Engage in trade with these until I return

“A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’ His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading.” (LK 19: 12-15) 

We remember the story: the first brought another 10, the second another 5 and the third one nothing. We are invited to do exactly the same. When we had made a decision during Program 1 to change ourselves, not our spouses, we are like servants, who recognized received talents and followed God’s will: “engage in trade with these until I return.” People who are focused on changing their spouses, not themselves, are like the servant who did nothing to improve what he received. We are chosen to “bear fruit that will last.”

“I chose you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.” (Gospel Acclamation)