20 November 1991
Madagascar, Atananarivo, CMs

My dear Confreres,

I never read the parable of the talents in the Gospel without feeling some sympathy for the man who was given only one talent and who went off and buried it for safety's sake. In telling you that, I am probably telling you a lot about myself; that I am slow to take risks, and am overcautious. The man who received one talent seemed to be doing a very prudent thing, especially when he knew that his master was an "exacting man" (Lk 19: 21). It is easy to understand the reason why the servant of one talent was condemned. He was condemned for a sin of omission. He was a man who had probably been told to be careful about taking risks in life. He was afraid of risking the investment of his one talent.

There is an element of risk in every decision we take in life. We risk our lives when we decide to enter a car or take a plane. Each decision we take, great or small, carries an element of risk. Clearly some decisions carry more risk than others. It may not have been the direct intention of Our Lord in His parable to encourage us to take risks. But His own life and message are a stimulus to us not to eliminate all risk from our lives. Did He not say: "He who saves his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will save it?" (Lk 9: 24). He risked His own life for the salvation of every human being. That certainly is an encouragement to us to take risks because of our love for Our Lord. Mary, His Mother, took a risk when she drew Jesus' attention to the shortage of wine at Cana. She risked saying to Him: "They have no wine," (Jn 2: 3) when she probably knew that "His hour had not yet come." (Jn 2: 4).

Pope John XXIII risked calling an Ecumenical Council, and four years ago Pope John Paul II risked inviting the leaders of the world religions to Assisi. I am sure there were people who told both Popes beforehand that their actions were risky and imprudent. Too easily I identify all risk with imprudence. At times I fail perhaps to risk expressing an opinion to others lest it would be considered imprudent. I tend to identify prudence with inaction and silence. Yet prudence should lead to action and speech as often as it leads to inaction and silence. The man who hid his one talent was, I am sure, convinced that he was doing the prudent thing. Yet, how severe was the reproach he received for his inaction.

It is the Spirit of God dwelling within us whom we must allow, as Our Lord indicates in another passage of the Gospel, to enlighten us about the moment when we should speak and when we should keep silence; when we should act and when we should refrain from action. Yes, the Spirit of God is with us, but we have relegated Him to live in the basement of our house. We live for the most part in the upper apartments and because of our own chattering and our constant dialoguing with passersby, we cannot hear His voice. We want to live solely off our own resources, and so we become too calculating in our decisions and too fearful in action. We are often without light and without courage to take the risks He suggests, because we forget about the guest we have left in the basement. "God did not give us a spirit of timidity," wrote St. Paul, "but a spirit of power and love and self-control." (2 Tim 1:7).