We will be judged according to how we have surrendered ourselves to Him. Like the first and second servant in today's Gospel passage, we need to take risks and use our talents and charisms for the kingdom of God. The Lord rewards those who have expended their potentials to the fullest. Let us pray for an increasing faith, for only a radical faith to give us the strength to surrender all.

In our times, the Church often clashes with the values of the secular world, and sometimes governments who betray the common good of the people. It is not easy for Christians to be faithful to the gospel because it often involves being discriminated by those who are opposed to Christian values. Sometimes, one has to choose between the rich pagan life of pleasure offered by the world, or the sacrifices of the gospel, denying ourselves for the greater good of everyone, serving humbly and justly. It means standing up for truth, justice, the poor and the oppressed. It means standing up for strong and faithful marriages, the wholesomeness of family life, the dignity of the human person, the sacredness of life from conception to old age. Jesus warns us to see the signs of the times and cling on to His word. Only fidelity to His Word will see us through because His word is eternal. The Word of God is truth.

When we pray, we allow God to journey with us. Like any parent relating to a child, in prayer, the Father listens and helps us to process our experiences. Sometimes He simply holds us, other times He encourages us. And when needed, He intervenes.

Today, the Lord warns us to be prepared lest we miss the glory of the kingdom of God in our lives and at the end of time. We must avoid falling into the same mistake as the people during Noah’s time, or during the time of Lot, so absorbed in the mundane activities of the world that they had no place for God in their life. Whilst we certainly must give our heart and soul to whatever we are doing, we must put God as the centre of our life. His coming will be sudden and there would be no escape when He comes, whether the last day of this earth or our last day on earth. When He comes, we can take nothing with us.

The kingdom of God is already in our midst. When we live the life of the Spirit - loving, forgiving and sharing with one another - we make present and celebrate the kingdom of God. There will be sufferings, but there will also be a foretaste of the life of the world to come.

Those who have to pay a price for their conversion will cherish their faith, protect it and nurture it. For many converts, their journey to faith had not been easy, especially when they come from non-Catholic families. They would have faced opposition and even threatened severance of relationships. Gratitude springs from a grateful and humble heart of thanksgiving. When we are not conscious that all we have come from God, we will not be grateful and will not exercise the gifts given to us well. Of course, by extension, we all have been gifted with different talents and resources. But we abuse them when we fail to realize that such gifts given to us are meant for us to build the community, to build a fairer, just, compassionate and gracious society.

Underlying the call to be generous in today’s readings is a critique on the injustices of the world, especially of leaders. They play a key role in ensuring that justice prevails in our society; that is a fundamental form of charity.

What is truly our own is the gift of eternal life. Only that belongs to us forever. Everything else on this earth does not last. Our health will fail one day. Our position in society will eventually be forgotten. Our name and all that we had done would no longer be remembered or be reduced to one or two sentences in the history books. Our wealth would have to be given away when we die. Our power will be diminished when we cannot even think or remember anything. So nothing lasts on this earth. So, if we are really conscious that this world’s possessions do not belong to us but entrusted to us for the use of the world, we should be good stewards and use them to build community, strengthen friendships, motivate people to do good by showing appreciation, and to help the poor and the needy.

By virtue of our baptism, we are members of the royal priesthood. And so we have an obligation to proclaim the Gospel as priests. We are to be a bridge, so that others will know God through us. Like the dishonest steward in today's Gospel passage, let us us be creative and resourceful in our proclamation of the Good News.

In the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin, the Lord reminds us that whilst the big picture is important, we must never forget that the biggest picture is concerned with the salvation of the lost, even of one soul.  Every soul is important to us so much so that we would have to leave the other ninety-nine sheep to look for the one lost sheep or the one lost coin.  We must therefore not sacrifice the loss of even one soul.  Everyone is important to the Lord. If every soul is important to us, we must seek to contain them, accommodate their differences and seek understanding and appreciation through sincere dialogue.  We cannot dismiss and cut off those who are not able to accept certain practices of the Church.  We need greater tolerance and inclusivity in the Church, realizing that even if we have different views and practices, what is of utmost importance is that we have faith in the Lord and we live a life of charity.