Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Nov. 19, 2023. Gospel of St. Matthew 25:14-30 Theme: The Talent of Intercessory Prayer
Today’s gospel is known as the “parable of the talents”. And as with every parable, the characters and plot of the story represent something deeper than what appears at surface level. The Master of the parable is God. The talents represent a gift we have been given by God for the sake of spreading the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ. As an aside, a “talent” in Jesus’ time was a financial figure that equaled a common laborer’s payment for 15 years of work, so that gives us an idea of why the Master expected wise investments! Finally, the Master’s evaluation of the servants’ responsibility symbolizes our own personal judgment before the Lord at the end of our earthly lives. We will each be held accountable for what we have done - or failed to do - with the talents that God has entrusted to us.
Just as none of the three servants received the exact same amount of money, so not all of us are born equally talented. This reality check can help us avoid the mistake of comparing ourselves to others. Too often we look at those whom we admire for their outstanding abilities while minimizing or even overlooking the very real and worthwhile gifts which we ourselves have been given. But I want to suggest that there is a talent we have all received and which enables every one of us to invest in making a real difference in the world and, indeed, in the lives of others. And that talent is intercessory prayer.
Not all prayer is intercessory, of course. We have the prayer of praise and adoration by which we express our dependence upon God and gratitude for His blessings. And there is contemplative prayer and meditation in which we ponder the Scriptures, reflect on the mysteries of our Faith or simply rest peacefully in the Divine Presence. Then there is intercessory prayer by which, as its name implies, we present various persons and petitions to God, asking Him to bless and assist them and us in our various needs.
You know, often people talk about intercessory prayer apologetically as if it’s the least they can do to help others. Or they refer to it as a kind of last resort when all our human efforts seem hopeless! But this outlook is all backwards! Prayer is the first thing we should do when dealing with situations head-on because it can go where we cannot. Prayer is not confined by walls or hindered by geographical distance. It opens up doors, not physical ones but opportunities to reach out to someone. This can be especially significant in situations where actual doors would be shut to us. Our prayer can travel through those locked doors and penetrate into the heart of the person behind them.
This is why we keep praying for someone even if we don't see observable results within the time-frame we would like. Our prayer can become like powerful waves of the ocean that pound against the hull of a boat. If they keep crashing incessantly against the ship it will find or make a weak spot allowing the water to enter in. And even just a little crack in the closed heart of a person is all that God’s grace needs to penetrate and take effect. And so we don't give up praying for someone even when things seem to be against us because we trust that the continual waves of our intercessory prayer will eventually open the pathway for Christ into their lives.
And this basic power principle of prayer is also how we can reach out to the larger world in its needs. Take, for example, the horrible present situation in the Middle East. Can we realistically make a difference and contribute to de-escalation and peace? Of course we can! Authentic peace and lasting social renewal can only happen in a meaningful way with the conversion of hearts, person by person. And the only way hearts are truly transformed and people are changed is by the grace of God. If peace and reconciliation are not rooted in a real change of hearts then they are only temporary and fragile. So when we pray for peace we ask that those involved become personally aware of God’s deep love for them which will open their hearts to the gift of Jesus as Lord and Savior, as Messiah and Prince of Peace.
But we need to be aware that there are two temptations that keep people from fully using their talent of prayer: distrust and laziness. Distrust is a lack of faith rooted in the idea that God won’t hear prayers because of our sins or that what we are asking is in fact impossible, even for Him. And so there are people who won’t even try to begin to pray. They see it as a waste of time and energy. The second obstacle is spiritual laziness which is rooted in an improper sense of priorities and time management. This manifests itself in a person who, for example. has no problem juggling work, family needs and social life yet somehow cannot find the time to pray the rosary or some other form of intercessory prayer. Laziness leads us to bury our talent and do nothing with it like the wicked servant in today’s parable. What we need to ask ourselves is this: which of the three servants do I choose to follow in putting my talent of prayer at the service of our Master and His Kingdom?
The Master & Servants of the Parable
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