Tunay na Talento

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mt. 25:14-30

Ever since I started working – and perhaps some of you also did the same – I tried exploring
investments, insurances, and even stock markets. I’ve known friends who have risked and
allotted their money in different insurance plans and diligently played, so to speak, in the stock
market. “It’s a risk,” they say, “but it’s better to risk and invest the money in such than to make it
stagnant in a vault.”

My dear friends, we hear in today’s parable Jesus speaking about talents. According to scholars,
a talent is probably worth 20 years wages. Let’s say a talent is approximately equivalent to
millions of pesos. Just imagine how huge of an amount the servants were given, i.e. five, three,
and one talent/s. Kapag may ganyan tayong kalaking pera, hindi rin ba natin ito iiinvest,
papalaguin, at ibabahagi sa iba?

Talents, as we come to understand it due to the English translation, isn’t only limited to God-
given skills and capacities. It’s also family, relationships, communication, friends, and
environment. Just as how we risk and invest our money, so, too, we are called to with our talents,
resources, relationships, and even care for the environment. Remember, my dear friends, talents
not shared become empty possessions.

While we may vary with the “talents” given by God, the point of the story is that we were given
more than we deserve, more than we need. We are given so much that we cannot but share. Oo,
mas malaki ang 5 talents kaysa 2 talents. Pero hindi ba siksik, liglig, at umaapaw na rin ang
halaga at kaya pang maibigay ng 2 talents? Kailangan lang natin matutunang magbukas, at
hindi magsara o magkupkop, ng ating mga kamay.

It’s also good to take note that we are reminded to invest the talents, not hoard it. However,
human weakness and experiences tell us how those who have more still crave and desire for
more – grabe umako, humangad, at ipagkait ang hindi naman talaga sa atin. If we are just
stewards of these talents, how come children are abused and exploited? How come women are
used for desires and sexual appetites? How come mountain ranges – one of our natural defenses
against heavy rains – are shaved of its trees? And how come money and possessions are hoarded
to the point of depriving others of what should’ve been theirs?

My dear friends, as we spend the remaining days of the Ordinary Time (and the Liturgical Year,)
and look forward in our preparation for the Advent and Christmas seasons, may we be able to
maximize the talents entrusted to us. Sana hindi tayo pangunahan ng pagiging gahaman,
makasarili, o maski ng katamaran, sa ating pagbabahagi ng mga talento. So that when the
Master returns, we can share in His joy, and hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful
servant.”