Daily Reflections ...

Jesus is coming to the end of his journey to Jerusalem in today’s gospel. His followers have been learning what it means to be a disciple, and Jesus, through today’s parable, continues to prepare them for discipleship.

The parable describes a man of noble birth who is going away to be made king. He leaves ten of his slaves ten pounds and asks them to look after his affairs. Some trade successfully, but one, afraid of the nobleman, wrapped it in a cloth. When the new king returns, those who invested well are praised and rewarded, and the one who wrapped the pound in cloth is scolded and taken off, and the pound is given to one of the faithful slaves.

Jesus delivers the parable of the ten pounds to highlight the disciples’ responsibility to speak of God’s Word, share the Kingdom and be faithful. Jesus reveals they are to love faithfully in the world where many resist God’s grace.   

This parable calls us to action. Each of us has been given a particular gift or talent that we are expected to use, develop, nurture, invest, and share for the growth of the Kingdom. We are then blessed with more, as Jesus describes in the parable, ‘I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given’. (v26) When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we become more like him; when we love like Jesus, we become more capable of loving. The more we cultivate listening to the Word, the more open we become to hearing God.

Jesus challenges us to invest in our gifts, share our resources with others, and do it with love.

by Lisa McKerr