Homily Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Matthew 25, 14-30

A talent was not a small coin, but weighed 100 ponds and was made of gold or silver. One silver talent would be worth about $1940 today.
http://www.bible-history.com/naves/T/TALENT/

The message of the parable is the need to respond to God's grace by making a genuine effort throughout one's life. God has given us gifts by nature and grace and he expects us to use them in his service and for the service of others. It doesn't matter how many gifts we have received. What matters is our generosity in putting those gifts to good use.

We must live no longer for ourselves, but for Christ. We need to dig up our buried talents and put them at his service.

Jesus chose to outline his teaching on the response to grace by using the example of men at work. This is also a reminder that our call to serve God is lived out in the context of our ordinary affairs that are done well and for the glory of God.

We must discover God in our ordinary everyday life. We should seek the hand of the invisible God at work in visible and material things. There is no other way. We should not look for great signs and wonders for assurance we are on the path to God. Instead, we can see confirmation of our faith by recognizing the goodness of God providing for our needs each day. We must strive to live out our vocation with a strong faith, hope and love for God and our neighbor, recognizing that one day we will stand before God and have to give an account of what we did with our lives.

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