33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

Each and every one of us have talents and abilities unique to us. No two persons are exactly the same. Some people, unfortunately, go through life without living or realising their full potential. Some people are satisfied with doing only the barest minimum, and they often remark: "Why should we do too much? Why do more when we can get by by doing less?" The point is, God created us to live life to the fullest, not to live only a fraction or a small portion of our lives. If the way we are living is only 5% of what we are capable of, then we are wasting the other 95%. We are often reminded not to waste food, not to waste time frivolously, or not to waste our talents, but perhaps we should also remind ourselves not to waste our lives.

We should always be ready to meet the Lord at any time, and being ready means we should be giving glory to God in all we do. We may not be able to do everything, or get things done well, or achieve all our hopes and aspirations; but what matters is not the amount of things we have done, what matters is we have done our best for the glory of God.

In the first reading, we see the example of a perfect wife as a great example of what it means to be a Christian disciple. A perfect wife knows that “charm is deceitful and beauty empty.” What is important is that she is able to fulfil her roles and responsibilities, bringing “advantage and not hurt to her husband all the days of her life.” The perfect wife reminds us that we are made for the glory of God and not to bring hurt to Him or to others. Likewise, the gospel tells us the story of three servants who received different amount of talents from their master. The amount that they received is not important, as what matters is how they used what they received to benefit their master. Sometimes we may feel that we are receiving less than others and we may feel this is unfair. Why are we receiving less? We do not know, no one except God knows, but we ought to know that the more we receive, the more is expected of us. Whatever we receive ought to be used for the good of others and for the glory of God. If we just whine or complain that we do not have enough, if we do not bother to do anything with the little that we have, then even what we have will be taken away.

Are we making the best use of our lives? Are we living life to the fullest? Or are we living a life of mediocrity, thinking that we are not good, not capable, not talented, when the fact is we actually are? Remember that God has given us talents and gifts not for our personal gratification or to exalt ourselves (in Malay, not to "syiok sendiri"); God has given us talents and gifts for His greater glory. Let us not hesitate or procrastinate in our efforts to live life to the fullest or the best we can, since as St. Paul in the second reading reminds us: "But it is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a thief. No, you are all sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober."