THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A

                                              15 NOVEMBER 2020

                               GETTING ON WITH THE JOB: 33^rd SUNDAY A

                                                       (Matthew 25: 14-30)

GETTING ON WITH THE JOB: 33^RD SUNDAY A

·       How busy are you, day by day?

·       What are the most important items in your ‘to do’ list? Is there anything important missing?

·       Which of your gifts from God do you use generously, for both the benefit of others and for a better world?

·       Is there something that you fail to do, or leave only half done?

·       What kind of person are you striving to be?

·       Do you find time to think about both the end of your life on earth, and the end of the world as we know it?

·       Is life about looking good, or being good?

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You and I are busy people. We rush here and we rush there. We do this and we do that. All kinds of activities occupy our attention. For example! There is work for a livng. There is shopping. There is cooking. There is gardening. There is painting and decorating. There is study. There are children to bathe and feed. There are others to mind and entertain. There are friends and neighbours to visit and help. And when we come to the end of a typical day, there may hardly be enough time left to write a letter or an e-mail, glance at a newspaper, watch the news, or speak to God in prayer.

The amazing thing is that our list of ‘things to do’ never runs out. Being so permanently busy means that we find it hard to take the Word of God as seriously as we should! At this time of the church year, the teaching in particular that the world as we know it is definitely coming to an end! This is sure and certain, St Paul insists. It will happen when people least expect it, he also insists. The suddenness of the end of the world and of the Second Coming of Christ will be like a thief suddenly breaking into a house at night, or like an expectant mother who suddenly goes into labour.

Jesus teaches that while we wait for his return to earth at the end of time, we make the best possible use of all the gifts that God has given us for our love and service of God, for the benefit of other people, and to make the world a better place.

That’s the point of the story he told about the three employees who were each entrusted with a huge sum of money, while their employer went away for an indefinite time. Two out of the three invested it wisely and well, doubling their employer’s money. The other hid his allocation in the ground and therefore did nothing. So, when the boss returned and called all three to account, the industrious ones received fitting rewards for their work. But the one who was too afraid to take the risks of the market place, found himself on the outer, and thoroughly unhappy for simply ‘playing it safe’.

Several Readings around this time are a reminder that the delay in the final coming of Christ requires us to be vigilant, to be on the look-out for Our Lord’s return. Today Jesus is reminding us to be on the job, to be active, industrious and diligent in carrying out all our duties and responsibilities in life, and to be active, industrious and diligent in working for the coming of the kingdom of God on earth. After all, to be a Christian is to be a missionary, an agent, i.e. of God’s love. In short, the moral of the gospel today is to do, and to keep doing, whatever is positive, constructive, and life-giving, with whatever gifts God has given us.

So, let’s remember that life is God’s gift to us, and what we do with our life is our gift to God. So, let’s make the most of our opportunities. Let’s take a chance and visit that grumpy relative; ditch that grudge we’ve been harbouring; figure out a way to feed the hungry and house the homeless; take our concerns about safety to that public meeting; become a reader in church; sit with a dying friend; donate to the work of the local Vinnies; show special support to one’s aging parents. The list of our opportunities to do good and to do it now, is simply endless.

For the strength we need, then, to make the most of every opportunity, and to be everything we can be for others every day, let us pray to Christ in our personal and group prayer today! For both ourselves and the people around us, who just like us, have also been gifted by God, for lives of constant and generous love and service to other people.

Fr. Brian Gleeson

Catholic Song Servant Song by Sr Donna Marie McGargill OSM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9nPyj74NMY

Kinh Tình Yêu (Lm. Ân Đức) - Prayer of Love:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL