Jesus wants to focus on the end time when the Lord comes to settle the score. And the horizon of that judgment will be to verify the values and reality of the Kingdom of God that we have announced and built.
It is evident that our task of human life passes through the construction of this world. Jesus will come to verify how we have done it. Not so much what we have done, which will be very good or less good, but above all what values have inspired and cultivated us in building this civilization.
Therefore, I ask: What is the talent or precious pearl that God has given to each one of us, believers in Jesus Christ? The precious pearl that we have all received is Jesus Christ himself; a pearl sealed by the gift of the Spirit in our baptism and confirmation.
Our task in life is to be “other Christs”; to be like Jesus.
And Jesus was indeed a risk-taker. Already at the age of 12 he begins to take a stand by making it clear who “his Father” is. And during his public life he always opted for the Father and the Father’s favorites who are the “outcasts. And not because they are “good” but because they are “outcasts” and rejected by those who think they are good and claim to defend God’s law.
Jesus allows himself to be accompanied by publicans, public sinners, prostitutes and people of bad reputation. Those he chooses as apostles are not the cream of that society. They are normal men and women who have an open heart to receive the novelty of the Kingdom of God. A kingdom where “the Lord” becomes a servant and is the servant of all. Where the poor, the meek, the pure of heart and the peacemakers are proclaimed blessed. Where no one is greater than anyone else and where the gifts of each are placed in favor of all others. No one is left out. Lepers have their dignity and can be touched and caressed. The sick must be cared for and healed in the style of the Good Samaritan. The demon-possessed are released from their bondage and even the dead are resurrected. Jesus lives these values to the fullest and that is where his life goes and costs him his life. His message “changes”, “turns around” that world which had been built by the tenacity and progress of many, but which had been built above all on the suffering and abuse of some over others.
These are the talents we will be held accountable for.
In this parable, St. Matthew invites us to the task of evangelization and witnessing in our lives as believers. The one who has love and life will be able to give love and life more than ever before, and this “giving” results in personal growth. He who gives his life wins it. The one who does not have love and is greedy, lazy or negligent, will lose what he apparently has. If life is not given in love, life is irretrievably lost. He who thus works excludes himself from communion and will be surrounded by darkness and shadows of death
