Gift is responsibilty

Today’s Gospel reading is very challenging indeed, but at the same time very consoling (Mt. 25: 14-30). Each one of us was created by God as a unique person, with unique gifts. But our gifts from God are not to be kept as possessions. They are to be shared with others, all the way to the end of our lives. As the spiritual writer W. Maestri puts it: “And the most amazing thing about God’s gifts is that the more they are used for others, the more they expand in value.”

Our God-given talents, as manifested in our professional works, are not just for our own livelihood and future financial security, but as a service to the community. And the more we do this, the more our gifts increase in value, not only in the eyes of our fellowmen, but in the eyes of God.

Here is a female high-school teacher who got married to a husband with a high-paying job. He asked her to stop teaching, so that she could enjoy more free time for relaxation and her personal hobbies. As a prayerful Christian, she discerned where the Lord was calling her, and came out with a decision to continue teaching the many teenagers in her classes who are getting more and more victimized by today’s media and a high-tech culture that is ruthlessly secular, materialistic, narcissistic, and Godless. “I owe it to my many students whom I really care for, not only my knowledge in the social sciences, but to share with them my moral-spiritual values which they so badly need in today’s world. I feel that God is calling me to share all this with as many others, and not just with you, my dear husband, and my beloved children.”

Mike (not his real name) is a young, talented doctor who practices his profession in a well-known, high-class hospital. But twice a week, he dedicates all his work-hours in a small hospital for the poor and indigent patients, with almost zero-income. For a while, his wife took this quietly, until one day she opened up to him. “You and I have no less than six children, with so many expenses, not only now, but even more so in the future. Is it not logical for you to spend all your professional working hours in that hospital where you earn good money? You are the head of our family, remember?” Mike was struck by what she said, and prayed over it for some days. He then expressed to her a conviction that came straight from his heart. “My dear wife, our family life is not just for you and me and our children. I have always been taught that we are also a family-for-others. As a family, we are missioned by the Lord to reach out to as many other families as well. Every time I treat a dirty, bad-smelling indigent patient, I feel within me God’s presence in a very special way.” His wife started to shed tears, and they embraced each other in a very loving way. Her eyes were opened, and she supported him all the way.

Let me focus now on a couple who had been running a business for quite a number of years. But lately, it was not doing so well, and it would take much more creative time and energy from them to keep it going. They were seriously thinking of closing it down. After all, they already had enough investments and savings in the bank to support their family. They expressed this to their 25-year-old son, who was already actively working with them in running the business. The son then asked a critical question: “What would happen to our more than a hundred employees and workers? Our country today is suffering from so much unemployment. How will they support their families?” Motivated by compassion and social responsibility, they decided not to close down the company, but work harder to sustain it!

Going all the way down to our lower levels of society, God’s loving call and mission is the same. Our poor and uneducated brothers and sisters have gifts and talents of their own that they use, not only for their livelihood, but they are able to reach out to so many others, even without their conscious awareness. Without our dedicated, hard-working farmers and fishermen, where will we get the rice, vegetables, and fish on or tables? What about the pork, beef, and chicken that we are so fond of eating? Where do they come from? Who are ultimately responsible for breeding them?

Yes, each human person is created by God with unique gifts and talents that are meant to be shared with others. Whatever little we have is not just for ourselves. This is the ultimate meaning of love, for which each one of us has been created by the Lover of us all.

One of our brother Jesuit priests, Fr. Guido Arguelles, S. J., passed away recently. Allow me to end by quoting one of his “Shafts of Light”:

“When you reach out to others, you delve into your deeper self. Reach out then to your farthest brother (the poor, the uneducated, the oppressed) and you will dig deepest into yourself. Then will the poor person liberate you: for they will have helped you discover your inner and richer self because you dared to be touched by their real poverty.”