11th February 2024

As we see and compare ourselves to our fellow human beings, we wonder about that which makes us different. This not only has to do with our origins, our language, the elements of our identity that distinguish us from other societies and other people. It also has to do with our values, our character, our capabilities and talents. Scientists believe that these have to do with our heredity, and with the qualities bequeathed to us by our parents, and also with the environment we grow up in. As well as with the opportunities we receive that allow us to develop our potential; With the problems and the way in which we deal with these instances, and with the circumstances of our life. For the Church, diversity, gifts, and talents refer not only to the human side of our existence. They also have to do with our divine origin and our beginnings.

In the parable of the talents, Christ says that the Kingdom of God is like a man who goes on a journey, and called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions. To
one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, "Each according to his own strength" (Matt. 25:15). In other words, God measures human attributes, heredity, character, the conditions in which each of us is called to grow up and live and offers to each of us accordingly. No one is left without talents, gifts and blessings. And it's
not just the gift of being created “in the image of God” that all people possess from the moment of their creation, such as the abilities to love, to be free, to have speech and creativity. It is also those unique characteristics that distinguish each and every person. And these they have also received from God. That is how the differences
between us are explained. There is no human being who has been wronged by God. How can a human person recognise their talents? First, they must take responsibility before God for what they have received. And such responsibility signifies the fact that one recognises that they do not own the talents they have received, but rather, precisely as a steward, they may activate these talents within their life, and then offer them back to God. God's love, which bestows on us these talents, challenges us to be worthy of these gifts. We are responsible so our gifts do not go to waste and become hidden under the soil, so
that we may show to Him who gave them to us that we can use them as a basis for our personal progress. This will show that we rejoice in what we have received and that we therefore truly value it. Consequently, what must follow is labour and hard work so that a person may cultivate what has been given to them. The talent which has been received should not be an occasion for comparison to others nor parasitism, that is, vainglory. Usually people envy what they don't have or overestimate what they have, comparing themselves to others. But comparison is a trap that can lead to pride, disappointment or parasitism. The parasite feeds on its host. The one who receives a talent, and leaves it unexploited, can feed on it by using it as its host, but at some point, they will exhaust it. If they take care to increase and strengthen it, especially in the spiritual life, by striving for virtue, by offering it to one's neighbor, by our kindness and forgiveness, by charity and prayer, then the talent becomes a blessing! In this self-indulgent and passion-driven era where people are egocentric and feel as though they are omnipotent and so they reject the Giver of their talents, the Church invites us to rediscover the true meaning of our gifts. Let us remember it is not tomorrow but today that God calls us to begin with responsibility to cultivate what we have been given, so that each of us may joyfully hear the voice: "Good and faithful worker! enter into the joy of your Lord"!