Today’s gospel is known as the Parable of the Talents. While we are reading Matthew’s version, the Gospel of Luke has a similar recounting. The Greek word used in the parable, talanton, has no metaphorical meaning. It is simply a weight measure of a precious metal such as gold or silver. Our English use of the word to mean an aptitude or ability really only dates to the late 13th century when it appeared in a metaphorical musing on the parable. Prior to that time, even the middle French and Latin equivalent to the Greek talanton meant “weight.” We point this out to remind us all that before one moves to a metaphorical sense of Scripture, one should consider the literal sense.

This pericope (Mt 25: 14-30) follows immediately upon the parable of The Wise and Foolish Maidens (vv. 1-13). The parable that follows in the great judgment scene of the goats and sheep in which people are divided into the two lots based on: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25:40) and “Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ (v.45)

Some hold that all three parables are about our judgment within a context of the final judgment – noting the elements of being ready and vigilance – and its consequences for those who should have been preparing for it. So, one might argue that this parable is simply another lesson already offered in the parable the Wise and Foolish Maidens. One difference is that the three servants knew when the master was returning, so while readiness is a theme, the “uncertainty” factor does not play the same role.

But this parable has a more specific focus on their commercial responsibility in their master’s absence. Each is left with a very large sum of money, with no instructions on what to do with it, and the story turns on their different ways of exercising this responsibility. There is again a division between good and bad, between success and failure. Yet the “failure” of the last servant consists not in any loss of money, but in returning it without increase. It was not that he did something wrong—he simply did nothing. This is, then, apparently, a parable about maximizing opportunities, not wasting them. To be “ready” for the master’s return means to use the intervening time to maximum gain; it is again about continuing life and work rather than about calculating the date and being alert for his actual arrival.

Let me return to the idea of “talents.” We often think about this parable in terms of the natural endowment that was given by God. But in the parable“talents,” however, do not represent that individual ability but are allocated on the basis of it. They represent not the natural gifts and aptitudes which everyone has, but the specific privileges and opportunities of the kingdom of heaven and the responsibilities they entail. St. Paul notes this same distinction in “gifts.” The parable thus teaches that each disciple has God-given gifts and opportunities to be of service to the Lord, and that these are not the same for everyone, but it is left to the reader to discern just what those gifts and opportunities are. This is appropriate to the open-ended nature of parables, and different readers may rightly place the emphasis on different aspects of their discipleship. What matters is that, however precisely the “talents” are interpreted, each disciple should live and work in such a boldly enterprising way that the returning master will say “Well done, my good and faithful servant..”

When is the Lord returning? Might I suggest it doesn’t matter. What does matter is whether you are maximizing your opportunities to contribute to the building of the Kingdom. It is a matter of judgment and vigilance about the opportunities available to you and the gifts you have been given to build up the Body of Christ.  Like the parable, the “talents” were never yours to keep, but only to glorify the Lord.

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