33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time [A}

 


33RD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [A]


In The Iliad we are introduced to a woman named Helen. She starts off as Helen “Of Sparta,” having entered into marriage with King Menelaus. Before long, however, she becomes Helen “Of Troy.”  How does this come about? It depends upon who you ask. As far as the Greeks are concerned, this qualifies as a kidnapping. Nevertheless, if we examine the wider body of evidence, it appears that we are talking more about an elopement, and not a kidnapping. She has fallen in love with Paris, a young handsome Prince from Troy. She’s not being kidnapped; this is Helen following her heart. It’s not as if she is being “taken” to Troy. In truth, she’s going of her own free will. 


St. Paul doesn’t really care if you are “of Sparta” or if you are “of Troy.”  What he mainly wants to know is whether you are “of the light” or if you are “of the darkness.” Where then do you belong? Do you belong to the light? Or do you belong to the darkness (see 1st Thess. 5:5-8). If you do belong to the darkness, how did you get there? Did you go voluntarily? Or were you somehow coerced? The servant featured in Matthew chapter twenty five finds himself being “thrown” into the darkness (25:30). The master commands that he be “thrown” into the darkness. You could argue that this represents the use of force. He doesn’t necessarily want  to be subjected to the darkness. Therefore, maybe we shouldn’t fault him for this newly acquired status. If he belongs to the darkness, it’s a direct result of the master’s heavy-handedness. 


Of course, we understand that there is a backstory. For his part, the master has suffered a bitter disappointment. Something was being asked of the servant. Was it anything unreasonable? It doesn’t come across as unreasonable. It is not as if the servant was being called upon to produce something from nothing. Resources were provided in advance, entrusted by the master to his employee. A robust return would have been the ideal. But it’s apparent that the master would have been content with just a modest accrual of interest (25:27). Sadly, this is a servant who can’t even produce the bare minimum. You can’t help wondering what it would have been like, had the servant at least produced…something? Anything is better than nothing. 


Thus, we do have reason to fault the servant. He is now “of” the darkness, just as Helen is now “of” Troy. They each get there on their own. The servant is responsible for his situation. And likewise, the same can be said for Helen. She, unfortunately, falls well short of the standard being outlined in the Book of Proverbs, chapter thirty one. Helen doesn’t bring about any measure of enrichment. Rather, she will always be remembered as the one who sparks a very lengthy and costly war. A thousand ships will sail, on her account. This in turn begs the question of our own account. What are we reflecting? Do we rate as children of the light? Or have we somehow affiliated ourselves with the darkness? If we are “of” the darkness, then who has to shoulder the blame? We might succeed in convincing ourselves that the blame should be placed elsewhere—not upon us. That leaves us with one more critical step: convincing…THE LORD. 

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