Failure = Opportunity

                                   

I have been practicing Lectio Divina (prayerful reading and meditation on Scripture) long enough to know that the Holy Spirit always has something to teach me. However, what He teaches me is not always what I expect or what I think I need to be taught. Today's Gospel passage on the Parable of the Talents proved those two points perfectly, especially the second one.

The usual lesson I receive from this passage still came through~ don't waste your God given gifts and that those gifts should return to God showing some growth in holiness. To make sure I heard Him, the Holy Spirit reinforced that point with this verse: "...at my coming, I should have received my own with interest."
(Matt 25:27)

Now I have to admit that this parable always makes me squirm in my pew a little. Am I using all that God has given me and earning Him interest in my holiness as well?  In my case, there is always room for improvement! But the lesson wasn't over yet. As is often the case, whenever God sees me getting a bit squirmy with one of His lessons, He tempers it with His mercy.

I went on to read the reflection in Magnificat on this parable.  It was written by Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer.  Fr. Dajczer wrote about how God gives us two types of talents: the ones that are a result of when all turns out well, and the other the result of failure in our lives. The latter being more precious than the first. Father explains how the failures in our lives are given to us by God as opportunities. I found this  to be hope~filled. God does not see our failings as simply our "messing up yet again", He sees them and sends them as opportunities for grace. We should see them the same way. More than one saint has been known to say: "Everything is grace." 

So the next time something in your life turns out less than perfectly, don't beat yourself up about it.  Accept it with humility and thank God for another opportunity to earn Him some interest and receive some grace.

After all, when He does return, either at the end of our lives or at the end of time, He will still want to know how we have used His gifts.