During our class, Sr. Maria Cecilia Payawal, PDDM, reminded us about “being a man for others.”

That consecrated persons, upon their profession of religious vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience — also deacons and priests, even bishops, as ministers of the Word and the Sacraments — have the responsibility to serve others. It’s the same with married couples, they should serve others, not only their immediate families.

We are made for service, both to the familial and ecclesial communities. In finality, those who received the Sacrament of Matrimony, the married couples, and those ordained to the ministry must be open to serving others.

And as such, we are expected to be “good and faithful” servants. Servants who please God in whatever we do or say and how we live. And as we serve God, we seek greater things to present the Lord with excellent results; we should delight in satisfying and exalting Him in this world.

We do not deserve anything special for our service in God’s kingdom. As servants, we simply do what God has called us to do. Our service to God becomes relevant and significant when we lead others away from sin and show them the Way leading to our Savior.

We received the Holy Spirit in our Baptism, which is strengthened during our Confirmation. Therefore, our Sacramental graces should enable us to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in various forms.

In the Gospel, the unnamed master, who is clearly Jesus in the context, entrusted five talents to one servant, two to another, and one to yet another, according to one’s ability. A “talent” in ancient Israel was a unit of exchange, a monetary value, not our modern sense of talent being a skill.

Then the Master went on his journey and, after a long time, returned and settled accounts with them. If you are reading this, Jesus’s Second Coming has not yet occurred, and the message He gave those three servants could dramatically affect your eternal destiny.

When the Master returned, he found that the first two servants had “put his money to work” and doubled what he had given them. But the third servant had hidden the talent in the ground and produced no profit for his Master. The Master called him “you wicked, lazy servant” for his failure to serve the Master with what he had been entrusted. And He said, “Throw that worthless servant outside.”

In other words, today’s Gospel message is that we must take care of the Master’s trust, use the talents He has given us, work, and produce fruit to gain profit. What kind of servant must we be? Jesus said very clearly, “Good servant.”

The Gospel re-emphasizes faithfulness. The Gospel reminds us to “examine ourselves.” Let us ask ourselves, are we faithfully committed to the Lord? To those who are married, are you faithful to your spouse, family, church, and the gifts and calling of the Lord in your life? Remember Jesus’s words to the third servant, who had failed to be faithful in what the Lord had entrusted to him, “You wicked, lazy servant!”

Returning to our Baptism, we, as children of God, are citizens of His kingdom. And we become great in the eyes of God by being a servant, not just a simple servant, but a good and faithful servant.

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To the officers and members of a Marriage Encounter group, we shall have our activity this afternoon to talk about “Overcoming the Works of Evil Spirits” and a Liturgical celebration.