Making the Most of What We’ve Been Given
Catholic Homily for November 19, 2025
Wednesday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 19:11–28
Jesus’ disciples were walking with Him toward Jerusalem, and they were getting excited. They thought that as soon as they arrived, Jesus would establish God’s kingdom on earth. They expected immediate, dramatic change – maybe Jesus would overthrow the Romans, set up a throne, and start ruling as an earthly king.
But Jesus told them a story that taught them something different about how God’s kingdom works. He spoke about a nobleman who went away to a distant country to receive royal power and then return. Before leaving, the nobleman called ten of his servants and gave each of them the same amount of money – one mina, which was worth about three months’ wages. His instructions were simple: “Engage in trade until I come.”
The point of the story was clear: the kingdom of God wouldn’t appear instantly. There would be a delay. And during that delay, Jesus’ followers had work to do.
Three Very Different Responses
When the nobleman returned as king, he called his servants to give an account of what they had done with what he had entrusted to them. The responses revealed three very different kinds of people:
The First Servant was excited to report: “Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.” He had taken what was given to him and multiplied it tenfold. The king was delighted and rewarded him with authority over ten cities.
The Second Servant also had good news: “Lord, your mina has made five minas.” He hadn’t been as successful as the first servant, but he had doubled what he was given. The king was equally pleased and gave him authority over five cities.
The Third Servant had a very different story: “Lord, here is your mina. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, for I was afraid of you.” He had done nothing with what was entrusted to him. He had buried it, hidden it, kept it safe – but completely unused.
The king’s response to this third servant was harsh: “You wicked servant! You knew that I was a demanding person… why then did you not put my money in the bank, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?” The mina was taken away from him and given to the servant who had ten.
What the Story Teaches Us
This parable isn’t primarily about money or investment strategies. It’s about how we use what God has given us while we wait for Christ’s return.
Every person has received something from God – time, talents, opportunities, relationships, knowledge of the Gospel, material resources. God doesn’t give these things to us just so we can admire them or keep them safe. He gives them to us to use for His kingdom and for the good of others.
The delay between Christ’s first coming and His second coming isn’t empty waiting time. It’s opportunity time. It’s our chance to take what God has entrusted to us and put it to work in service of His kingdom.
The two faithful servants didn’t have equal results – one made ten times his investment, the other made five times his investment. But both were praised equally because both had tried. God doesn’t judge us based on how much we accomplish compared to others. He judges us based on what we do with what He’s given specifically to us.
What Keeps Us from Investing Grace?
The third servant’s problem wasn’t lack of ability – it was fear. He was so afraid of failing, so worried about making mistakes, that he did nothing at all. This is often what happens to us too. Several things can keep us from using God’s gifts:
Comparison that paralyzes – We look at what other people can do and feel like our gifts are too small to matter. We see someone else’s ten minas and think our one mina isn’t worth investing. But God doesn’t compare our results to other people’s results. He looks at what we do with what we’ve been given.
Perfectionism that postpones – We want to wait until we feel ready, until we know enough, until we’re sure we won’t make mistakes. But the servants in the parable didn’t wait for perfect conditions. They started trading with what they had, learning as they went.
Fear of failure that buries the gift – Like the third servant, we’re sometimes so afraid of losing what we have that we never risk using it. We wrap our talents in cloth and hide them away where they’re “safe” but useless.
The king in the parable asks for trust, not brilliance. He wants effort, not alibis. He’s more interested in our willingness to try than in our ability to succeed perfectly.
Three Faithful Trades Today
Name your mina – Identify one concrete gift or responsibility God has given you and put it to work for someone specific. Maybe you have a skill for listening – use it to help someone who’s struggling. Maybe you have knowledge about something – teach it to someone who could benefit. Maybe you have time – spend it serving others. Maybe you have money – invest it in helping people in need. Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity. Start today with what you have.
Risk a witness – Speak one simple word about Christ where you usually stay silent. This doesn’t mean preaching sermons or getting into arguments about religion. It means being willing to mention your faith when it’s natural to do so. Maybe that’s sharing how prayer has helped you through a difficult time, or mentioning that you’re grateful to God for something good that happened. Maybe it’s inviting someone to church, or offering to pray for someone who’s struggling. Take a small risk to let people know that Jesus matters to you.
Multiply mercy – Take one small talent (time, skill, resource) and turn it into help for the poor. Maybe you can cook – make extra food and share it with someone who’s hungry. Maybe you can fix things – help someone who can’t afford repairs. Maybe you have transportation – offer rides to people who need them. Maybe you can read – volunteer to help someone learn. Take something you’re already good at and find a way to use it to help people who are struggling.
The Lord’s Business
The nobleman in the parable expected his servants to be busy with his business while he was away. As Christians, we’re supposed to be busy with the Lord’s business while we wait for His return.
What is the Lord’s business? It’s the work of love – caring for the poor, comforting the hurting, sharing the good news of God’s mercy, building up the community of faith, working for justice, showing kindness to everyone we meet.
We don’t do this work to earn our salvation – that’s already been given to us as a free gift. We do it because we’ve been entrusted with resources that belong to God, and He wants us to use them to bless others and build His kingdom.
The delay between now and Christ’s return isn’t a sign that God has forgotten about us or that His promises aren’t true. It’s an opportunity for us to show our faithfulness by using what we’ve been given in service of others.
When the King Returns
The parable ends with the king returning to settle accounts. Jesus is teaching us that He will return, and when He does, He will ask us what we did with what He entrusted to us.
This isn’t meant to scare us – it’s meant to motivate us. The servants who had used their minas were rewarded with joy and greater responsibility. The king was pleased with their efforts, even though they had achieved different levels of success.
When Christ returns, He’s not looking for people who played it safe and never made mistakes. He’s looking for people who took risks in love, who used their gifts to serve others, who turned their talents into blessing for the world around them.
He wants to find our little turned into more – our small acts of kindness multiplied into great love, our simple words about Him grown into strong faith in others, our modest resources transformed into help for many people.
He wants to find our fear turned into faith – our hesitation replaced by courage, our worry replaced by trust, our excuses replaced by action.
And He wants to find our lives busy with His business – not selfishly focused on our own comfort and success, but actively engaged in the work of love that He came to earth to begin.
Let Him find us faithful when He returns, not because we accomplished great things, but because we refused to bury what He gave us and instead put it to work in His service.
Let us Pray
Lord Jesus, thank You for entrusting us with gifts – time, talents, opportunities, and knowledge of Your love. Help us not to hide these gifts out of fear or comparison, but to put them to work in service of Your kingdom. Give us courage to take risks in love, wisdom to use our resources well, and faithfulness to stay busy with Your business while we wait for Your return. When You come to settle accounts, may You find that we have multiplied what You gave us through acts of mercy, words of witness, and deeds of love. Amen.
❤️ Thank You dear friend, hope this reflections touched you. 🙏 Please do not forget to share with your loved ones this november 19 homily.
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