The Second Sunday before Advent – Reflection by Canon Leslie

​Today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 25: 14-30) follows on directly from last Sunday’s reading (Matthew 25: 1-13). As part of Matthew’s fifth and last block of Jesus’ teaching, chapter 25 focuses the note of urgency, calling God’s people to be ready to welcome God’s reign. Last week the narrative was about the five wise and the five foolish bridesmaids. The wise had oil for their lamps, but the foolish did not. This week the narrative is about the faithful and wicked servants. The faithful servants put the talents entrusted to them to good effect, but the wicked servant did not. While the wise bridesmaids needed simply to be prepared, the faithful servants were required to be active and to make full use of all that their master had entrusted to them. The reign of God doesn’t just happen, but we have to prepare the context for it to happen.
 
For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to focus on the image of talents. Each of us has talents (and you could say that these talents are God-given) and have needed in the course of our developing lives to decide what to do about the talents that we have been given. Like the faithful servants we may have nurtured and developed those talents in God’s service, or like the wicked servant we may have been uncertain, insecure, or just plain lazy and allowed those talents to go to waste. Today’s Gospel reading is a wake-up call, a wake-up call as the Church’s year is coming to a close, to check on just how well we are doing with what God has given to us. Today’s picture is taken from Teddy Horsley meets Jesus’ Disciples and shows Teddy Horsley and Betsy Bear developing their talents as active disciples and as engaged learners. Here within the Diocese of Liverpool Teddy Horsley and Betsy Bear have clearly signed up to the Rule of Life to support their faith journey.
 
Next week the image to help us prepare for participation in the Sunday service online at home is foodbank. At Liverpool Cathedral, we support ‘Micah Liverpool’, a local charity that runs foodbanks, community markets and volunteer schemes: https://micahliverpool.com/. You can find out more about the theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to Nelson.Pike@liverpoolcathedral.org.uk.
 
If  you’d like to learn more about Teddy Horsley and his writings, visit his website: https://teddyhorsley.org/, or his page on the website of St. Mary’s Centre: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/TeddyHorsley.html.
 
We warmly invite you to join us in worship online here: 

Teddy Horsley sends his Sunday greetings to all.
 
Canon Leslie
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