4 minute read
Introduction
CHRIST TAUGHT HIS disciples that the blessings bestowed on each person by God are to be used to profit the Kingdom of God. In the Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30) he offers this story in illustration: The master entrusted his money to his three servants. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to the third a single talent. The first two servants were industrious with their talents: they doubled what their master had given to them and were able to show him a rich profit on his return, but the third servant buried what he had been given, and when his master returned and asked for an account he had no profit to show. The industrious servants earned their master’s approval and trust, but the servant who did nothing with that with which he had been entrusted was instead subject to his master’s wrath.
In this parable the word ‘talent’ is used in its original, monetary sense, which comes from the Greek talanton, literally means ‘a balance’ or ‘a weighing scale’. The Latin form of this word, talentum, referred specifically to a weight of money. And yet, when the word was adopted into English, it lost its monetary connotations and came instead to refer to innate human capabilities or skills. The etymology of the modern usage links directly to this parable and reveals the lesson that followers of Christ have long drawn from it: God does indeed bestow riches on his people as the master in the parable bestows his wealth upon his servants. These riches are the ‘talents’ that can be cultivated to yield true profit. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster is an incorporated charity with a distinct and specific mission: the propagation of the Catholic faith within its boundaries. To propagate the Catholic faith is to cooperate with God's grace and help establish the the Kingdom of God on earth, using all the gifts and resources the faithful have been given to work tirelessly for the good of all. It means building a society in which all persons know God, feel his presence in their own lives, and recognise in each other the inherent dignity and infinite value God has given to every human person.
St Paul writes in his letter to Titus that good works ‘are excellent and profitable for everyone’ (Titus 3:8). Most humanitarian-minded people of any creed would agree with that, but the mission of the Christian is not simply to do good works, but to do them joyfully and lovingly for God. St Paul enjoins the church at Corinth to ‘do everything for the glory of God’, and furthermore to seek not their own advantage but the salvation of many (1 Cor 10:31-33). As in the Parable of the Talents, that which the Master has bestowed upon his servants should be used to return a profit to the Master, one that has value both on earth and in heaven.
There are many ways in which the activities of the Charity build the Kingdom within the diocese: children receive a good education, the homeless are housed, the hungry fed and the lonely consoled. Christ promised in the Gospels that these are actions that yield profit in the Kingdom of Heaven: ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Equally as profitable as these good works is the ceaseless proclamation of the Gospel at the liturgies and celebrations of the churches across the diocese, the ministry of the sacraments to the faithful, and the beauty of the art and the music that elevate the hearts of Christians in the worship of God, for that which unites heaven and earth builds up the Kingdom of God. This is the task all Christians are given by Our Lord, and that which lies at the heart of the mission of the Charity: to share the life and light of Christ with the world, to use the gifts God has given to return a profit on this treasure, and to do so with joy and gratitude. In the words of Christ himself: ‘Freely you have received; freely give’ (Matt 10:8).
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