November 15, 2026
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 157
Reading 1
Proverbs
31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31
When one finds a worthy wife,
her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart to her,
has an unfailing prize.
She brings him good, and not evil,
all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax
and works with loving hands.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting;
the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her a reward for her labors,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (cf. 1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Reading 2
Concerning times and seasons, brothers and sisters,
you have no need for anything to be written to you.
For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come
like a thief at night.
When people are saying, "Peace and security, "
then sudden disaster comes upon them,
like labor pains upon a pregnant woman,
and they will not escape.
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness,
for that day to overtake you like a thief.
For all of you are children of the light
and children of the day.
We are not of the night or of darkness.
Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do,
but let us stay alert and sober.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Remain in me as I remain in you, says the Lord.
Whoever remains in me bears much fruit.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"A man 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.'
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.
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.'"
Or
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"A man 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.
"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.'
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.'"
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111526.cfm
Commentary
on Proverbs 31:10-13,19-20,30-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30
This is, in effect, the last Ordinary Time Sunday of the
Church year. Next week, the 34th Sunday, we celebrate the feast of Christ the
King. And again, as last week, we are reminded not just of the end of the
liturgical year, but of the end of all things and the preparations we need to
make.
Last week, the story of the ten bridesmaids waiting for the
arrival of the bridegroom was about constant readiness for the final coming of
Christ. Today’s Mass is rather about the preparations we need to make.
The Second Reading reminds us that the Day of the Lord will
come “like a thief in the night”, when we least expect it, when we are least
ready:
…we are not of the night or of darkness. So, then, let us
not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
And what should we be doing while we are wide awake (and,
hopefully, sober!) in anticipation of the Lord’s coming?
The First Reading suggests that we should be as diligent and
industrious as a loyal and faithful wife. A perfect wife, Proverbs says, “is
far more precious than jewels”. She is hardworking, mainly for her family, but
she also:
…opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to
the needy.
Her value is not in her charm or her beauty, but in her
wisdom, that is, in her awareness of where the real priorities in life lie.
The Gospel passage, however, goes further in pinpointing the
ultimate purpose of our activities. It is the Parable of the Talents. One
talent was a very large sum of money, equivalent to thousands of dollars today.
The parable contains words of advice for the interim period between Christ’s
resurrection and his final return. It urges a responsible use of the goods the
Master has entrusted to us so that we may be ready to face him when he calls us
to account.
Distribution of talents
We see in the parable an employer entrusting his property to each of three
servants to administer while he is away. They are not given the same amount and
this implies that they have different abilities, or ‘talents’ as we would say
today. It is also implied that different returns are expected from different
abilities. People are not competing against each other, only against
themselves.
The first two, of whom one received five talents and one
received two talents, traded with what they had been given and doubled their
capital. The third, however, the one who received the least:
…went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his
master’s money.
In the Greek text, the word used for ‘gained’ or ‘made’ was
used in religious contexts for winning converts. Thus the parable suggests that
we are talking about the kind of ‘profit’ a Christian is meant to be aiming at,
which has nothing to do with dollars and cents. The man, therefore, who dug his
single talent into a hole was guilty of keeping it purely for himself and not
risking its exposure to others who could have benefited from his efforts.
“After a long time”, suggesting the long period between
Jesus’ resurrection and his coming again, the employer returns to call his
servants to account. He is very pleased with the first two who had done so well
as to double their original capital. Because they had shown such
trustworthiness and a willingness to take risks over what was relatively
little, they could now be confidently entrusted with much more. They could
enter the “joy of [their] master”, namely the Kingdom of God.
The third man came forward and sheepishly offered his single
talent. He had been afraid of his master and said:
Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where
you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter, so I was afraid, and I
went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.
The employer is very angry. At the very least, the money
could have been put in a bank and earned a modicum of interest. As it was, it
produced absolutely nothing. One is reminded here of the branches on the vine
which have no fruit and get thrown into the fire. In terms of the Gospel, it
speaks of the Christian, who may be very devout, but who makes no contribution
whatever to the life of the Christian community or to its mandate to give
witness to the Gospel before the world (something that can be far more risky
than commercial trading).
Four points
Discussing this passage, the theologian William Barclay makes four useful
points:
- God
gives each person different gifts:
Despite our tendencies always to compare ourselves with others, the actual number and quality of the gifts we are blessed with is not important. We are only asked to make full use of what we have been uniquely given, and to use our talents for the benefit of the community as a whole. When everyone does that, the community is enriched.
- Our
work is never completed:
When the first two servants showed how much they had earned, they were not told they could sit back and rest. No, because of their trustworthiness, even greater responsibilities were given to them:
For to all those who have, more will be given, and they
will have an abundance…
- The
one who will be punished is the one who does nothing:
The man with one talent did not lose it. He did not do anything at all with it. If he had tried and failed, he would have met compassion and forgiveness. The image of the master as a “harsh man” only emphasises that, if with such a person one should make an effort, all the more should one try where a loving, understanding and compassionate God is concerned. Even the person with one miserable talent has something to offer to others. It is a sober warning that it is not just those who do evil deeds who will lose out, but also those who have no positively good works to show. Saying “But I didn’t do anything!” will not get one off the hook!
- For
to all those who have, more will be given, but from those who have
nothing, even what they have will be taken away:
It seems rather unfair, like robbing the poor to pay the rich. But Jesus is rather saying that those who share generously the gifts they have been given are likely to find themselves constantly enriched. Those who jealously preserve what they have been given, hoard it and go into their shell in fear of the outside world are likely to shrivel up and die. Those who save their lives, will lose it; those who share generously what they have with others, will find themselves immeasurably enriched. It is the law of the gospel; it also a law of life which many of us, in practice, find hard to believe.
Refusal to change
It is in this context that another interpretation has been given to the
parable. Namely, that it is a criticism of a religious tradition which refuses
to develop. This is a constant phenomenon of all religions, including our own.
Many of the Jews in Jesus’ time jealously protected the Law and tradition. They
were opposed to any change or any development. In the process, they forgot the
original spirit of the Law and naturally were opposed to Jesus, who constantly
criticised this stance. In our Church today, there are people who do not want
to change anything, who want to go back to the old ways of doing things. They
want to bury the Spirit of God in a ‘shroud’ of tradition. They want old wine
in old wineskins. This is not the way to Life.
Finally, we need to spend some time reflecting—and how about
today—on what particular talents or gifts God has given us. Some of us are
clearly very gifted, but there is no one, absolutely no one, who can say they
have been gifted with nothing. And we can ask ourselves how are we using our
particular gifts in the service of our Christian community and the wider
society? Any other use of them is to bury them in a shroud and render them
unproductive. If we were to die today and met Jesus and he asked us:
How did you use the gifts and talents I gave you? Who
benefited and how from those gifts?
What would we be able to say in reply?
And the Master is going to come back, “like a thief in the
night”, so we need to be ready. If you have buried that talent or used it in
only selfish ways, get out there quickly and get it working for the Kingdom.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary/oa331/
Sunday,
November 15, 2026
Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to
read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on
the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped
them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence
and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for
them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to
your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above
all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the
two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and
witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity,
justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us
the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
Reading
The Division of the Text to Help in the
Reading:
• Matthew
25: 14-15: The master distributes his goods among his servants
• Matthew
25: 16-18: The way of acting of each servant
• Matthew
25: 19-23: The rendering of account of the first and second servant
• Matthew
25: 24-25: The rendering of account of the third servant
• Matthew
25: 26-27: Response of the master to the third servant
• Matthew
25: 28-30: The final word of the master which clarifies the parable
Key for the Reading:
In this 33rd Sunday of the Ordinary Time we
shall meditate on the Parable of the Talents which deals with two very
important themes and very up to date: (i) The gifts which each person receives
from God and the way in which he receives them. Each person has qualities,
talents, with which he can and should serve others. Nobody is only a pupil,
nobody is only a professor. We learn from one another. (ii) The attitude with
which persons place themselves before God who has given us his gift. During the
reading, we shall try to be very attentive to these two points: which is the
attitude of the three servants regarding the gifts received and which is the
image of God that this parable reveals to us?
Gospel Text – Matthew 25: 14-30
“It is like a man about to go abroad who
summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five
talents, to another two, to a third one, each in proportion to his ability.
Then he set out on his journey. The man who had received the five talents
promptly went and traded with them and made five more. The man who had received
two made two more in the same way. But the man who had received one went off
and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
Now a long time afterwards, the master of
those servants came back and went through his accounts with them. The man who
had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. ‘Sir,’ he said,
‘you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.’ His
master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown
you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and
join in your master's happiness.’ Next
the man with the two talents came forward. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me
with two talents; here are two more that I have made.’ His master said to him,
‘Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in
small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness.’
Last came forward the man who had the single
talent. ‘Sir,’ said he, ‘I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you had
not sown and gathering where you had not scattered; so I was afraid, and I went
off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it
back.’
But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and
lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I
have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited my money with the
bankers, and on my return I would have got my money back with interest. So now,
take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the ten talents. For to
everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but
anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has. As for this
good-for-nothing servant, throw him into the darkness outside, where there will
be weeping and grinding of teeth.’"
A Moment of Prayerful Silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten
our life.
Some Questions
… to help us in our personal reflection.
•
Which is the point of this text which has
pleased me the most and which has struck me more? Why?
•
In the parable the three servants receive
according to their capacity. Which is the attitude of each one of them
concerning the gift received?
•
Which is the reaction of the master? What does
he demand from his servants?
•
How should the following phrase be understood:
“To everyone who has will be given more and he will have more than enough; but
anyone who has not will be deprived even of what he has”?
•
What image of God does the parable reveal to us?
For Those Who Wish to Deepen the Theme
Context of our Text in the Gospel of
Matthew:
The “Parable of the Talents” (Mt 25: 14-30)
forms part of the 5th Sermon of the New Law (Mt 24: 1-25: 46). These three
parables clarify the context relative to the time of the coming of the Kingdom.
the parable of the Ten Virgins insists on vigilance: The Kingdom of God can
arrive from one moment to the next. The parable of the talents orientates on
the growth of the Kingdom: the Kingdom grows when we use the gifts received to
serve. The parable of the Final Judgment teaches how to take possession of the
Kingdom: the Kingdom is accepted, when we accept the little ones.
One of the things which exercise
greater influence in our life is the idea that we have of God. Among the Jews
of the class of the Pharisees, some imagined God as a severe Judge who treated
the persons according to the merits acquired by the observance of the law. That
caused fear and prevented the persons from growing. It prevented them from
opening a space within themselves to accept the new experience of God which
Jesus communicated. To help these persons, Matthew narrates the parable of the
talents. Commentary on the Text:
•
Matthew 25: 14-15: A door to enter into the
story of the parable
The parable tells the story of a man, who before setting
out on a journey, distributes his goods to his servants, giving five, two and
one talent, according to the capacity of each one of them. A talent corresponds
to 34 kilos of gold, which is not a small amount! In the last instance, all
receive the same thing, because each one receives “according to his capacity,”
The one who has a big cup he fills it, the one who has a small cup, he also
fills it. Then the master goes abroad and remains there a long time. The story
leaves us a bit perplexed! We do not know why the master distributed his money
to the servants, we do not know which will be the end of the story. Perhaps the
purpose is that all those who listen to the parable must begin to confront
their life with the story told in the parable.
•
Matthew 25: 16-18: The way of acting of each
servant.
The first two servants worked and doubled the talents. But
the one who received one talent buries it, to keep it well and not lose it. It
is a question of the goods of the Kingdom which are given to persons and to
communities according to their capacity. All receive some goods of the Kingdom,
but not all respond in the same way!
•
Matthew 25: 19-23: The rendering of account of
the first and second servant After a long time, the master returns to take an
account from the servants. The first two say the same thing: “Sir, you gave me
five / two talents. Here are other five / two which I have gained!”
And the master responds in the same way to both: “Well
done, good and trustworthy servant, you have shown that you are trustworthy in
small things, I will trust you with greater, come and join in your master’s
happiness.”
•
Matthew 25: 24-25: Rendering of an account of
the third servant
The third servant arrives and says: “Sir, I had heard you
were a hard man, reaping where you had not sown and gathering where you had not
scattered, so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground.
Here it is, it was yours, you have it back!” In this phrase there is an
erroneous idea of God which is criticized by Jesus. The servant sees in God a
severe master. Before such a God, the human being is afraid and hides himself
behind the exact and meticulous observance of the law. He thinks that acting in
this way he will avoid the judgment and that the severity of the legislator
will not punish him. This is how some Pharisees thought. In reality, such a
person has no trust in God, though he trusts in himself and in his observance
of the law. It is a person closed up in himself, far from God and does not
succeed to be concerned about others. This person becomes incapable of growing
like a free person. This false image of God isolates the human being, kills the
community, does not help to live in joy and impoverishes life.
•
Matthew 25: 26-27: Response of the master to the
third servant
The response of the master is ironic. He says: “You wicked
and lazy servant! So, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather
where I have not scattered? Well, then, you should have deposited my money with
the bankers, and on my return, I would have got my money back with interest!”
The third servant was not coherent with the severe image which he had of God.
If he had imagined God so severe, he would, at least, have deposited the money
in the bank. This is why he was condemned not by God, but by the wrong idea
which he had of God and which left him more terrified and immature than he was.
It was not possible for him to be coherent having the image of God which he
had, because fear paralyses life.
•
Matthew 25: 28-30: The final word of the master
which clarifies the parable
The master asks that the talent be taken away from him and
given to the one who already has: For to everyone who has will be given more,
and he will have more than enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived
even of what he has.” This is the key which clarifies everything. In reality,
the talents, “the money of the master,” the goods of the Kingdom, are the love,
service, sharing, the gratuitous gift. A talent is everything that makes the
community grow and which reveals the presence of God. When one is closed in
oneself out of fear of losing the little that one has, one loses even that
little that one has, because love dies, justices is weakened, sharing
disappears. Instead, the person who does not think in self and gives himself to
others, grows and, surprisingly, receives everything which he has given and
much more. “Because anyone who finds his life will lose it, but anyone who
loses his own life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 10: 39)
Deepening:
The Different Currency of the
Kingdom:
There is no difference between those who
receive more and those who receive less. All receive according to their
capacity. What is important is that the gift is placed at the service of the
Kingdom and that it makes the goods of the Kingdom grow, which are love,
fraternity, sharing. The principal key of the parable does not consist in
producing talents but indicates the way in which it is necessary to live our
relationship with God.
The first two servants ask for nothing, they
do not seek their own well-being, they do not keep the talents for themselves,
they make no calculations, they do not measure. Very naturally, almost without
being aware and without seeking any merit for themselves, they begin to work,
in order that the gift received bears fruit for God and for the Kingdom.
The third servant is afraid and, because of
this, does nothing. According to the norms of the ancient law, he acts in a
correct way. He remains within the established exigencies. He loses nothing,
but neither does he gain anything. Because of this he loses even what he had.
The Kingdom is a risk. The one who does not want to run risks, loses the
Kingdom!
Psalm 62
In God Alone There is Rest for My Soul
In God alone there is rest for
my soul, from him comes my safety: he alone is my rock, my safety,
my stronghold so that I stand unshaken. How much longer will
you set on a victim, all together, intent on murder,
like a rampart already leaning
over, a wall already damaged? Trickery is their only plan, deception their only
pleasure, with lies on their lips they pronounce a blessing, with a curse in
their hearts.
Rest in God alone, my soul! He
is the source of my hope.
He alone is my rock, my safety, my
stronghold, so that I stand unwavering. In God is my safety and my glory, the
rock of my strength. In God is my refuge;
trust in him, you people, at all times. Pour out your hearts
to him, God is a refuge for us.
Ordinary people are a mere puff of wind, important people a
delusion; set both on the scales together,
and they are lighter than a puff of wind. Put no trust in
extortion, no empty hopes in robbery;
however, much wealth may multiply, do not set your heart on
it. Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this:
Strength belongs to God, to you, Lord, faithful love; and
you repay everyone as their deeds deserve.
Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to
understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions
and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us.
May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word.
You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever
and ever. Amen.
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