WORTHINESS AND VALUE
"Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give
you great responsibilities" (Mt 25:21).
I just recently read
about the life of Booker T. Washington, one of the greatest African Americans.
He was an outstanding educator, reformer and writer. At the age of sixteen he
walked almost five-hundred miles from his slave home to Hampton Institute, Virginia.
Because all the classes were full he was denied admission. He took a job at the
school sweeping floors, making beds and performing all sorts of humble tasks.
He did them so well that he drew the favorable attention of the faculty, who
found room for him as a student! He worked his way through school until he
himself became an outstanding teacher and later the founder of Tuskegee
Institute, in Alabama.
The one-time slave became a leader of the black race. He died in 1915.
Here is an example of
what Jesus is talking about in today's Gospel, "Since you were faithful in
small matters, I will give you great responsibilities" (Mt 25:21). In
other words, do a good job with the little things assigned to you, and then
bigger and better opportunities and rewards will be given to you. In the first
reading for this Sunday, we hear that our worthiness and value are far beyond
pearls. We realize our importance, as individuals, and are able to reach out
our hands to others, especially the poor and those most in need.
Jesus is talking about
the Kingdom of Heaven and spiritual things, but the
truth He tells us this Sunday, even the world has to accept, namely, do your
best with what you have and greater opportunities will be given you. Did it
ever strike you that the rules, advice and directions that Jesus gives us with
regard to things of the Spirit, apply also to our material world? Small things
are important. Collecting garbage is necessary for the health of a community;
washing dishes kills germs; making a bed properly will add comfort to the
person sleeping in it. All of this is not just for the women in our lives, dear
men! Do these and the hundreds of other tasks of daily life well and you will
do the bigger things. The life of Booker T. Washington is proof of that.
Our Gospel story for
today can be easily misunderstood as an endorsement of our modern day achieving
society or of high interest rates. Actually, the lesson has nothing at all to
do with investing money or accumulating wealth. Jesus merely uses the analogy
of money to make an important point about our lives as Christians. Each of us,
as disciples of Christ, is graced with his or her own unique power and
capability to perform God's will. In the Responsorial Psalm we acclaim,
"Blessed are those who fear the Lord...[We are] like a fruitful vine in
the recesses of [our] home; [common place] around our table (Ps 128:1a, 3).
Like the altar in our churches, it's a common place for us to come together.
St. Paul said to the
Thessalonians, "But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness...For
all of you are children of the light and children of the day...Therefore, let
us stay alert and sober" (1 Thes 5:4-6). Each one of us is called to make
a special effort to do something, however humble, to help others know, love and
serve God. We hear Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Since
you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your Master's joy."
We are called to live
up to our capability!