PRI Reflections on Scripture | Wednesday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

Join Msgr. Don Fischer as he reads and delivers a short reflection on today’s gospel, followed by 3 1/2 minutes of contemplative music and a closing prayer. Msgr. Don hopes that today’s reflection on the gospel will empower you to carry the Word in your heart throughout the day.

Choose either the video or audio below.

Gospel

Luke 19:11-28

While people were listening to Jesus speak, he told a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought the Kingdom of God would appear immediately: “A nobleman went to a distant country to obtain the kingship and then return. He gave ten of his servants ten gold coins and instructed them to trade with them until his return, but his fellow citizens despised him and sent a delegation after him to declare they did not want him as their king. After obtaining the kingship, he returned and called the servants to learn what they had gained. The first reported that his coin had earned ten more, and the nobleman praised him and put him in charge of ten cities; the second reported five more, and he was put in charge of five cities. Another servant returned the coin unused, explaining he had stored it out of fear because the nobleman was demanding, taking what he did not lay down and harvesting what he did not plant; the nobleman condemned him by his own words, asking why he had not put the money in a bank to earn interest, and ordered the coin taken from him and given to the servant with ten. When others objected that this servant already had ten coins, the nobleman replied that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away, and he commanded that his enemies who rejected him as king be brought and slain before him.”

After saying this, Jesus continued his journey toward Jerusalem.

Reflection

There's an image hidden in this reading that I only have recently discovered. These people are looking for the Kingdom of God to be established, to be finished so that they can receive all of its benefits. But it's clear what Jesus has in mind in terms of the kingdom of God is a process, a continual work, and the work is you and I have been gifted with something that's valuable.

Our task is to share it, and when we share the gift that God has given, we multiply it. And what’s clear in this king that has come to rule, this kingdom of God, is his intense desire that we are gifted so that we may be gifting others, not just afraid to make a mistake, but willing to put ourselves out there and whatever gift we have to share it with the most open and generous spirit.

That's the kingdom of God.

Closing Prayer

Father, bless us with an awareness of the things that we are given so that we can be clearly confident that they don't come from us, they come from you. Give us courage in generously sharing them with those around us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Kyle Cross