Tag: christianity

The Gift of Life: Lessons from the Parable of the Talents

The Parable of the Talents says it all.

I am almost never surprised at how dim-witted I am at times. I hear something over and over again, yet I don’t understand all the nuances and meanings. Maybe I am not slow; perhaps it is the human part of maturing. It takes a significant amount of time to remove the noise of the world from your life to focus on the truth of our reality.

I go to Mass on a nearly daily basis. I hear and read the daily readings. One particular reading that struck me recently, though it has always been meaningful to me, was the parable of the talents. Why is it that at this particular time in my life I find it has deeper meaning?

It is and will always be difficult for us to quiet our minds during prayer or for any other reason. Our minds are always racing to the next thing. So, sitting in the pews, listening to the word of God each day, helps me center my life and soul to try to do His will. Though I often fail, this is always my goal.

It hit me during the reading of this parable: it is not just about the talents, but about us in our entirety. Each individual human being has been given the gift of life. With that gift, we have been given a certain set of skills and abilities to create for the betterment of life, not only for ourselves but for those around us. We do not exist solely for our own purpose; that is what the devil sows, leading to discontent and misery. In saying this, I am trying to clarify that we must always do good for our neighbor and also care for what God has given us, to nurture and grow in and for the world.

In the commandment to love your neighbor lies the most important key to finding happiness and joy in this life. Why is it that the two first and most important commandments also point to the exact same thing?

The first commandment, love the Lord your God above everyone and everything, is so simple, yet most people can’t grasp its meaning. This command helps us order ourselves correctly. We didn’t create ourselves, and we cannot create life. We didn’t create the gifts we have. In fact, we are merely receivers of all these gifts, and because of this, we need to approach all things with humility, always acknowledging that we are merely stewards.

It is much like when we get a new car: we drive it and care for it. We may even love it in the sense marveling at this creation that others were able to produce. But we don’t run around acting like we created the car or that we are better than those who created it because we added a more expensive set of tires or a better sound system. The reality is the vehicle is a gift, and of course, we can improve it if we have been given the gifts and ability to do so. But we are never truly the originators, the foundation; we are merely stewards.

Sadly, rejecting the gifts we’ve been given distorts reality. Our self-centered society, envious of creation, often denies our true nature and purpose. This rejection of what is good and beautiful, favoring destruction over creation, is the essence of horror. It’s why so many people suffer from sadness, depression, and emptiness, trapped in a void where nothing fulfills its purpose, leading to a deep sense of despair. Some even harm their own bodies, turning what may begin as adornment into excessive defacement, such as through extreme tattooing, thus dishonoring the gift of their physical form.

We must accept the gifts we have been given in all their simplicity. These are our unique and truly individual talents. Accepting the responsibility of stewardship means not only caring for our own talents and gifts but also caring for those of our neighbors. It has become clear to me in my maturing that our lives are finite. We have all been given a canvas on which we can create a beautiful painting of our lives. Yes, we will make mistakes, and there will be struggles, but you can paint beautifully with crooked lines when you do it with goodwill and love for others. The vision and goal are to create something beautiful with the talents you have been given.

As I have progressed in my life, I have noticed that the more I do for others, the more I am able to grow and improve as a person. I hold nothing back from anyone. I share all of my knowledge and teach the next generation, not solely in my areas of expertise but, more importantly, through the application of my talents to help others grow. I look at the world as God’s vineyard, and I am but one of many persons tending to creation. The others alongside me will learn and grow with my help. I must decrease as they increase, and so is life.

Hence, the parable of the talents is all about what I have shared here. It is about you and me. It is not about making money or having successes. It is about helping to expand creation through the gifts the good Lord has given us. Loving, caring, and sharing with humility are the seeds of our participation in creation.

Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, 14-30

The Parable of the Talents.

c “It will be as when a man who was going on a journey* called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.

To one he gave five talents;* to another, two; to a third, one—to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately

the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five.

Likewise, the one who received two made another two.

* But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.

After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them.

The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five.* He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’

d His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’

[Then] the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’

His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’

Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘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. Here it is back.’

His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!* So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter?

Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return?

Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.

* e For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

* And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’

The World Full of Lost Souls

Finding the True Shepherd

It is truly perplexing how mankind is always lost. It seems you can give a person a map and he will turn it upside. You can show him joy and he will turn it to sadness. You can give him peace and he will ruin it with violence and greed. One interesting thing is people comment on it like it is a sport.

Ultimately, you can always tell the fruits of one’s work or action by the results it brings forth. But for some reason mankind sees the results of certain actions and continues to persist with the actions that they know will perpetuate negative results.

Somehow people are still falling for the same tired lies. Marxism and all its forms will bring nothing but destruction. It has been tried and tested, has failed miserably. It’s evangelist falls back over and over again on its most popular myth, “It hasn’t really been tried”. The list goes on and on of where it has been tried, and how it always converts into the same gutter trap, a form of dictatorship and enslavement of the masses in all its many forms. The constant propaganda being fed to the populace that a government will solve their problems is a lie that destroys all hope, joy, and purpose in life.

Now they want to destroy the United States of America. Sadly, these people with their complete lack of morality will likely succeed. They have taken a bite of the apple and though the fruit is bitter they will engage believing that mankind can create heaven on earth or nirvana, whichever you prefer. They believe anarchy and violence towards our system of government will somehow liberate them. When studying history, it is easily revealed that their socialist end goal will bring injustice, poverty, and misery.

The USA was not perfect by any means. But in the last ten years it has become a much more imperfect place and has fallen to become a world full of lies in which the new order is attempting to control the people. The push is for more legalized drugs and the acceptance of all forms of sexual perversions as a right above all things decent. I believe the main reason for this is the lack of respect for human life.

When a people do not believe life has any value and it is cheap, it will act that way. This is why our leaders are leading us into wars and creating scenarios for more. That is why our government wants us, the taxpayers, to fund the destruction of human beings in the womb. That is why our government is pushing for the destruction of children’s bodies for the Frankenstein like experimentation on our young, knowing full well, that unlike God, humans can no more change the natural born sex of a person than we can create new worlds.

Does any of that sound to you like people we want running our government? Do you feel the desire to raise the flag in your house when you hear of these horrors and for some reason feel an inability to stop it? I know I don’t. If I raise the flag, it is in remembering the USA of the past, not the present with all its globalist, socialist anarchistic schemes.

All is not lost because there is but one truth and how I pray that people would search in their hearts and know it.  How do you know as a people, that you leadership cares or has love for you? Iti is simple, by their actions.

Below is Excerpt from Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI;

“In the same way, the “sheep”, who after all are people created by God, images of God, do not belong to the shepherd as if they were things-though that is what the thief, and robber thinks when he takes possession of them. Herein lies the distinction between, the owner, the true shepherd, and the robber, for ideologues and the dictators, human beings are merely a thing that they possess. For the true Shepherd, however, they are free in relation to truth and love; the Shepherd proves that they belong to him, precisely by knowing and loving them, by wishing them to be in the freedom of truth. They belong to him through oneness of “knowing,” through the communion in the truth that the Shepherd himself is. This is why he does not use them, but gives his life for them. Just as Logos and Incarnation, Logos and passion belong together, so too knowing and self-giving are ultimately one.”

The lies we are now seeing constantly propagated through the mainstream media, by our politicians who believe themselves above us when they are beholden to us, and other nefarious global entities such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and the World Health Organization do nothing more than bring despair to our society.

Human life is the highest and most sacred creature on the planet. We need to know that each individual has value, and we need to protect the individual as a special autonomous person and not a vassal of any government. Once people are affirmed in their value to society, then they will have an open heart to embrace the truth.

The truth can be found in Jesus Christ and when people can put aside all prejudices and open their hearts, they will find it irresistible to follow for he is the true Shepherd who cares for us. Not Karl Marx.

John 8:31-32

Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.