“Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter, so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.'”
Matthew 25.24-25
One talent is equivalent to 6,000 denarii. One denarius is the standard day’s wage for a worker in Jesus’ time. Anyone who works six days a week for one denarius a day earns 340 denarii a year. An ordinary laborer would work 17 years to earn one talent. The master in Sunday’s gospel entrusts his servants with incredible wealth.
Each human person receives the priceless windfall of life itself. We each have life without having caused ourselves to be. Our ancestors have invested themselves in relationships and efforts that bring us to full adulthood. Jesus invested his life in the human race, identifying with us totally unto death, opening to us all we can become in God. How do we use these extravagant down payments on ourselves?
What is one of the most valuable ways you have invested your life energies in our world and its people?
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