Have you ever noticed how many of Jesus’ parables have bad characters in them? For example, there is the unjust judge, the crooked manager, the rich man stepping over the beggar at his door and, today, an avaricious financier. This is a man who says of himself that he harvests where he did not plant and gathers where he did not scatter. That is, he “rips off” people. In the parable, before he goes on a journey, he gives three servants each a different sum of money, “according to his ability,” with instructions to make his money grow. On a catechetical level, often this parable is used to encourage us to become our best selves, with whatever God has given us, even though most of us are not the most talented of human beings, and to be thankful for the gifts and talents we have instead of envying others. And that is a good lesson. However, if we focus on the two main characters, the servant who buries his master’s money and the avaricious financier, we can see another meaning. Jesus had no illusions about the world humans had made and lived in. While there are many good persons in it, there also are scoundrels and oppressive systems like the Roman government, and sometimes even bad religious leaders. Jesus often said “fear not” to his disciples and listeners. As we hear in St. John’s Gospel (3:17), Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it. That’s where we come in, imperfect as we are, for as St. Teresa of Ávila said, God has no hands or feet but ours. But there is danger and risk involved. We cannot hide out, like the third servant did, staying secure, not risking. We need to be true to our Christian selves and find ways to let our faith commitment influence all the venues of our human lives — our workplaces, neighborhoods, associations, families. That means sometimes we will need to speak out and stand up. Church campuses often remind us about this, with signs at the exits of their parking lots like the one above!
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia
The post November 15, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Fear Not: a Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood.