“Jesus does not ask us to keep grace in a safe… He wants us to use it for the benefit of others.That was Pope Francis’ message at his weekly Angelus address on Sunday. He was speaking about the day’s Gospel, which relates Jesus’ parable of the talents.

“Jesus does not ask us to keep grace in a safe… He wants us to use it for the benefit of others.That was Pope Francis’ message at his weekly Angelus address on Sunday. He was speaking about the day’s Gospel, which relates Jesus’ parable of the talents.

In the parable, the Pope said, the master is Jesus, we are the servants, and the talents are the patrimony we have received from the Lord. “What is this patrimony?” the Pope asked. “It is His Word, the Eucharist, faith in the heavenly Father, His forgiveness… This is the patrimony He entrusts to us!” But we are not meant to merely safeguard these gifts; rather, we are called to make them grow.

What have we done with these gifts, the Pope asked. “Who have we ‘infected’ with the faith? How many people have we encouraged with our hope? How much love have we shared with our neighbour?” Every time and place, he said, “even the most distant and impractical,” can be a place where we can make our talents grow.

This parable, Pope Francis said, “encourages us to not hide our faith and our belonging to Christ, to not bury the Word of the Gospel, but to make it circulate in our lives, in our relationships, in concrete situations.” Our Christian witness must go out to others, grow, and bear fruit.

Pope Francis called on everyone to re-read and meditate on the day’s Gospel reading from St Matthew (25:14-30). “The talents, the riches, all the spiritual goods, all the good things that God has given to me – how have I made them grow in others? Or have I simply kept them in a safe?”

God knows each of us personally, and gives to each of us what is right for us. Although we do not all receive the same gifts, the Pope said, there is something we all have in common – God’s confidence. “God trusts us, God has hope in us!” “We must not be deluded, we must not allow fear to deceive us,” he continued. Rather, we must have confidence in God, who has confidence in us. Mary, the Pope said, “incarnates this attitude in the most beautiful and most complete way. She received and welcomed the most sublime gift, Jesus in person, and in turn offered Him to humanity with a generous heart.” “Let us ask her to help us to be ‘good and faithful servants,’ he concluded, “in order to participate in the joy of our Lord.”

Vatican Radio