“Why didn’t you put my money in the bank?” (Lk 19, 11

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

During that time,
as we listened to it,
Jesus added a parable:
he was near Jerusalem
and his listeners thought that the kingdom of God
was going to show up right away.
So here is what he says:
“A man of nobility
went to a distant country
to be given the kingship and then return.
He called ten of his servants,
and gave to each a sum of the value of a mina;
then he said to them:
“During my trip, do good business.”
But his fellow citizens hated him,
and they sent a delegation behind him
instructed to say:
“We don’t want this man to rule over us.”

When he returned after receiving kingship,
he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money,
to find out what their business had brought in.
The first came and said:
“Lord, the amount you gave me
has been multiplied by ten.”
The king said to him:
“Very well, good servant!
Since you have been faithful in so little,
receive authority over ten cities.”
The second came to say:
“The sum you gave me, Lord,
has been multiplied by five.”
To this again the king said:
“Thou, likewise, be the head of five cities.”
The last came to say:
“Lord, here is the sum you gave me;
I kept it wrapped in a cloth.
Indeed, I was afraid of you,
because you are a demanding man,
you withdraw what you have not put in deposit,
you reap what you did not sow.”
The king said to him:
“I will judge you by your words,
evil servant:
you knew that I am a demanding man,
that I withdraw what I have not put in deposit,
let me reap what I did not sow;
so why didn’t you put my money in the bank?
When I arrived, I would have taken it back with interest.”
And the king said to those who were there:
“Withdraw this sum from him
and give it to him who has ten times more.”
He is told:
“Lord, he has ten times more!
– I tell you:
we will give
to him who has;
but he who has nothing
even what he has will be taken away.
As for my enemies,
those who did not want me to reign over them,
bring them here
and slaughter them before me.” »

After having thus spoken,
Jesus went ahead
to go up to Jerusalem.

Source: AELF

Meditation Father Emmanuel Pic

Here is a parable of Jesus which resounds in us like a lesson in life (even a lesson in morals): we understand that this king who goes on a journey is God, that we are servants, and that the money which is entrusted represents the gifts that God gives us and that we are responsible for making fruitful. It is therefore up to us to begin by researching what these gifts are: the talents that are ours, the responsibilities entrusted to us, the world that we have to maintain and make even more beautiful.

A question arises, however: why did the king, on his return, judge so harshly the servant who had not been able to make his property bear fruit? for after all, he had received no instructions on the subject.

The problem isn’t that the servant didn’t measure up. The problem is why he didn’t do anything: he was afraid of his master, whom he considers, in his own words, to be a harsh and unjust man.

This parable, then, is not just an edifying little story. She talks to us about fear and what it produces in us. She also tells us about the attitude of the other two servants, who have confidence in this master.

Fear, distrust, when they settle between people, deeply pollute human relations and paralyze our actions. The one who is afraid prefers to shelve what he has rather than put it at the service of others by making it bear fruit.

The opposite of fear of the other is trust, that is, faith. Faith in God of course, but because it always opens us to trust in others.

In our dialogue with the Lord this morning, let us therefore ask ourselves what is the basis of our human relationships. Do we live in trust? or on the contrary in distrust and in fear that the other, the others, those who do not look like us and whom we do not know, will invade our life? Christ affirms it today: only trust enables us to live a life that bears fruit.