Year A - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's gospel parable is an allegory. As you know an allegory is a story with two levels of meaning. First, there's the surface of the story. Then there's the deeper meaning that surface story and characters represent. The parables in this chapter of Matthew are about action and attention, or more accurately, the focus of one's attention. With today's gospel there is an underlying sub-plot that I have always overlooked. My previous interpretations took “talents” not as units of coinage 1 but as gifts that God has given us. So, the meaning that I extrapolated from this interpretation was that whatever gifts or talents God gave us were to be used or shared. Whenever we used the gifts we had, whether they were great or small, we would receive even more. For example, if one has the gift of a skill or art and shares that with others by teaching them that skill or art, one gains the experience of teaching, more confidence and the joy that comes from help...