Necessity of Secure Attachment and Trust to Make Our Diligent Work Fruitful: A Lesson from the Parable of the Talent - Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Upon entering Jerusalem triumphantly, people exuberantly welcomed him as the prophet from Nazareth, shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9; cf. Psalm 118:25-26), recognizing him as the Davidic Messiah, as well as, the prophet from Nazareth (Matthew 21:11). Then Jesus entered the Temple area and became very upset to see the sacred area turned into a den of robbers (Matthew 21:12). So, he cleansed the area and went to Bethany (Matthew 21:12-17). This resulted in the inquisition of Jesus’ authority by the religious leaders of Israel on the following day (Matthew 21:23-27). Jesus’ response to this turned into series of confrontations of their sinfulness and hypocrisy (Matthew 21:28-22:46). Then, Jesus turned to the crowd and denounced the leaders (Matthew 23:1-36) and lamented over Jerusalem for her impending destruction for rejecting prophets and being about to kill him (Matthew 23:37-40).

After criticizing the leaders publicly in the Temple area, Jesus foretold the complete destruction of the Temple to them to his disciples (Matthew 24:1-2), as to reiterate his lamentation over Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-40). Then, he took them to the Mount of Olives and gave a discourse on the end of the age (Matthew 24:3-25:46). This eschatological discourse of Jesus to his disciples is known as the Olivette Discourse or Little Apocalypse. On Cycle A, for the last three Sundays of the Liturgical Year, the Gospel Readings (Matthew 25:1-13/32^nd Sunday; Matthew 25:14-30/33^rd Sunday; Matthew 25:31-46/34^th Sunday (Christ the King Sunday)) are drawn from the Olivette Discourse.

A point of Jesus’ teaching on the end of the age from the Gospel Reading of the 32^nd Sunday (Matthew 25:1-13), which is also known as the parable of the ten virgins, was preparedness at any time to stay alert for the coming of Christ, as exemplified by the wise virgins.  From the Gospel Reading of the 33^rd Sunday (Matthew 25:14-30), which is known as the parable of the talents, what Jesus teaches us is fruitfulness of our work with what is given by God, as exemplified by the servants, who let the talents received from their master grow. Then, through the Gospel Reading of Christ the King Sunday (34^th Sunday) (Matthew 25:31-46), which is called the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus reminds us that the entrance into the Kingdom of God eternally at the end of the age is hinged upon how well we observe what Jesus see the greatest commandment, which is to love God above all and love our neighbors as if they were ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40; cf. Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18; cf. Luke 10:25-37).

With the above context, let us look into the Gospel Reading of the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time on Cycle A (Matthew 25:14-30), which is known as the parable of the talents.

In this parable, the master entrusts talents to his three servants according to their respective abilities while he is gone on a journey (Matthew 25:14). The master going on a journey is a metaphor of Christ going away from the earth to the heaven through the ascension (i.e. John 14:1-10; Luke 25:50-53) until his Parousia (Matthew 24:29-31; cf. Revelation 22:7).  So the master gave the first servant five talents, the second one two talents, and the third one a talent, according to their respective abilities (Matthew 25:15). Note that the master did not distribute the talents “equally” to his servants but according to their abilities. It is because God knows us better than anyone else (i.e. Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139:13-16).

A talent is a large monetary unit, equivalent to at least 15 years of daily wage, during the time of Jesus. So great is the trust that the master puts on his servants.

So, what did these servants do with the talents entrusted by their master? How did they respond to the master’s trust in them?

The one who received the five talents turned these two fold, and the one who received the two talents also doubled the talents by trading (Matthew 25:16-17). But the one who received one talent simply buried it in the ground (Matthew 25:18).

Then, upon the master’s return, all of his servants were held accountable for the talents entrusted to them (Matthew 25:19). The two servants who let the talents grow twofold respectively were rewarded with greater and the privilege to share his joy (Matthew 25:20-23). The greater responsibilities suggest that those responded the master’s trust with good stewardship by multiplying the talents are elevated to leadership roles. And being privileged to share the master’s joy can mean the servants’ complete joy (i.e. John 15:11). However, the one who buried the talent and did not let it grow at all was condemned into eternal agony for failing to be fruitful with the talent given to him (Matthew 25:24-30).

The master did not necessarily expect this incompetent servant to trade as the other two did. The master knew that the condemned servant was afraid of an inherent risk of trading. But he pointed out that he still could have done better with the talent than burying it. So he said:

Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? (Matthew 25:27).

Even you are afraid of putting money in socks to trade, won’t you put it in a safe CD account to let it grow with some interests over the term?

The master did not buy this incompetent servant’s “excuse” of “not lose the talent”. The master’s judgement is just for calling him “wicked and lazy” (Matthew 25:26).

The two servants who doubled the value of the talents by trading took risks but worked diligently to manage them, while the incompetent one did nothing upon burying it for not losing it. The contrast between the diligence and the sloth drawn from the parable of the talent (Matthew 25:14-30) can be juxtaposed to the contrast between being wise and being foolish found in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) and the contrast between the sheep (those who observed the commandment to love God and love neighbors) and the goat (those who fail to observe this commandment to love) (Matthew 25:31-46).

It is obvious that the servants who let the talents entrusted to them grow have are in good relation with their master. However, the one who failed to let the talent grow and therefore condemned is not, as he regards his master as demanding and as if a thief by saying, “harvesting where he did not plant” (Matthew 25:24).

Besides his sloth, what is behind the wickedness of the one who failed to let the talent grow, is the way he sees the master. While the two who were able to share the master’s joy for their fruitful works with the talents see him as a benevolent figure, the one who was condemned sees otherwise, perhaps, as a cold-hearted one.

Why did the lazy and wicked servant only saw his master in such a negative way as a demanding and greedy one and as one to be afraid of for punishment?

Integrating the psychosocial development theory of Erik Erickson and the attachment theory of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth may give some insights as to why the condemned servants’ negative object relation to the master. Based on this, this lazy and wicked servant failed to form secure attachment with the master, resulting in his inability to trust him. This makes him insecure in his object relation to the master. Therefore, the master is a figure to be afraid.

Biblically, this psychological problem of the lazy and wicked servant with his mater reflects how the object relation of Adam and Eve was altered upon the Original Sin (Genesis 3:1-24). As Adam and Eve were unable to hold themselves accountable to God for their actions but attributed their acts on another being respectively (Genesis 3:12-13), the lazy and wicked servant was not able to hold himself accountable for the talent given to him by attributing to the master’s character (Matthew 25: 24-25). Of course, the way this servant regarded the master is cognitively distorted because of his insecurity and distrust, just as how sin can do to our recognition of another person, likewise. For him, there is no joyful moment with his master, as he is always in fear of being punished by him – as Adam hid for being afraid of God upon his sin (Genesis 3:10). Irrational fear is a symptom of insecurity and distrust. And this is a root of the lazy and wicked servant’s problem.

This is why our benevolent and generous master, Lord Jesus Christ, wants to make sure we form secure attachment so that we can trust him and his providence – so that we can be fruitful with our work on his grace bestowed upon us respectively – to make our joy complete by sharing his (John 15:1-11). This way, we are not afraid of risks and make our works with his grace fruitful. So, we are motivated to work not only diligently but wisely.

So being securely attached to Christ, our master, fully trusting him, we can serve him like the two servants, who doubled the talents entrusted in them by the master (Matthew 25:20-23). This way, we serve God, as the worthy wife serves her husband diligently without being swayed by any tempting distractions (Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31). The secure attachment and trust in the Lord not only keeps us diligent in our works with the grace bestowed on us but keeping us alert all the time so that we can readily hold ourselves accountable to him upon his return, even it is at an unexpected hour (1 Thessalonians 5:1-6).

This Liturgical Year will end soon. The end of the liturgical year is metaphorically compared to the end of the age. And then, we all will be held accountable for what we do with God’s grace. Is your work with the grace entrusted to our stewardship bearing abundant fruit? Or, does your fear of God keep you unable to do anything with the grace because you are afraid of being punished by Him for losing it?

Let us not bear God’s grace in ourselves. Let us “invest” it in others through our diligent observance of the greatest commandment to love God and to love our neighbors, especially those who are least among us! As long as we are securely attached to the Lord and trust his care, our “investment” and hard work will bear abundant fruits so that we can share the joy of the Lord!

The end is coming. There is not much time left to this liturgical year. There is no time to be spent idly and wasted in fear. This also means to look forward to joyfully presenting the fruit of our diligent work to the Lord soon!