Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 / 1 Thess 5:1-6 / Matthew 25:14-30
Every situation has pros and cons. Every situation has advantages and disadvantages. In other words, there is no perfect situation.
Besides pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, there are also conveniences and inconveniences.
For example, attending Mass online is convenient. We don’t have to dress up and get out of the house, we don’t have to take the transport to church and go through the trouble of booking for Mass and to scan this and scan that.
But of course, coming to church for Mass is an experience. We get to see familiar faces (or at least familiar eyes), we get to pray in a conducive environment, we get to receive Holy Communion and we get a feel of some spiritual normalcy.
So the fact is that there is no perfect situation, there are pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, conveniences and inconveniences.
And no matter how we try to solve or reduce the disadvantages and inconveniences, we also need to remember that if that is no perfect situation, then there is no perfect solution.
And since there is no perfect situation and no perfect solution, then obviously there are no perfect persons.
The first reading has this to say: A perfect wife - who can find her?
Oh yes, can we ever find a perfect wife, or perfect husband, or perfect children, or perfect in-laws?
Everyone has their flaws and imperfections. That’s the reality of the situation.
Even the gospel parable gives an example of an imperfect situation.
The master entrusted his three servants with a large sum of money, or talents, each in proportion to his ability.
The first servant went and traded with them and made double the amount. The second servant did the same.
It would have been a perfect ending if the third servant had done likewise. However, that servant went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
And when the time for the accounting came, the master denounced that third servant for being wicked and lazy.
So, among other things, the gospel parable shows the imperfection of the situation, and also the imperfection of persons. That is the reality of life.
The attention is often drawn to that third servant and his deserve punishment for being wicked and lazy.
But let us not forget the first and second servants for their goodness and faithfulness and that they were faithful in little things.
They used whatever they were given and they made it into a better situation.
We too are entrusted with the goodness of God and we are called to make it better.
There is this story of a boy had a very bad temper that was getting out of hand.
His father thought about it and prayed about it and came up with this idea to help him.
He gave his son a hammer and a bag of nails, and he told his son: Every time you lose your temper, go to that wall and hammer in a nail.
So the boy did just that – every time he lost his temper he took the hammer and hit a nail into the wall.
And if you have tried hitting a nail into the wall, you will know it is not that easy. Because you often end up hitting your thumb.
After a while, the boy thought that it was easier to control his temper than to keep hitting nails into the wall.
Then one day, the boy told his father that he could now control his temper because he had stopped hitting nails into the wall.
The father said: Well done, my son. Now for every occasion that you felt like losing your temper but managed to control it, pull a nail out of the wall.
The son thought it was strange but did as he was told. So slowly the nails came out of the wall. And after some time, all the nails were pulled out of the wall.
The son reported this to his father, and the father brought the son to look at the pock-marked wall.
He said to his son: My son, every time you lose your temper, it is like a nail being hammered into someone’s heart.
You may have apologized and the nail taken out, but the crack and the hurt remain, like this pock-marked wall. But learn this lesson, and you will be a better person.
It is interesting to note what the father did. He thought about it, prayed about it, and then he called upon whatever wisdom and experience he had to help his son overcome his bad temper.
Today’s Gospel parable reminds us that God has given each of us all the goodness, wisdom, experience that we need to make the most out of life.
That is God’s gift to us. Our gift to God will be to use His gifts to us to help others make the most of their lives.
In other words, we are not called to bury hopes and joys. Rather we are called to share life and love.Life and love are God’s gifts to us. What we do with that life and love is our gift to God and to others.
