In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Christ, our King.
Thy Kingdom come!
Preparatory prayer (to put me in the presence of God)
Lord, thank you for the talents you have given me. Do not allow apathy or discouragement to lead me to bury them or to use them for my personal benefit. Enlighten my prayer, allow me to approach you with confidence and with a sincere heart, to detach myself from my will and unite myself more to yours.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 25:14-30
At that time Jesus told his disciples this parable: A man who was going abroad called his servants and entrusted his property to them: to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his ability. And he who had received two talents gained two talents more. But he who had received one went away, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. And he who had received five talents came and presented five talents, saying, 'Lord, you gave me five talents; here are five talents more that I have gained. His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your lord. The man with the two talents also came and said, 'Lord, you gave me two talents; here are two more that I have gained. His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your lord. He also who had received a talent came and said, 'Lord, I know that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered. Therefore I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Behold, here is what is yours. But his master answered him, "You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter; so you should have given my money to the bankers, and then, when I returned, I would have received what was mine with interest. Take therefore his talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has, it will be given and will be left over; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast that unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
In this passage I seem to discover a severe God, an ambitious God who only cares about his money and the efficiency of his employees. But I do not need to remain in the superficial of your Gospel but to be able to go to the deep, to the teaching that you want to leave me.
One thing I could look at is that you do not leave any worker without talent. To all you give something with which they can be fruitful. To one you give ten, to another five, to another one. And to me, how many have you given? ... Give me the grace to discover what those talents are and help me not to compare myself with those who may have more or better talents than mine. You have distributed the talents according to each one's capacity.
Talents are not a right. They are a gift that your love gives me. Generally a gift is received to use it, to put it into action, to share it. I do not receive it to keep it uncovered and to keep it out of my life. This is what that servant of the Gospel did. He did not stop to value the trust his master had given him, nor the value of the only talent he possessed, nor how much he could gain from it. He simply received and hid, unearthed and delivered.
Give me the grace, Lord, to put to work the gifts, the talents you have given me. May I not be afraid to risk the talents you have given me in order to make them multiply. Give me the necessary confidence to put my whole life into the arena and thus grow in my personal fulfillment and in the extension of your Kingdom.
«In the face of the needs of our neighbor, we are called to deprive ourselves - like those children, of half the steak - of something indispensable, not only of the superfluous; we are called to give the necessary time, not only that which we have to spare; we are called to give immediately without reserve some of our talents, not after having used them for our personal or group objectives».
(Francis, Angelus, November 8, 2015).
Dialogue with Christ
This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare yourself to talk with much love with the One who loves you.
Purpose
Propose a personal one. The one that involves the most love in response to the Beloved... or, if you believe that this is what God is asking of you, live what is suggested below.
Analyze your day: What have you done today? What qualities have borne fruit? How many times have you left undone what you should have done?
Farewell
Christ, our King!
Thy Kingdom come!
Most prudent Virgin, Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pray for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
