From the Pastor: Rev. Anacleto S. Asebias, Jr.
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 15, 2026
Matthew 25:14-30
Dear Ascension Family,
The gospel reading today is known as the Parable of the Talents. It reminds me of my experience back in the Philippines. One day, as I was riding in my car (someone else was driving), I saw written at the back of the car before us the words, Bunga ng pagsisikap” (Fruit of diligence). Whoever owned that car was certainly proud to announce to the world that his work had produced results.
The gospel reading is about a man, who, before going on a long journey, called his servants together and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one - each according to his ability, or capacity to receive. The servant who received five talents invested them and gained five more. Similarly the one who received two invested his talents and gained two more. And the servant who was given one talent could have invested it, but chose not to do so. Instead, he buried it. When the master returned, he asked his servants to render an account of what they have been given. The first two, who invested their talents, were praised and rewarded by the master. But the third, who buried his talent in the ground, was punished.
The master in the parable is a figure representing God. He gives people different amounts of talents or gifts. Some have been given much, and some have been given little. But it is not the amount of the person’s talents or gifts which matters, but how the talents or gifts are used. Indeed, people are not equal in talents or gifts, but they can be equal in effort. The first two servants, who received different amounts of talents and invested them, received the same praise and reward. The third servant, who just buried his talent, was condemned. In other words, the Lord will judge us according to how well we have used what have been given to us.
The parable teaches us that whatever talent we have, little or great, we must used at the service of God and we will be rewarded accordingly. Our reward is sharing the happiness of the Master himself: “Come, share you master’s joy.”
To share the “joy of the Master” it is not enough not to do evil. We must render productive for the Kingdom of God whatever the Lord has given us. Otherwise, we will be punished. Very often, when we think of sin, we think of the wrong things we do. To sin is to do wrong. But sin is not only doing wrong. It is also to neglect doing the good we should do. While we are more preoccupied with our sins of commission (doing wrong), the Lord wants us to pay greater attention to sins of omission (neglecting to do the good we ought to do). In today’s parable, the third servant who received one talent was punished not for doing something wrong but for not investing or at least depositing in the bank the talent given him.
In the last chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, there is a scene of the Last Judgement, which shows that those who go to hell are condemned for not feeding the hungry, not giving drink to the thirsty, not clothing the naked, not receiving strangers and not visiting the sick and those in prison. Certainly, the condemned must also have done something wrong, but it is not their misdeeds but their acts of omission which are emphasized as the reason for their damnation.
The gospel reading today exhorts us to focus on the positive - doing the good we can do with the talents or gifts or blessings we have received from God - rather than on the negative - avoiding sin. To do so we must from time to time make a personal inventory of the talents or gifts God has given us - the gift of life, intelligence, time, good health, material wealth, etc. It is humility to acknowledge that we have received them from God. Once we have recognized that God in his goodness and generosity has blessed us in many ways, we must use them not only for our benefit but for the benefit of others, thus building up God’s Kingdom here and now. It is when we use them for the good of others that the talents or gifts we have received become productive in the sight of God.
The choice for us is clear: We either make productive of what God has entrusted to us or not. If we do, then we become like the first two servants and be rewarded with “sharing the master’s joy”. If we do not, then what the master said to the third servant would also be said of us: “Throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
Praying for you all,
Fr. Anacleto
