AT ZACCHAEUS’ HOUSE Jesus told a parable inculcating diligence and showing that His kingdom was not imminent.
“A certain nobleman went into a far country to obtain for himself a kingdom and then return. And having summoned ten of his servants, he gave them ten gold pieces and said to them, ‘Trade till I come.'”
“But his citizens hated him; and they sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not wish this man to be king over us.’ And it came to pass when he had returned, after receiving the kingdom, that he ordered the servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him in order that he might learn how much each one had made by trading.”
“And the first came, saying, ‘Lord, thy gold piece has earned ten gold pieces.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because thou hast been faithful in a very little, thou shalt have authority over ten towns.'”
“Then the second came, saying, ‘Lord, thy gold piece has made five gold pieces.’ And he said to him, ‘Be thou also over five towns.'”
“And another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold thy gold piece, which I have kept laid up in a napkin; for I feared thee, because thou art a stern man. Thou takest up what thou didst not lay down, and thou reapest what thou didst not sow.’ He said to him, ‘Out of thy own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I am a stern man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow. Why, then, didst thou not put my money in a bank, so that I on my return might have gotten it with interest?’ And he said to the bystanders, ‘Take away the gold piece from him, and give it to him who has the ten gold pieces.’ But they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten gold pieces.'”
The parable ends with a rebuke by the angry king:
” ‘I say to you that to everyone who has shall be given; but from him who does not have, even that which he has shall be taken away. But as for these my enemies, who do not want me to be king over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.’ “
Meditation: Each of us has been given “gold pieces” by our Creator. These talents are to be used to praise God and to secure eternal life with Him. We cannot rest secure in them, thinking that with them we need the help of no one-not even God, at times. For at death they are to be returned to their Maker, and all account rendered of their use. Do I realize that I am only the steward of the talents I possess?
Information from The Life of Christ “Our Lord’s Life with Lesson in His Own Words for Our Life Today” The Catholic Press, Inc. 1959. 189-190. © 1954 edited by Reverend John P. O’Connell, MASTD and Jex Martin, following mainly A Chronological Harmony of the Gospels by Stephen J Hartdegen OFM NIHIL OBSTAT John A McMahon; IMPRIMATUR Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago August 1, 1953. Print. Drawing by Albert H Winkler.
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