Homily for 33rd Sun OT, Year A
Fr. Albert
St. Peter’s, New Iberia, LA
“When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls.” That is the encouragement of Proverbs 31, our first reading. In fact, the whole chapter is famous for its description of what makes a woman a “worthy wife.” Immediately, we might want to object at the idea that a woman’s only goal should be becoming a wife. We might object to the comparison of a woman to jewelry or monetary gain, as if she were decoration or someone’s property. But, let’s be fair and hear what this ancient wisdom has to say.
“Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize.” Already, it’s clear that the worthy wife is more than a trophy. To entrust your heart to someone is a profound act of trust and an immense sign of respect. No, the Proverbs 31 wife is not a second-class citizen and she is not property. She is trusted with a most prized possession, the very depth of who a person is… their heart. And what does such a woman do with the heart of another human being? She brings good and not evil. Who could object to that?
Then we hear of wool and flax, the distaff and the spindle; These are materials for making clothing. This woman does not just care for her husband. She works too. The production of clothing was a central part of the ancient economy. Scripture uses the image of making clothes as a sign of her ability to work and provide. It’s not about the kind of work, but the fact that she is diligent and loving in the work that she does.
Finally, scripture is telling us that women deserve to be properly rewarded for their labor: equal pay. Even more, they ought to be praised at the city gates – given public recognition for the good they do. This proverbial good wife is not the concoction of some misogynist caveman, but a genuinely valued human being with a rightful place in society.
But what does a worthy wife have to do with the business ventures we see in the Gospel? Jesus tells a parable about a man who leaves a whole lot of money to his servants and evidently wants them to turn that money into even more money. A “talent” was a very valuable coin in the ancient world. By today’s standards, a talent is hundreds of thousands of dollars. Two of the servants would probably do just fine in today’s stock market, but the third hides his money and pays a pretty serious price for disappointing his master and primary stock-holder.
But it’s not about the money. Actually, our word “talent” – meaning “ability” – comes from the ancient word for the coin that Jesus is talking about. Everything we have – money, talents, opportunities – all of that depends on God who created everything, who keeps everything in existence, and who is the ultimate master of the universe. So, we are meant use these gifts to improve ourselves and the world.
As we can see from the third servant, failing to make a return on God’s investment leads to disastrous consequences. Those of us who fail will be cast into “the outer darkness” with “wailing and grinding of teeth.” With that kind of threat looming over our heads, it tempting to agree with the third servant that God is “a demanding person.”
And it’s true – he is demanding – but that’s not the point. The point is the actually the same thing that connects us back to the “worthy wife” of the first reading. The point, in a word, is trust. A husband “entrusts his heart” to the worthy wife. God entrusts his heart to each of us, his servants, because we are the Church, the bride – the worthy wife – of Jesus Christ and God. And like the worthy wife, Christians are rewarded and praised by God if they prove to be faithful.
Yes, the worthy wife – actually, all Christian wives – are meant to be signs to us. Marriage is a sacrament, which is a visible sign of an invisible reality. In a marriage, the wife is a sign and symbol that is supposed to remind each Christian and the whole Church of how we should respond to God. God entrusts his heart to us as a man entrusts his heart to his wife. That third servant’s first mistake was not realizing that. God does not start with judgment, threats, and the wailing and grinding of teeth. No, he does something naïve and reckless and trusts us. The master in the parable doesn’t for a second stop to think that maybe these servants will let him down.
And notice that no one in the parable is punished for failing to make enough money. Either they try and succeed, or they never try at all. The master – God – trusts his servants. He never even tells them how much he expects back. He rejoices at the success of the first two and gives them the same reward. When he punishes the third servant, he even suggests that simply putting the coin in the bank would have been enough. It was the lack of trying that cost him.
But why? Why did this servant not even try? Because he was afraid to fail. He overlooked the most important detail in the whole story. The master entrusted his possessions to the servants each according to their ability. The master knew what he was capable of and he trusted him. But the servant didn’t see the trust and the servant didn’t trust him back. He was so focused on the outcome that he was afraid. He got it into his head that all his master wanted was more money, more work and he let that preconceived idea blind him to who God really is.
What about you? Do you realize that God has trusted you with his very heart? Literally, in the Eucharist, we receive the heart of Jesus. How often do we drop crumbs of the Eucharist – the very heart of Jesus – because we don’t pay attention? How often do we not even bother to invest in confession and so receive him unworthily? How often do we dig a hole in the ground and bury ourselves in fear and doubt? We doubt that we can do anything that God will approve of. Absurdly, we are afraid of the God who lets us eat his flesh.
If all you see is the demanding God who will expect his money back, you will be paralyzed by fear of failure, doubt, and sin. But if you want to “enter into your master’s joy,” then you have too look again. The servants who made double their money didn’t do it because they were clever. Don’t even bother to ask, “what if I’m not good enough?” Don’t you dare hang on to your own imaginary ideas about how unfair or demanding God is.
The servants who succeeded did it because they started with the facts. The looked at reality and got to work. And the reality is this: God loves you and he entrusts his most prized possession to you, his Son. Tear your eyes away from fear. Tear your eyes away from the false promise of comfort and laziness. Tear your eyes away from the illusions of entertainment and technology. Look at the reality. See that God loves you and he has already trusted you. Keep looking at that and keep trying. I promise… God promises… If you do that if trust and try, you will hear those blessed words “Come, enter into your master’s joy.”
