<p><em>It is so tempting to look for the meaning in a Scriptural passage. But todays reflection reminds us that Jesuss parables are not intended to offer easy solutions so much as upend them. We are invited to discern what meaning todays Parable of the Talents might hold for us a process grounded not in human cleverness so much as in awe at Divine love and majesty.</em></p><p><strong>November 19 2023: Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A</strong></p><p>Proverbs 31:10-11 19-20 30-31</p><p>Psalm 128:1-5</p><p>1 Thessalonians 5:1-6</p><p>Matthew 25:14-30</p><div><div class=titan__email-divider>&nbsp;</div></div><h3><strong>Of Parables Wisdom and a Call to Discern</strong></h3><p><em>A reflection by Jon Schum<br></em></p><p>The Book of Proverbs is a part of the Wisdom tradition of the Jewish Scriptures. This tradition developed out of observation and reflection on human actions and their consequences and generally asserts that divine revelation can be understood through the ordinary experiences of everyday life. What is extraordinary about these writings is that although they are the work of a male-dominated culture and intended for the education of men Wisdom is consistently personified as a woman. Wisdom is the mother and fashioner of all things (Wisdom 7:1222). Wisdom has built herself a house... (Proverbs 9:1) and she invites us to her table. She speaks: Whoever finds me finds life (8:35).</p><p>Todays first reading is often referred to as an Ode to The Ideal Wife. A preferred translation is a strong woman since her accomplishments are not limited to her household. She is also an entrepreneur and reaches out to the poor and needy (cf. the entire passage 31:10-31). Her worth far exceeds the work of her hands and she is lauded not for charm and beauty but for her fear of the Lord (31:30) which is the beginning of all wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). Understandably some theologians assert that this example of womanhood is utterly unrealistic and unattainable an image created by the expectations of men.</p><p>Is the resourceful strong woman a contrast to the third servant in todays gospel who buried the owners money? The sums entrusted to the servants were <em>huge </em>amounts. Five thousand talents represented 75 years of wagespreposterous to Jesus listeners but noteworthy enough to command attention. Likewise we each have unique talents and charisms in a measure more abundant than we realize. In the parable Jesus asks for what intention for what purpose for what urgency shall we use them?</p><p>Scripture scholar Sister Barbara Reid O.P. offers another approach to this parable. The wealthy landowner going on a journey is not a stand-in for God. The Mediterranean world of Jesus day would not interpret this story in terms of 21st century capitalism. In those days there was a limited supply of wealth. It was a pie with only so many slices. An increase in the share of wealth for one meant a loss for someone else. Wealthy nobility shrewdly commissioned servants to conduct their affairs so they would not be held guilty of robbing money from the poor. The third servant then does the honorable thing: the servant refuses to use the landowners money as a lever to steal from someone else.</p><p>And what happens when someone courageously exposes such a corrupt system? They are punished. The rich grow richer and the poor lose the little they have. We say that this wrong and it is wrong. Reid believes this is what Jesus is saying.</p><p>The parable of the talents is set within a time of peril. Jesus has entered Jerusalem and prophesized the Temples destruction and a great tribulation to follow (Matt 24). The religious and political authorities are plotting his arrest and execution. Things are at a tipping point.</p><p>No one would argue that we live under our own cloud of peril. Nations and peoples wage war and partisan political factions seed division and intolerance. My husband Ron and I spent a weekend last month enjoying the central coast of Maineonly to be appalled by mass gun violence and the loss of innocent life in one of its cities after we returned home.</p><p>Parables are a wisdom genre. Jesus transforms proverbs into parables offering a deliberately subversive paradox aimed at turning our mindset upside down. There is a Chinese proverb A crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind. Jesus understood this. It feels like any one of his parables could have been woven from such a saying.</p><p>In the parables of Jesus God is only mentioned once or twice. Rather we hear about weddings and banquets family tensions farmers and merchants robberies and yeast and pearls. Jesus invites us to look more closely at the world we inhabitin the here and nowto find divine presence and uncover wisdom. St. Paul admonishes we are not in the dark(we) are all children of light and children of the daylet us not be asleep...let us be awake and sober (1 Thess 5:5-6).</p><p>Wisdom can be elusive. It challenges our binary way of thinking: often its not either/or but both/and. Occasionally we are astonished at our own wisdom and wonder where it comes from. We know a wise person when we watch and listen to them. We might feel wisdom deep in our bones before we can even define it. When I spend time at Rons family home on the Big Island of Hawaii I am always drawn to the brilliant night sky and its countless stars and galaxies. I feel embraced and exalted by an infinitely imaginative and audacious Creator. This reverent awe exemplifies what the Scriptures call fear of the Lord which the Scriptures remind us gives birth to Wisdom. I am reminded that each of us is a child of the light and a citizen of the world and there is a home for all in the Creators universal embrace.</p><p>Are we meant to be the faithful and reliable servant who uses their talents to build up humanity and make the world a better place? Or are we the servant who calls out injustice and challenges oppressive systemssometimes at our own risk. We would agree wisely that both choices can set us on the path to right relationship with God the neighbor and ourselves. However only wisdomborn of awe at Gods faithful lovewill help us know which interpretation beckons us in this moment.</p><div><div class=titan__email-divider>&nbsp;</div><div class=titan__email-divider><img src='https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/botsjonschum_1.png'></div></div><div class=mobile-full><div class=mobile-full><em><strong>Jon Schum</strong> and his husband Ron Lacro are longtime Dignity Boston members. Jon has served on its board and liturgy committee and is one of the chapter's ordained presiders. For many years he supervised and provided arts-based therapeutic programming for an elder services agency in Boston. He is currently a co-facilitator of the Aging with Dignity caucus.</em></div><div class=mobile-full><em></em></div></div><p style=text-align: center;><a class=btn btn-primary href=https://dignityusa.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/dignityusa/subscribe.jsp?subscription=8>Subscribe to Breath of the Spirit</a></p>