Homily for 19 November 2023

 

My dear friends today we celebrate the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time year A and in the Archdiocese of Bombay to raise consciousness of the evil of domestic violence and to pledge support for those victimized by abuse, this Sunday is celebrated as Violence-free Family Sunday.

The 1st reading is taken from the book of Proverbs which is a collection of proverbial sayings. The extract is a part of the advice that is given by the unknown King Lemuel’s mother to her son, telling him what he should look for in a wife. And she does set forth very high standards for the wife of a king. The passage gives us a description of a capable wife or as some other translations would have it a woman of strength or a virtuous woman. The woman of Proverbs surely is a role model that other women can look up to. 

The wife in Proverbs 31 is not confined only to the kitchen. While she takes care of her husband and household chores, she is quite active outside the home as well. She is a successful businesswoman and also an entrepreneur who works late into the evening, who plans ahead, and who is not idle. She knows how to dress for success and how to sell goods for a profit. And most likely her husband is well known because of her and not vice versa! She also has compassion in her heart as she “opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy”. This woman doesn’t remain silent but instead, she speaks with wisdom and the “teaching of kindness”. Our Theology professor once said in class, “The woman as described in Proverbs does not truly exist, however, if you do find her you ought to marry her immediately.” 

In the age of online dating apps like Tinder and Bumble when young and old people are deciding on their life partners by swiping left and right the reading gives us a piece of advice. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain. So, while you might spend thousands at the gym trying to get 6 pack abs, physical beauty is fleeting and fades with time. Spiritual beauty on the other hand increases day by day. We also must address today the issue of increasing domestic violence against women. These cases are no longer limited to only rural areas anymore. Women in cities also face abuse regularly. Both men and women are created equal in the image and likeness of God and human dignity is at the crux of our human identity. Any act of violence be it physical, emotional, psychological or financial is contrary to the plan of God and must be stopped at all costs.

The second reading is from the last chapter of St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. Today’s reading continues the discussion of Christ’s Second Coming but from the perspective of those who will be alive at the time of Christ’s coming. Paul writes to them about the Day of the Lord which is an end-of-time event where God will bring his judgment against evil and allow a new creation to flourish. This event will come at an unexpected time like the birth pains of a woman.  However, the emphasis of Paul is not so much on judgment but rather on salvation.  The Thessalonian believers have nothing to fear because they aren’t living in darkness. As believers, they are committed to loving God and their neighbour. Therefore, the day of the Lord will not overtake them like a thief as they are living in the light. As children of light, we must live in a state of spiritual readiness—ready to meet spiritual challenges. The reference to being sober relates to avoiding intoxication as well as the kind of behaviour associated with sobriety i.e. self-control, sound judgment, discretion, dependability, and studied decisions. Paul exhorts the Thessalonian Christians to rely on faith, love, and the hope of salvation in their daily battle against evil.

In the gospel taken from Matthew, we are presented with the parable of the Talents. The first two slaves do business with the master’s talents and double his money. They have performed according to their potential, and they have been faithful to do what the master has required of them. The master’s response to each is the same. He commends the slaves for being good and faithful, entrusts them with more authority, and invites them to enter his “joy.” The third slave, however, admits that he was afraid to lose the master’s money. To protect himself, he buried the talent in the ground. The master is furious as this slave was too afraid to take a risk and he attempted to secure his own well-being.

The key word in the parable is a Greek word τάλαντον (talanton) which gets translated as talent. In Jesus’ day, a talent was a measure of weight—and later of money. A talent was worth more than 15 years’ wages of a labourer. Five talents, the largest amount entrusted to any of the servants, is comparable to 75 years worth of labor, a very large amount of money.  The beauty of any parable is that it can have numerous interpretations. First, we have the traditional interpretation which encourages disciples to use their resources- gifts or talents effectively. These talents are taken to be talents in the English language like singing, dancing, painting etc. Second, we can take the text as an allegory - the man who gives the talents is Jesus and the delay in the man’s coming back is the delay of the parousia. The slaves represent Christians who are awaiting the Second Coming. The master’s assessment of the faithfulness of the slaves represents Jesus’ judgment of us on Judgment Day.

When we consider the context of this text, Jesus tells this story to his disciples to prepare them for the days ahead when their faith will be tested. This parable depicts how the disciples are to demonstrate their faithfulness as they anticipate the return of the Lord. What does faithfulness look like in a time of waiting? Matthew is writing this Gospel late in the first century when the church is struggling with the issue of Jesus’ delayed Parousia (Second Coming). This parable reminds Matthew’s church that they have been entrusted with the great treasure of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and will be held accountable at the Second Coming. The message for Matthew’s readers is not one of meriting reward but of dedicated and fruitful response by the Christians to God’s gift in and through Jesus. We also observe that the slaves received the same reward even though one made more than the other. The lesson we can therefore draw from the parable is that we all are different and we start unequal in life therefore we must not compare our lives with each other. The goal of life is not to do better than your neighbour but instead to do one’s best.  

Our life is a temporary journey here on earth and at the end, our good deeds are not going to be measured on a scale to see whose side is heavier. Instead what will be seen is if we have been faithful servants or lazy servants. What is the Lord asking of us and are we being faithful to our call? Let us also pray for the victims of domestic violence and reach out concretely to those whom we know are victims of this social evil. May God bless us all.