Florida Catholic | Sunday Word

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Become doers of the words we hear

November 16, 2008 :: Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5; 1 Thes 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30 or 25:14-15, 19-21

SISTER SALLIE LATKOVICH | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

We near the end of the liturgical year and the readings we are given to hear on this Sunday reflect on the “end times” and a life well-lived. In short, we are called to be DOERS of the word which we hear.

The poem that we hear from Proverbs is one that is often used at weddings. It praises a woman who traditionally has been described as virtuous or worthy. The Hebrew adjective hayil has a much stronger sense: It denotes might or strength, the kind of valor found in armies. It is in this sense that the woman is worthy.

It is in the last verse of the poem that we discover the basis of this woman’s virtue and the real reason for the praise of her: She is the one who fears the Lord. In the Wisdom tradition, it is not worldly competence or beauty or charm that is the mark of the wise person, but fear of the Lord. This woman is not primarily the model of the good wife, but of the wise person. She is virtuous and successful because she possesses the wisdom that flows from fear of the Lord. This is why she should be praised at the gates of the city, the place where the business was carried on. Among all women, the one who fears the Lord is truly valiant!

The Thessalonians reading is Paul’s reflection of the final coming of the Lord. Notice that he begins with times and seasons – in Greek, chronos and kairos. The first denotes measured time, from which we have the word “chronological.” The second refers to God’s time, beyond us. Paul is telling the Thessalonians and us that chronos time needs no explanation and kairos time has no explanation. So it is with the day of the Lord. But the message is real and urgent: We must stay alert and vigilant for the coming of our God at the end of our lives, at the end of time. This may also be a preview of the Advent theme that begins next month.

We are no doubt uncomfortable with the parable told us in Matthew’s Gospel for this Sunday. What about having some mercy on the poor frightened servant? The parable is not about the servants, but about the meaning of preparedness. It is not a matter of passivity or withdrawal from a task because of the fear of possible failure. The preparedness rewarded in the parable comes from the reality that one is a steward of the goods of another and, thus, one seeks to maximize the potential of those goods. The time of waiting is a period of opportunity, of active engagement, of creative growth.

We are indeed stewards of God’s goods: our own skills and talents, the complementary gifts we find in others, the resources of our good earth. As stewards, caretakers of God’s creation, we are called to create and nourish life.

We might take some time to reflect on the gifts of God that are entrusted to our care. In what condition are those gifts? What are we called to do to treasure them and nurture them, and in so doing, return them to God?

Sister Sallie Latkovich, Sisters of St. Joseph, is an assistant professor at the Blessed Edmund Rice School of Pastoral Ministry in the Diocese of Venice, a part of Barry University of Miami.

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