Daily Catholic Lectio
Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31. Luke 19:11-28
Bearing it in hope
‘Hope, bravery, and encouragement are the qualities that are needed for a disciple.’
In the first reading, we encounter a mother and her seven children bearing witness to their faith. The text begins with a description of the brave mother: “Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother, who saw her seven sons perish in a single day, yet bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord.”
The people of Israel considered children to be gifts from God. And they perceived the longevity of life as God’s added blessing. The brave mother of our story watches her sons being killed in front of her own eyes. She is consoled because of her hope. In her faith vision, she was able to see life beyond this world.
The anonymous mother of the story possesses three salient qualities: (a) She bears everything for her hope in the Lord; (b) She has a womanly heart with manly courage; and (c) She encouraged all her sons, especially the youngest.
This mother teaches us that with hope, bravery, and encouragement, we can encounter any evil and overcome it.
The gospel reading brings before us the parable of the gold coins, or the minas. Matthew calls this parable the ‘parable of the talents’ and Jesus uses this parable to tell about the kingdom of heaven. Mina was of lesser value than talent. Luke composes the parable in such a way that even a poor person will understand it.
According to the parable, the Master distributes to ten people a mina each. He bids them to do business with it. In Matthew, talents are distributed as per one’s ability: five, two, and one. In Luke, among the ten servants, only three are called to give their accounts. The third servant comes to the King and says, ‘Behold, your coin!’ The King punishes him, takes the coin, and gives it to the one who has ten.
The third servant failed to multiply the gold coin because of his prejudice and fear about the Master. Prejudice and fear always hinder our social relationships and productivity.
The third servant lacked hope, bravery, and encouragement.
Though the parable in Luke does not teach about the kingdom of God, we can say that the parable teaches us about discipleship in terms of being productive in the world here and now.
‘Hope, bravery, and encouragement are the qualities that are needed for a disciple.’
#
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which reflects on ‘perseverance in faith’, exhorts that faith that grows must be supported by hope, valour, and encouragement (cf. n. 162).
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
Leave a comment