment, and inspiration, who can give advice from experience.  And these "bankers" also extend to the saints who pray with us, to the whole history of the Church and those who have served.  There is plenty of wisdom and help to go around, to which we also may contribute with our own lives and our own efforts.  As human beings, we are endowed with these marvelous gifts of creative capacity, talent, ability, hard work, intelligence -- and we are also gifted within the Church and its wealth of such who are fellow faithful as well as those who have come before.  When we pray, we pray with the entire communion of saints, including the angels who also represent help in their ministry to us.  In this context, it becomes frustrating and confusing to be confronted with those who would insist that there is only one way to properly use a talent or a gift or to serve God.  Like the servant who buries his talent in the ground, we may come to encounter a type of moralism that does not recognize the true abundance of gifts were given nor the creativity and initiative within which God gives us the ability to live our faith and so contribute to the entirety of the Church.  Jesus addresses this very subject when He defends John the Baptist, and tells the people that "wisdom is justified by her children."  Note that in Luke's Gospel, that reads, "all her children."  (See Matthew 11:18-19, Luke 7:34-35.)   No one could be more different in outward appearance than Jesus and John the Baptist, in terms of each one's ministries.  The Jewish leaders condemn both, but for different, opposite reasons.  And yet Jesus puts the two into perspective as both justifying Wisdom in their works, each part of the outpouring work of the Holy Spirit in the world, each one in the lineage of God's work.  No two saints look exactly alike, each having the dynamism of unique personalities and ways of serving God.  It is the lazy servant who buries his or her talent in the ground and is afraid to do anything who fails in this parable.  Let us note that the returning master does not require our labors nor profits to be stupendous to give us a reward.  Our faith, even in a few things, is worthy.  He says to his profitable servants, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things."   The least each of us can do is to seek wisdom and understanding by studying the lives of the saints and the Scriptures, the history of the Church, and in particular through prayer and the experience of others who will also help to pray for us.  This is an active ministry that Christ offers to each of us in which to participate to the fullest of our abilities.  Let us remember that prayer is also a way of actively using talent and abilities and intelligence, of seeking wisdom through which we live and express our faith.  God calls us, by the examples in this parable, to the responsibility and capacity to contribute that involves initiative and a voluntary response to that which God has entrusted to us.  This is a high calling indeed.  For consideration of the wealth in the Church for how to use and invest our talents, I invite readers to contemplate the icon above of St. Philothei of Athens, who lived in the 16th century, when Athens was under Ottoman rule.   She was born into a wealthy family, and upon inheritance of this wealth she chose a monastic life for herself, taking the name Philothei which means "Friend of God."  She established monasteries and schools to train both boys and girls.  She also founded hospices, homes for the elderly, establishments for training in handiwork, weaving, housekeeping and cooking, and stalls for selling goods so that both those she helped and also her monasteries and charities could be self-sufficient.  Among the many charitable acts she initiated, she took in those who had been made slaves by the Ottomans, including in particular young women placed into harems who sought refuge.  She purchased freedom for many by paying ransoms and bribes, and helped them to escape to territories outside the city when they were hunted.  Her monasteries were continually raided and plundered.  She was beaten by authorities, which happened on more than one occasion, and also imprisoned for her active work in securing freedom for Greeks who had been made slaves by the Ottomans.   For this work she was increasingly hated.  She died a martyr due to injuries from one such beating by mercenaries (depicted in the icon) on February 19, 1589, and is commemorated on February 19.  A district of Athens is named after her, and in particular much of central Athens owes its names and history to the land she had converted for the use of her monasteries and charities for the people of the city.

Go and do likewise

 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  He said to him, "What is written in the law?  What is your reading of it?"  So he answered and said, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'"  And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."  But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"  Then Jesus answered and said:  "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a certain priest came down that road.  And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.  And when he saw him, he had compassion.  So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'  So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"  And he said, "He who showed mercy on him."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

- Luke 10:25-37

Yesterday' we read that the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."  In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  He said to him, "What is written in the law?  What is your reading of it?"  So he answered and said, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'"  And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."  Importantly, these are the two commandments named as the "greatest commandments" by Christ when asked (Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-34).

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"  Then Jesus answered and said:  "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead."  My study bible says that Jerusalem is the place of peace, symbolic of communion with God.  On the other hand, it notes, Jericho was renowned as a place of sin (see 19:1).  To fall among thieves, it adds, speaks to the natural consequence of journeying away from God toward a life of sin (see John 10:10).  So often our indulgence in what we know to be wrong leads us to cheat ourselves.

"Now by chance a certain priest came down that road.  And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side."  Some have commented that these prominent religious figures in the story are following prohibitions on the touching of bodies or blood.  My study bible comments that titles and positions are meaningless in God's sight when good deeds do not accompany them.  It quotes Cyril of Alexandria:  "The dignity of the priesthood means nothing unless he also excels in deeds."  That the priest and the Levite do not help the man also indicates the failure of the Old Testament Law to heal the consequences of sin.

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.  And when he saw him, he had compassion."   The Samaritan is a despised foreigner, an outsider, a stranger.  As one with compassion, he is also an image of Christ.  My study bible cites John 8:48, commenting that this figure is like Christ who "came down from heaven" (Creed) to save even those in rebellion against Him. 

"So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'"  There are sacramental images contained here, which my study bible gives in the following explanations.  In the bandages, there is an image of the baptism garment, which gives us remission from the wounds of sin.  The oil of chrismation gives us new life in the Holy Spirit.  Wine symbolizes Christ's divine Blood which leads to eternal life.  That the Samaritan put the wounded man on his own animal suggests Christ bearing our sins in His own body.  The inn is like the Church, often likened to a hospital, in which Christ's care is received.  Christ pays the price of that care (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23). 

"So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"  And he said, "He who showed mercy on him."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."  Here is an absolute crux of Christ's teachings to us:  that it is we who must take the initiative to follow His commands, to go and do likewise. 

The parable of the Good Samaritan appears only in Luke's Gospel.  It is the beautiful illustration of the commandments cited here by the lawyer, upon which Christ has said "hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:40).  But here in the illustration of the parable, Jesus takes the Law and the Prophets further, to mercy.  In the ancient world, the base of all healing balms (and the costly perfumes we read about in the Gospels) was olive oil.  This is no doubt the base for the oil used as healing unguent by the Samaritan in the story.  In Greek, this word is ἔλαιον/elaion.  The word for mercy is ἔλεος/eleos.  In Greek, with the exception of the final letter (which indicates gender or neutral object), these words for "olive oil" and "mercy" sound exactly alike.  In the oil of chrismation, symbolizing the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, we have the perfect symbol for mercy or grace -- and so we have the unmistakable parallel given to us in this parable in Luke.  So what does it mean that Christ calls us to "go and do likewise"?  He is teaching us to take the initiative to follow His commands, to be a neighbor.  It's quite similar to His instructions in the Sermon on the Mount (and in Luke, in the Sermon on the Plain; see this reading).  When Jesus preaches that we should "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you," what is this but a call to initiative?  He gives us dramatic statements to indicate that we must not simply follow the crowd, but rather follow the commandment for loyalty to God first, and the expression of that love extended to others.  In the story of the Good Samaritan, the very notion of "neighbor" becomes something Jesus says is something we are capable of initiating ourselves through our loyalty and love of God.  Like so many of His complaints against the religious leadership, the story also speaks against religious prohibitions that exclude the practice of mercy, such as when He asked certain scribes and Pharisees, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"   Let us note here that, similarly to that incident, Jesus speaks to a lawyer who knows full well the Law, and obviously takes its practice seriously.  If we are going to follow Christ regarding His urging us to the practice of mercy, how will we take an initiative where circumstances or surroundings do not lend themselves to such practice as common?  Where do we begin, and how do we begin?  What is grace, but an extension of a kind of hospitality?  Let us note more meanings hidden in the text here, as even our English word "hospital" is evolved from the Latin word for inn -- hospitale.   Christ seems to be asking us to allow our love for God to draw us out of the crowds, from being mere followers, and to create a kind of leadership among His followers which is based on the initiative of the practice of mercy.  He asks us to allow our love of God to take us beyond what we already know.  How can you extend this in your life?  To what conclusions does it lead you today?  In a world which seems only to ratchet up its desire for hostility, how does an act of mercy stand out among the others?