15 November 2026 – EDIZIONI L'ISOLA DI PATMOS

CHI HA PAURA DEL PADRONE?

Il servo che sotterra il talento non è un prudente, è un uomo che ha paura di Dio. E chi ha paura di Dio finisce per seppellire, insieme al denaro, anche la propria fede.

Author
Hermit Monk

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Il poeta inglese William Blake scrisse che la Bibbia è il grande codice dell’arte. Ma essa ha influenzato anche il nostro parlare se ancora oggi, eg, nel linguaggio comune quando una persona ha delle doti diciamo semplicemente che possiede talento. Una parola che viene dal Vangelo di questa XXXIII Domenica del Tempo Ordinario dell’anno A.

Un brano che si trova nella penultima parte del Vangelo di Matteo, quando Gesù si trova ormai a Gerusalemme e lì tiene l’ultimo dei cinque discorsi, così come li ha strutturati quell’evangelista. È il discorso escatologico, l’ultimo grande insegnamento di Cristo. Ma leggiamo il testo:

Jesus told his disciples this parable: «It will happen as to a man who, going on a trip, he called his servants and gave them his goods. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, According to the capacity of each; then he left. Immediately the one who had received five talents went to use them, and earned five more. So did the one who had received two, he earned two more. The one who had received only one talent, he went and made a hole in the ground and hid his master's money there. After a long time the master of those servants returned and wanted to settle accounts with them. The one who had received five talents showed up and brought five more, saying: "Man, you gave me five talents; there, I earned five more”. “Bene, good and faithful servant - his master told him -, you were faithful in little, I will give you power over much; take part in your master's joy". Then he who had received two talents came forward and said: "Man, you gave me two talents; there, I earned two more”. “Bene, good and faithful servant - his master told him -, you were faithful in little, I will give you power over much; take part in your master's joy". Finally the one who had received only one talent also showed up and said: "Man, I know you are a hard man, who reap where you have not sown and gather where you have not scattered. I got scared and went to hide your talent in the ground: here is what is yours". The master answered him: “Servo malvagio e pigro, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered; you should have entrusted my money to the bankers and so, returning, I would have withdrawn mine with interest. So take away his talent, and give it to him who has the ten talents. Because anyone has, it will be given and will be in abundance; but to those who don't have, even what he has will be taken away. And throw the useless servant outside into the darkness; là sarà pianto e stridore di denti”» (cf.. Mt 25,14-30).

The parable Of Mt 25,14-30 è l’ultima di cinque parabole. Tre più brevi: quella del diluvio, del padrone e del servo (cf.. Mt 24,37-51); e due più ampie: la parabola delle dieci vergini (cf.. Mt 25,1-13) e infine il testo odierno. Subito dopo la nostra parabola dei talenti, la grandiosa scena del «giudizio universale» (cf.. Mt 25,31-46). Le parabole spesso prevedono un linguaggio iperbolico con volute esagerazioni e l’uso del paradosso che possono anche arrivare a scandalizzare per la violenza che talvolta vi è implicata. It affects us, in this song, the punishment of the wicked servant. Ma stupisce anche il finale che, come spesso accade nei racconti di finzione, presents a real twist: il talento viene tolto a chi ne ha solo uno e dato a chi già ne ha tanti. The question arises in the reader: chi è questo padrone che si permette di umiliare in tal modo un servo, who ultimately acted prudently? Il profeta Geremia affermava: «La mia parola non è forse come il fuoco […] e come un martello che spacca la roccia?» (cf.. Gives 23,29). Who, come in una visione, l’esegesi contempla le miriadi di scintille che si sprigionano dalla potenza della Parola di Dio, come se fossero le tante letture possibili di quella stessa parola, tanto da renderle inesauribili. Se poi si tratta di una parabola, queste aumentano in maniera esponenziale.

Un primo livello di lettura potrebbe riguardare l’etica. Si tratterebbe di un insegnamento sulla vita e sul modo di viverla. Matteo è molto preciso nell’uso delle monete e nel suo vangelo ne sono elencate di diverso tipo, chiaro indizio del mestiere che aveva fatto prima di porsi a seguire Gesù (cf.. Mt 9,9). Il talento è un’unità di peso tra i 26 e i 36 kg circa — la parola significa infatti anche «ciò che è pesato» — e corrisponde a seimila denari; e poiché un denaro, secondo quanto l’evangelista stesso spiega in Mt 20,2, it is the amount of pay for one day of work, here we mean a large sum given to the servants for management. L’insegnamento da questo punto di vista è un invito a sfruttare ciò che viene donato, qualsiasi sia il suo ammontare: siano cinque i talenti o uno solo, senza invidiare quanti hanno di più. In short, a questo livello la parabola è un invito all’intraprendenza.

Ma un livello di interpretazione più profondo riguarda invece la fede. Lo scopo della parabola poteva essere infatti, come per la precedente parabola delle dieci vergini, quello di esortare i discepoli del Signore a vivere il tempo dell’attesa con fede. The adjective pistós (cf.. Mt 25,21), tradotto con «fedele», conserva in sé anche il significato di credere e aver fede nel tempo dell’attesa. È vero che un primo senso, comune anche in ambito profano, implica la coscienziosità e l’essere affidabile, ma il secondo invece designa le persone credenti, come attestato nelle lettere paoline e nella prima di Pietro dove semplicemente identifica i cristiani (cf.. Ef 1,1; With the 1,2; 1PT 1,21). È proprio il contesto delle parabole che ci permette, qui e anche in Mt 24,45, di intendere il termine anche in questo modo. The adjective, polisemantico, veicola sia il senso della fedeltà ed affidabilità, sia quello di essere credenti pieni di fede. Anche perché Matteo nel suo Vangelo usa quattro volte (Mt 6,30; 8,26; 14,31; 16,8) la stessa parola quando i discepoli si dimostrano persone di poca fede e lì il termine usato è oligopistos.

La fede attiva che guida il comportamento del discepolo è importante nel vocabolario matteano. Gesù nel primo vangelo parla della fede di coloro che credono in lui per poter essere guariti (per esempio quella del centurione in Mt 8,10, del paralitico in Mt 9,2, della donna emorroissa in Mt 9,22, dei due ciechi in Mt 9,29 o della Cananea in Mt 15,28) e incita i suoi discepoli ad averne di più.

Our parable dice dunque qualcosa sul credere o non credere in Dio nel tempo intermedio che ci separa dal giudizio finale. Così l’ultimo servo sembra non avere più fede, l’ha persa col tempo e si è dimenticato che quanto gli era stato affidato doveva essere investito perché portasse frutto per il padrone, but also in his favor. Si comprende allora anche la sentenza che tanto scandalizza: «a chiunque ha, it will be given and will be in abundance; but to those who don't have, verrà tolto anche quello che ha» (cf.. Mt 25,29). Matteo pone la stessa frase sulle labbra di Gesù quando spiega ai discepoli perché parla in parabole (cf.. Mt 13,12): faith, come la comprensione della Parola, cresce quando la si esercita e si spegne quando la si sotterra. Non è il capriccio di un padrone ingiusto, è la legge stessa della vita spirituale. A riprova si potrebbe citare un testo dell’apostolo Paolo dove egli dice che questo dono è misteriosamente personalizzato, proprio come racconta Gesù nella parabola dei talenti: «For the grace that was given to me, I say to each of you: do not value yourself more than is appropriate, but evaluate yourselves wisely and justly, each according to the measure of faith that God has given him" (cf.. RM 12,3).

The parable, at last, si esprime anche sul nostro modo di vedere Dio. Mentre i primi due servi non hanno bisogno di dire alcunché, l’ultimo spiega di aver avuto paura di investire il denaro, dicendo del Signore: «So che sei un uomo duro, who reap where you have not sown and gather where you have not scattered. Ho avuto paura e sono andato a nascondere il tuo talento» (cf.. Mt 25,24-25). Mostra di conservare in sé un’immagine negativa di Dio. In un senso positivo questo servo, definito malvagio, ci aiuta a domandarci se anche noi abbiamo ricevuto una simile visione di un Dio vendicativo ed esigente, che magari riproduciamo senza accorgercene. E ci aiuta a imparare a guardare invece Dio come nostro Padre, così come Gesù ci ha insegnato. Il servo che sotterra il talento non è un prudente, è un uomo che ha paura di Dio. E chi ha paura di Dio finisce per seppellire, insieme al denaro, anche la propria fede.

From the Hermitage, 15 November 2026

WHO’S AFRAID OF THE MASTER?

The servant who buries his talent is not a prudent man; he is a man who is afraid of God. And whoever is afraid of God ends up burying, along with the money, his own faith.

— Homiletics —

Author
Hermit Monk

The English poet William Blake wrote that the Bible is the great code of art. Yet it has also shaped the way we speak: even today, when someone is gifted, we simply say that he or she has talent. The word comes from the Gospel of this Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. The passage is found toward the end of the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus has by now reached Jerusalem and delivers there the last of the five discourses into which the evangelist arranged his Gospel. It is the eschatological discourse, Christ’s last great teaching. But let us first read the passage:

“It will be as when a man who was going on a journey^* called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents;^* to another, two; to a third, one — to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five.^* He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ [Then] the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!^* So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth’ (Mt 25:14-30).

The parable of Mt 25:14-30 is the last of five parables: three shorter ones, the flood, the master and the servant (Mt 24:37-51), and two longer ones, the parable of the ten virgins (Mt 25:1-13) and, finally, today’s text. Immediately after our parable of the talents comes the grand scene of the “Last Judgment” (Mt 25:31-46). Parables often employ hyperbolic language, with deliberate exaggeration and paradox, which can even scandalize us because of the violence they sometimes imply. In this passage we are struck by the punishment of the wicked servant. But the ending is just as surprising, for, as often happens in works of fiction, it contains a real twist: the talent is taken away from the one who has only one and given to the one who already has many. The reader cannot help asking: who is this master who presumes to humiliate a servant in this way, a servant who, after all, acted prudently? The prophet Jeremiah declared: “Is not my word like fire — oracle of the Lord — like a hammer shattering rock?” (Because 23:29). Here, as in a vision, exegesis contemplates the myriad sparks that fly from the power of the Word of God, as though they were the many possible readings of that one word, so many as to be inexhaustible. And when the text is a parable, they multiply exponentially.

A first level of interpretation might concern ethics. It would be a lesson about life and how to live it. Matthew is very precise in his use of coins, and his Gospel mentions several kinds, a clear sign of the trade he had practiced before he began to follow Jesus (Mt 9:9). The talent was a unit of weight of roughly 26 to 36 kilograms — the word itself also means “that which is weighed” — and was worth six thousand denarii; and since a denarius, as the evangelist himself explains in Mt 20:2, was the wage for a day’s work, what is meant here is a vast sum entrusted to the servants. From this point of view the lesson is an invitation to make good use of what has been given, whatever the amount, whether five talents or only one, without envying those who have more. In short, at this level the parable is a call to enterprise.

But a deeper level of interpretation concerns faith. The purpose of the parable may in fact have been, as with the preceding parable of the ten virgins, to exhort the Lord’s disciples to live the time of waiting in faith. The adjective pistós (Mt 25:21), translated “faithful,” also carries the sense of believing and keeping faith during the time of waiting. It is true that its first meaning, common in secular usage as well, implies conscientiousness and reliability; but its second meaning designates believers, as attested in the Pauline letters and in the First Letter of Peter, where it simply identifies Christians (Eph 1:1; With the 1:2; 1 PT 1:21). It is precisely the context of the parables that allows us, here and also in Mt 24:45, to understand the term in this sense as well. The adjective is polysemous: it conveys both the sense of faithfulness and reliability and that of being believers full of faith. Matthew, moreover, uses a related word four times in his Gospel (Mt 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8) when the disciples show themselves to be people of little faith, and there the term is oligopistos.

Active faith, which guides the disciple’s conduct, is important in Matthew’s vocabulary. In the first Gospel Jesus speaks of the faith of those who believe in him in order to be healed (for example, the centurion in Mt 8:10, the paralytic in Mt 9:2, the woman with a hemorrhage in Mt 9:22, the two blind men in Mt 9:29 or the Canaanite woman in Mt 15:28) and urges his disciples to have more of it.

Our parable, then, says something about believing or not believing in God in the interval that separates us from the final judgment. The last servant seems to have no faith left: he has lost it over time and has forgotten that what had been entrusted to him was meant to be invested so that it would bear fruit for his master, but also for his own benefit. This also explains the saying that so scandalizes us: “For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Mt 25:29). Matthew places the same words on Jesus’ lips when he explains to the disciples why he speaks in parables (Mt 13:12): faith, like understanding of the Word, grows when it is exercised and dies out when it is buried. It is not the whim of an unjust master; it is the very law of the spiritual life. As further evidence one might cite a passage in which the apostle Paul says that this gift is mysteriously personal, just as Jesus tells it in the parable of the talents: “For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned” (Rom 12:3).

The parable, finally, also speaks to the way we see God. While the first two servants have no need to say anything, the last explains that he was afraid to invest the money, saying of his master: “Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground” (Mt 25:24-25). He shows that he carries within himself a negative image of God. In a positive sense, this servant, called wicked, helps us ask ourselves whether we too have received a similar image of a vengeful and demanding God, which we may be passing on without realizing it. And he helps us learn instead to look upon God as our Father, as Jesus taught us. The servant who buries his talent is not a prudent man; he is a man who is afraid of God. And whoever is afraid of God ends up burying, along with the money, his own faith.

From the Hermitage, November 15, 2026

¿QUIÉN LE TIENE MIEDO AL AMO?

El siervo que entierra el talento no es prudente: es un hombre que tiene miedo a Dios. Y quien tiene miedo a Dios acaba enterrando, junto con el dinero, su propia fe.

— Homilética —

Author
Hermit Monk

El poeta inglés William Blake escribió que la Biblia es el gran código del arte. Pero también ha marcado nuestra forma de hablar: todavía hoy, en el lenguaje corriente, cuando una persona tiene dotes, decimos sencillamente que tiene talento. Es una palabra que procede del Evangelio de este Domingo XXXIII del Tiempo Ordinario, ciclo A. El pasaje se encuentra en la parte final del Evangelio de Mateo, cuando Jesús ya está en Jerusalén y pronuncia allí el último de los cinco discursos en los que el evangelista estructuró su obra. Es el discurso escatológico, la última gran enseñanza de Cristo. Pero leamos primero el texto:

«Es como un hombre que, al irse de viaje, llamó a sus siervos y los dejó al cargo de sus bienes: a uno le dejó cinco talentos, a otro dos, a otro uno, a cada cual según su capacidad; luego se marchó. El que recibió cinco talentos fue enseguida a negociar con ellos y ganó otros cinco. El que recibió dos hizo lo mismo y ganó otros dos. Instead, el que recibió uno fue a hacer un hoyo en la tierra y escondió el dinero de su señor. Al cabo de mucho tiempo viene el señor de aquellos siervos y se pone a ajustar las cuentas con ellos. Se acercó el que había recibido cinco talentos y le presentó otros cinco, diciendo: “Señor, cinco talentos me dejaste; mira, he ganado otros cinco”. Su señor le dijo: “Bien, siervo bueno y fiel; como has sido fiel en lo poco, te daré un cargo importante; entra en el gozo de tu señor”. Se acercó luego el que había recibido dos talentos y dijo: “Señor, dos talentos me dejaste; mira, he ganado otros dos”. Su señor le dijo: “¡Bien, siervo bueno y fiel!; como has sido fiel en lo poco, te daré un cargo importante; entra en el gozo de tu señor”. Se acercó también el que había recibido un talento y dijo: “Señor, sabía que eres exigente, que siegas donde no siembras y recoges donde no esparces, tuve miedo y fui a esconder tu talento bajo tierra. Aquí tienes lo tuyo”. El señor le respondió: “Eres un siervo negligente y holgazán. ¿Con que sabías que siego donde no siembro y recojo donde no esparzo? Pues debías haber puesto mi dinero en el banco, so that, al volver yo, pudiera recoger lo mío con los intereses. Quitadle el talento y dádselo al que tiene diez. Porque al que tiene se le dará y le sobrará, pero al que no tiene, se le quitará hasta lo que tiene. Y a ese siervo inútil echadlo fuera, a las tinieblas; allí será el llanto y el rechinar de dientes”» (Mt 25,14-30).

La parábola from Mt 25,14-30 es la última de cinco parábolas: tres más breves, la del diluvio, la del dueño y la del siervo (Mt 24,37-51), y dos más amplias, la de las diez vírgenes (Mt 25,1-13) and, por último, el texto de hoy. Justo después de nuestra parábola de los talentos viene la grandiosa escena del «juicio final» (Mt 25,31-46). Las parábolas recurren a menudo a un lenguaje hiperbólico, con exageraciones deliberadas y con el uso de la paradoja, que pueden llegar incluso a escandalizar por la violencia que a veces implican. En este pasaje nos llama la atención el castigo del siervo negligente. Pero sorprende también el final, what, como sucede a menudo en las obras de ficción, presenta un auténtico golpe de efecto: el talento se le quita al que solo tiene uno y se le da al que ya tiene muchos. Al lector le surge la pregunta: ¿quién es este amo que se permite humillar de este modo a un siervo que, in the background, ha obrado con prudencia? El profeta Jeremías decía: «¿No es mi palabra como fuego, como martillo que cuartea la roca? —oráculo del Señor—» (Because 23,29). Here, como en una visión, la exégesis contempla las miríadas de chispas que brotan de la fuerza de la Palabra de Dios, como si fueran las muchas lecturas posibles de esa misma palabra, hasta el punto de hacerlas inagotables. Y si se trata de una parábola, estas se multiplican de forma exponencial.

Un primer nivel de lectura podría referirse a la ética. Se trataría de una enseñanza sobre la vida y sobre el modo de vivirla. Mateo es muy preciso en el uso de las monedas y en su Evangelio se mencionan varios tipos, claro indicio del oficio que había ejercido antes de ponerse a seguir a Jesús (Mt 9,9). El talento era una unidad de peso de entre 26 and 36 kilos aproximadamente —la palabra significa también «lo que se pesa»— y equivalía a seis mil denarios; y como un denario, según explica el propio evangelista en Mt 20,2, era el jornal de un día de trabajo, se trata aquí de una suma enorme confiada a la administración de los siervos. From this point of view, la enseñanza es una invitación a sacar provecho de lo que se ha recibido, sea cual sea su cuantía, cinco talentos o uno solo, sin envidiar a quienes tienen más. Ultimately, en este nivel la parábola es una invitación a la iniciativa.

Pero un nivel de interpretación más profundo se refiere a la fe. Indeed, el propósito de la parábola podía ser, como en la parábola anterior de las diez vírgenes, exhortar a los discípulos del Señor a vivir con fe el tiempo de la espera. El adjetivo pistós (Mt 25,21), traducido por «fiel», encierra también el sentido de creer y de mantener la fe en el tiempo de la espera. Es cierto que un primer sentido, común también en el ámbito profano, implica la responsabilidad y la fiabilidad, pero el segundo designa a los creyentes, como atestiguan las cartas paulinas y la primera carta de Pedro, donde sencillamente identifica a los cristianos (Ef 1,1; With the 1,2; 1 Pe 1,21). Es precisamente el contexto de las parábolas lo que nos permite, aquí y en Mt 24,45, entender el término asimismo en este sentido. El adjetivo, polisémico, transmite tanto el sentido de la fidelidad y la fiabilidad como el de ser creyentes llenos de fe. Besides, Mateo emplea cuatro veces en su Evangelio (Mt 6,30; 8,26; 14,31; 16,8) un término afín cuando los discípulos se muestran hombres de poca fe, y allí la palabra es oligopistos.

La fe activa que guía la conducta del discípulo es importante en el vocabulario de Mateo. En el primer Evangelio, Jesús habla de la fe de quienes creen en él para ser curados (For example, la del centurión en Mt 8,10, la del paralítico en Mt 9,2, la de la mujer con flujo de sangre en Mt 9,22, la de los dos ciegos en Mt 9,29 o la de la cananea en Mt 15,28) e invita a sus discípulos a tener más.

Nuestra parábola dice, well, algo sobre el creer o no creer en Dios en el tiempo intermedio que nos separa del juicio final. So, el último siervo parece no tener ya fe: la ha perdido con el tiempo y ha olvidado que lo que se le había confiado debía invertirse para que diera fruto a su señor, pero también en su propio beneficio. Se entiende entonces la sentencia que tanto escandaliza: «Porque al que tiene se le dará y le sobrará, pero al que no tiene, se le quitará hasta lo que tiene» (Mt 25,29). Mateo pone la misma frase en labios de Jesús cuando explica a los discípulos por qué habla en parábolas (Mt 13,12): faith, como la comprensión de la Palabra, crece cuando se ejercita y se apaga cuando se entierra. No es el capricho de un amo injusto, sino la ley misma de la vida espiritual. Como prueba podría citarse un texto del apóstol Pablo en el que afirma que este don está misteriosamente personalizado, tal como cuenta Jesús en la parábola de los talentos: «Por la gracia de Dios que me ha sido dada os digo a todos y a cada uno de vosotros: No os estiméis en más de lo que conviene, sino estimaos moderadamente, según la medida de la fe que Dios otorgó a cada cual» (Rom 12,3).

Finally, la parábola dice también algo sobre nuestro modo de ver a Dios. Mientras los dos primeros siervos no necesitan decir nada, el último explica que tuvo miedo de invertir el dinero, y dice de su señor: «Señor, sabía que eres exigente, que siegas donde no siembras y recoges donde no esparces, tuve miedo y fui a esconder tu talento bajo tierra» (Mt 25,24-25). Muestra que conserva dentro de sí una imagen negativa de Dios. En sentido positivo, este siervo, al que su señor llama negligente y holgazán, nos ayuda a preguntarnos si también nosotros hemos recibido una imagen semejante de un Dios vengativo y exigente, que quizá reproducimos sin darnos cuenta. Y nos ayuda a aprender a mirar a Dios, instead, como nuestro Padre, tal como Jesús nos enseñó. El siervo que entierra el talento no es prudente: es un hombre que tiene miedo a Dios. Y quien tiene miedo a Dios acaba enterrando, junto con el dinero, su propia fe.

Desde el Eremitorio, 15 November 2026

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