14 “It is like a man who, going on a journey, called his servants and left them in charge of his possessions: fifteen To one he left five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability; then he left. 16 The one who received five talents immediately went to trade with them and gained another five. 17 The one who received two did the same and won another two. 18 Instead, the one who received one went to dig a hole in the ground and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time, the lord of those servants comes and settles accounts with them. twenty The one who had received five talents approached and presented five more to him, saying, “Lord, you left me five talents; Look, I’ve won another five.” twenty-one His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; since you have been faithful in a little, I will give you an important position; enter into the joy of your master.” 22 Then the one who had received two talents came up and said, “Lord, you left me two talents; Look, I’ve won another two.” 23 His lord said to him: “Well done, good and faithful servant! since you have been faithful in a little, I will give you an important position; enter into the joy of your master.” 24 The one who had received a talent also approached and said: “Lord, I knew that you are demanding, that you reap where you do not sow and gather where you do not scatter, 25 I was afraid and went to hide your talent underground. Here’s your thing.” 26 The lord replied, “You are a slothful and lazy servant. With what did you know that I reap where I don’t sow and gather where I don’t spread? 27 Well, you should have put my money in the bank, so that when I came back, I could collect mine with the interest. 28 Take away the talent and give it to the one who has ten. 29 For whoever has will be given and will have plenty, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And throw that worthless servant out into the darkness; there will be the crying and the grinding of teeth””.
Holy Bible, Official Version of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (2012)
Saint Gregory the Great, homilies in Evangelia, 9,1-6
14. “It is also like a man who, when absent, called his servants and entrusted his estate to them…” This man who marches far away is our Redeemer, who ascended to heaven, with that flesh which he had taken, which has its proper place on earth, and is taken as on a pilgrimage, when it is placed in heaven by our Redeemer.
fifteen. “To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his ability; and he walked away. We could say that the five talents denote the gifts of the five senses, that is, the science of external things; while the two talents signify intelligence and action; and a talent indicates only the gift of intelligence.
16. “Immediately he who had received the five talents began to trade with them and gained another five.” There are also many who, although they do not know how to penetrate into interior and spiritual things, nevertheless, out of the desire to attain glory, teach what good they can, and while guarding against the desires of the flesh, the ambition of the earthly things and from the desire of the visible, separate others from them with their advice.
17. “Likewise the one who had received two won another two.” There are some who, understanding and acting, preach to others and report a double profit from their business, because by preaching to both sexes at the same time, they double their talents.
18. “But he who had received one went away, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.” Hiding talent on land is using ingenuity in earthly affairs.
19. “After a long time, the lord of those servants returns and settles accounts with them.” This passage of the Gospel demands our attention because those who in this world have received more than the others, will have to suffer a more severe judgment before the author of the world. Because as the gifts increase, the obligation of the account grows. And therefore must be more humble, by reason of his position, the one who is most constrained to give it.
twenty-one. The servant, then, who delivered double the talents, is praised by the Lord and brought to eternal reward. So he adds: “His master said to him: “Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful in a little, I will put you in charge of much; enter into the joy of your master.” Then the faithful servant will be set over much; because free from all nuisance of corruption he will enjoy eternal joy in heaven. Then he will enter into the perfect joy of his Lord, when caught up to that eternal homeland, and added to the choirs of angels, he will find himself inwardly possessed of a joy, which will not be interrupted by outward corruption.
24. The servant who did not want to negotiate with the talent, returned it to the Lord with excuses: “The one who had received one talent also came and said, Lord, I know that you are a hard man, that you reap where you did not sow and gather where you did not scatter.” There are many in the Church who are like this servant, who, fearing to enter the path of a better life, do not dare to shake the laziness of their body; and believing themselves to be sinners, they tremble at taking the path of holiness, and are not horrified at remaining in their iniquities.
25. “That’s why I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, here you have what is yours.” Just as there is a danger that the doctors hide the talent of the Lord, the listeners can also incur the same fault when they are demanded the revenues of what they were taught; namely, if they have not tried to penetrate into the understanding of what they have not heard, by meditating on what they heard.
28. Let us hear the sentence that the Lord will pronounce against the slothful servant: “Therefore take away his talent and give it to him who has the ten talents.” It seemed more agreeable that the one who had two was given better than the other who had received five. He should, therefore, have given it to the one who had less: but as external science is designated by five talents, and by the two talents the understanding and the work, the one of the two had more than the one who had received five. Because although the one with the five talents deserved the administration of external things, he still remained empty of the knowledge of the eternal ones: the talent, then, which, as we said, means understanding, should have been given to the one who managed external things well: the that we daily see in the Holy Church, to wit: that those who faithfully administer external things enjoy the knowledge of internal things.
29. Generally, the sentence that says: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have plenty; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Who, then, has charity, also receives other gifts; just as he who does not have it, even those he received, he will lose. Whoever does not have charity loses even what he seems to possess.
30. “And cast that worthless servant out into the darkness. There will be the crying and the grinding of teeth.” And so he incurs the penalty of external darkness who, through spontaneous guilt, falls into the interior.
He who has talent, therefore, try not to be a dumb dog; he who has an abundance of goods, do not neglect charity; he who experiences the world, he directs his neighbor; let him who is eloquent intercede with the rich for the poor; because to each one will be counted as a talent what he did even for the least.
Origen, in Matthaeum, 33
14. “It is also like a man who, when absent, called his servants and entrusted his estate to them…” According to the nature of his divinity he does not travel, but according to the ordination of the body he took, because he who says to his disciples: I am with you until the end of the age (Mt28,20), is the only begotten of God, who is not circumscribed to body extension. And by saying that we do not divide Jesus, but rather we respect the accidents proper to each nature. We can say that the Lord travels with those who live within the faith without seeing the essence of him, and the Lord will be with us until we come out of our bodies and meet him. It is to be noted that the text does not say: as the traveling man, so I the Son of man; because he himself is the one who proposes the parable of the pilgrim as a man, not as the Son of God.
fifteen. “To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his ability; and he walked away. When you see that those who have received the ministry of preaching, some have more and others less, or so to speak, compared to the best some have so little, you will know the differences with which they received from Jesus Christ the gift of the divine word, because different was the efficiency that it produced through those who received five talents, than that of those who received two, and another that of those who received one, since the same measure of grace did not fit in all. And he who received a talent, truly received a not insignificant gift, for it is great to receive a talent from such a Lord. Receiving three is proper to the servant, just as three produce fruit. The one who received five talents is the one who can give the Holy Scripture the highest interpretation of the divine sense of it. The one who receives two talents is the one who has knowledge of the corporeal, since two is the number of the carnal; and even to the least able the lord of the servants gave a talent.
16. “Immediately he who had received the five talents began to trade with them and gained another five.” Those who have clear senses by speaking profitably and elevating themselves to greater knowledge and teaching carefully, acquired five other talents. Because no one receives an increase from another virtue, but from that which he has; and how much he possesses it, he communicates it to another, and no more.
17. “…won another two”that is, the literal intelligence and another more sublime.
18. “But he who had received one went away, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.” When you see someone who has the ability to teach and take advantage of souls, and who hides this merit, even though he manifests a certain religiosity in his dealings, do not hesitate to say that this person received a talent and buried it himself.
19. “After a long time, the lord of those servants returns and settles accounts with them.” Notice in this passage that it is not the servants who come to the Lord to be judged, but the Lord who comes to them in due time. That is why he says: “After a long time”, that is, after he sent those whom he considered fit to procure the salvation of souls. Therefore, it is not easy to know who among them who is fit for such a work, he will soon depart from this life, as is clearly deduced from the fact that the apostles also grew old. Because of what he says to Peter: “When you grow old you will stretch out your hand” (Jn 21:18); and St. Paul has said to Philemon: “Paul is now an old man” (Phil 9).
twenty. “The one who had received five talents came and presented another five, saying, ‘Lord, you have given me five talents; Here are another five that I have won.” Confidence gave courage to the one who had received five talents to approach the Lord first.
In what he says that, approaching one who had received five, and the other two, he understands by access the transit from this world to the other, and notes that they are the same…