About the Mass Series: 33rd Sunday of Year A

The Opening Prayer for the 33rd Sunday of Year A reads as follows:

Let us pray

(that God will help us to be faithful)

Father of all that is good,

keep us faithful in serving You

for to serve You is our lasting joy.

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged.

1. What is being faithful to God?
2. What is being faithful to God in my life this coming week?
3. Name one area that I will endeavour to be faithful to God this coming week?
4. What does it mean to serve God?
5. How can I serve God in my life this coming week?
6. What does it mean to me 'for to serve You is our lasting joy'?

In today's Gospel, Jesus requires His disciples to use the talents that He has given to each of us.  Jesus makes it quite clear in the parable that the master gave the servants talents 'each in proportion to his ability'.  Jesus does not expect to be better than what we are- in the sense of expecting us to do better than our ability. However, when much is given, much is expected and as faithful servants we are required not to be lazy like the servant who had one talent and buried it out of fear.  Jesus, in the parable explained to him that he could have deposited in the bank and gained interest given the fact that he was afraid- at least the master would have gained interest.

So what about us?  What is our talent/s?  How do we build up the kingdom of God according to our talent and ability?  As we approach the end of the liturgical year, let us reflect on how we have built up the kingdom during this yea.  After all, we should not emulate the good for nothing servant. If we have buried our talent, let us make a concious effort to unearth it and use it according to our ability whilst there is still time.