Do you trust in God’s gifts?
In our first reading from Wisdom this Sunday, the
relationship described between wife and husband is extraordinary. In spite of all of the limitations placed on
women in biblical times, the woman depicted here is called worthy, meaning that her deeds have been heroic, beyond the
norm. Her husband therefore entrusts his
own thoughts and indeed, his very self, to her, because she knows him deeply,
knows how he will act. Where does her
wisdom come from? The author suggests that it is her fear of the Lord
– her awe born of the recognition that all that she has and is is a gift from
God, from Love – that is the source of her empowerment. This good wife can lose herself in all that
God is doing in her; she is the epitome of all that is the best in humanity, as
she has learned from Love how to be love for other. And hence, as Psalm 128 suggests, she is blessed, as is the family she nurtures
and nourishes.
A similar appreciation (or lack thereof) of the gifts with
which God endows us percolates through the Parable of the Talents in Matthew’s
gospel as well. Of the three servants
entrusted with the master’s money, only two invest it properly and reap the
rewards of their investment; the last buries his share out of fear of
displeasing his master. But indeed, it
is precisely the last servant’s inaction that displeases the master: rather than trust the gift, and the giver,
this servant prefers safety and security to risk. Now apply this logic to love: love is, by its very nature, risky. If we ever hope to live fruitful Christian
lives, we need to be able to take the risk, open our hearts, give witness to
our faith, be transformed by that faith, and live our relationship with God
from a stance that includes fear of the
Lord, awe in all that God does for us.
When we are fully possessed by God, nothing stands in our way. Our hope is grounded in something we have yet
to encounter (our future beyond death), but we can share in the kingdom – share in the master’s joy – here and
now, acting, as Paul tells the Thessalonians, as children of the light, living in fear of the Lord and therefore with no reason to fear death, or
anything else. Then we will truly share in God’s joy, enjoying the fruit of
our handiwork, assured of the bliss that will be ours, in this life, and,
hopefully, in the life to come.
This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
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