Posted by The WORD in other words (2017) by Father Raymun Festin SVD – Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – C
According to the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, human beings are not born with a predetermined identity; rather, they shape who they become through their choices and actions. His famous principle, “existence precedes essence,” emphasizes human freedom and responsibility for the lives we choose to live.
One is neither born a coward nor a hero. A person becomes courageous through choices and actions. In this sense, we become what we are through the decisions we make and the deeds we perform. Our choices have consequences, and we must learn to take responsibility for them rather than continually looking for someone else to blame.
In today’s Gospel, the master becomes angry with the servant who received one talent because the servant tries to justify his failure. He says: “Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground” (Matthew 25:24-25). The master responds by calling him a “wicked, lazy servant” (Matthew 25:26). The other two servants, by contrast, had made productive use of what had been entrusted to them and were called “good and faithful” (Matthew 25:21, 23).
One lesson we can draw from the parable is that God has entrusted something to each of us: “to each according to his ability” (Matthew 25:15). We are called not merely to preserve what we have received, but to use it faithfully and responsibly. Whatever gifts, opportunities, and responsibilities have been entrusted to us ultimately come from God. As Saint Paul reminds us, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31).
The servant’s failure was not that he had received less than the others. His failure was that he allowed fear to become an excuse for doing nothing. In the language of Sartre, “bad faith” (mauvaise foi) describes the self-deception by which a person attempts to escape responsibility for his or her freedom and choices.
This temptation to shift responsibility to others is also present in our society. Many blame the government for horrendous traffic but not their lack of discipline, their selfishness, and their egregious disregard of traffic rules as also causes of the problem. Many blame the clouds and the rain for the flooding in Metro Manila, but they do not point an accusing finger at themselves who habitually throw their thrash in thoroughfares and rivers. Many complain about corrupt politicians and lazy government leaders but they hardly lay blame on themselves who keep on selling their votes and electing corrupt and stupid candidates.
We want change for the better, yet we do not always want to accept the sacrifices and responsibilities that change demands. We are a lazy, lousy, mediocre, hardheaded, and stiff-necked. We are not at fault, the others are! We want change for the better but we do not want to make sacrifices for the sake of the country and our own selves. Perhaps, it is better we bury our dreams in the cold, dark ground. Would that General Luna rise from his moldy grave and save us all! Like the servant with one talent, we can easily find reasons for burying what has been entrusted to us.
Today’s Gospel therefore challenges us to stop simply blaming circumstances and begin asking: What am I doing with what God has entrusted to me? The Lord desires to say to us what the master said to his faithful servants: “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities” (Matthew 25:21).
With apologies to Shakespeare: “The fault, dear Juan, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”
