In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus calls us to be good stewards of the gifts we’ve been given, to grow and develop the skills and resources we have and use them toward building His Kingdom instead of sitting idle. A key element in this story is how the third servant, bewildered by his master’s ways and unable to understand him, buried his talents away out of fear. Instead of taking a chance and investing them in lucrative endeavors, or even placing them in the bank, where they would gain steady interest, he avoided his responsibility and just let them sit. What angered his master about this response was not the amount of money he returned but the fact that he let fear hold him back from doing good, from gaining anything at all.
We have all been given talents, and we are called to use them wisely in God’s service. But how do we figure out what talents we’ve been given and then find opportunities to use them? Each person’s path toward investing the talents they’re given and living out their calling will look different, and we shouldn’t compare ourselves with others in this regard. One way of reflecting upon our strengths and weaknesses is to take an Inventory of Spiritual Gifts. We can also ask for counsel from friends and family who know us well, and we can take the question to prayer. If we feel we might be called to pursue a particular line of service, we shouldn’t be afraid to try it out to see if it’s a good fit.
The duties of each particular vocation are unique to that vocation. St. Emilian Cucullatus was gifted with deep piety and generosity, which served him well as a hermit, where he gave fully of himself to God and entered into a constant state of prayer. But when his bishop asked him to become a pastor, he did a terrible job; his overgenerosity in giving alms bankrupted the parish. He was eventually relieved of his duties as a pastor and returned to the mountains to pray, and he reached sainthood through his prayer and sacrifice. He bore his failures gracefully and sought out the environment that was best suited toward his gifts and made him grow in holiness.
Our gifts are all meant to be used for a certain purpose; we shouldn’t be discouraged when they don’t pan out for a particular use but should prayerfully seek the right setting. Generosity and frugality are both gifts when used correctly; so are shyness and boldness, spontaneity and careful planning. We are all given a multitude of gifts simply by our very natures, by the way God created us; we just have to figure out how to use these gifts.
The very trait that makes us a terrible event planner might make us an excellent musician, or vice versa. If we start by accepting ourselves for who God created us to be, then we can make choices that will highlight our unique talents and put them to good use.
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Image: Andrey Mironov, Parable of the Talents / CC BY-SA 4.0
1 thought on “Talents, Vocation, and Stewardship”
Ronda Rousey, the UFC fighter, thought of suicide after her defeat by Holly Holmes because she said to herself, ” If I am not this…then what am I”. Humans tend to make an idol of their pet self identity which is mixed with their talents. Her boyfriend’s face across the locker room pulled her out of it though she may have missed the lesson in the long run. It’s a too brutal sport which we’ll find out maybe when they become old with dementia problems perhaps but the cautionary tale is there…we are somebody lovable to God in our simple identity if our talents fail after striving….as a child is lovable to a parent after she has failed her first steps and fallen in a heap. It’s the trying that is key….not the success.
In the parable though, I think it is about God giving grace and people using it because in another verse it warns….” to him who has much, even more will be given and from him who has not, even that which he has will be taken away.” If God gives actual grace to a person and he uses it, he will be given more but the one who doesn’t use it, will lose even that which he has. That is how one teen can be productive for God at 16 years old and his twin might be very far beneath that level and into some mortal sin.