November 23, 2025

Gospel: Matthew, Chapter 25, verses 14-30
Homily of the Pontiff Samuel

Talents and the City divided into three parts:
the good faithful; the hesitant idlers; the wicked

(Draft: Automatic Translation)

Brothers, we are about to live this Sunday, meditating on this further parable that projects us, in an eschatological key, to how to live the Kingdom, and then, on Sunday, to live together the Feast of Christ the King (Rev 19:16).

In order to live the King (Act of Magisterium, ‘Honour and glory to Thee, Christ, King of the Universe’, 24/11/2024), we must understand how the King wants everyone to behave and how everyone should prepare to welcome Him as ‘the King’.

Here is this parable, which once again brings us to the end times, to help us penetrate the Mind of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and be ready: the parable of the ten talents – or rather, the talents – which leads those servants to receive God’s gift of Grace, which must not be kept for themselves, but must be made to bear fruit for themselves and, above all, for the building of the Kingdom (1 Cor 3:9). The parable we have just heard is a rich one, full of symbols that we will quickly look at together.

“It will be like a man” (Mt 25:14): this is how the parable begins. A man. Here is the Man, ecce Homo. Here is the reference to the Man, the Man-God, the protagonist of this parable, who sets out on a long journey. What is this journey? It is the journey of Redemption, which begins with the death and Resurrection of the Man-God and is completed with the Return of the Man-God (Acts 1:11). This journey is the Itinerary of Salvation (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, ‘The Holy Place of Jesus’ Return’, 19/02/1995) .

Then there are the servants, who are called to themselves by the Man, the Man-God (Act of Magisterium, ‘Love has become flesh and dwells amongst us’, 13/06/2022). Who are the servants? Those who, following the example of the One who became a Servant for Love – behold the Man-God who becomes the Servant of the Father (Jn 6:38) and, consequently, in order to serve the children, gives Himself to do the Will of the Father – behold, following His example, the children, men and women, the consecrated, do the same: they consecrate themselves to serve God, the Man-God. Here, then, are the servants, the “consecrated”, to hand over their goods: the goods of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are given to these servants to be administered.

And so one is given “five”, one is given “two”, another is given “one” (Mt 25:15). But we understand that what makes the difference is not the quantity of talents given. We understand this from the response given – we will see it shortly – to those who received “five” and those who received “two”; “good and faithful servants”, who received the exact same response, the exact same reward (Mt 25:21). So the difference is not in the number of talents. Why? Because this represents the calling for each person. God knows how much each person can receive and make fruitful. The calling is different. The important thing is that each person fulfils it with all good will, doing the Will of God (Mt 7:21) and not the will of the “ego”. This is the essence. Do not look at who received “ten”, “five”, “two”: that is not the point. The point is whether what has been received is made to bear fruit or not. This is the heart of the message (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, “Catechesis of Jesus”, 01/01/1988).

And so, this parable continues and we understand that, at a certain point, that Man returns and is no longer called “man”; he is called “master” (Mt 25:19). The “man” becomes the “master”. Pay attention to this too, because there is a profound eschatological symbolism. Here, God – the Man-God – manifests himself as “the Master”; but, even better, we could see in this figure “the Father”, who manifests himself fully in the Son, the One who created everything: the Master (Genesis 1:1).

And he comes to “settle accounts”. Here is God, who has manifested himself and manifests himself in his infinite mercy, but who must also be a God of justice (Magisterial Act, “Christ, King of Love and Justice”, 26/11/2023). Here is Justice, which will then lead to Judgement. Here is the Feast of Christ the King, who will judge the good from the bad (Mt 25:32), the saved from those who will not be saved.

Therefore, talent brings us back to Love, to Charity. Here is the heart of the Law: Love is the heart of the Law (Mt 22:37-40), which must be made fruitful for oneself and for the building of the Kingdom in others.

And here, then, is the central figure of the “servants”. As mentioned, servants are those who refer in particular to consecrated persons (Rev 1:6). Yes, it can certainly be extended to all the faithful, because it is a parable that has many meanings. But today I want to focus on consecrated persons, on servants. Just as last Sunday we spoke of the virgins (Mt 25:1), speaking of the fullness of those who are called – the Church, Christians – today I want to focus on the consecrated in a special way, those who consecrate themselves in a special way and who are called to serve in a special way: those who have chosen to be “servants” for Love (Jn 15:14-15).

Let us think of Mary. I spoke to you earlier about the Man-God, the One who became a Servant for the Father. And Mary? Was she not the one who announced herself, proclaiming: ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, do with me as you will’? (Lk 1:38). Here Mary returns, when we speak of Consecration (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, ‘Mary, I consecrate myself to You’, 10/03/1986). Mary always accompanies us (Jn 19:27), just as she accompanies us in this profound eschatological passage. Why? Because, if we want to analyse those first five talents – here this ‘five’ returns – I refer you to what I said last Sunday, without repeating it (Homily of Pope Samuel, ‘The parable of the 10 Virgins: be wise and not foolish, be holy Virgins’, 16/11/2025), the “five” (which then becomes “ten”, by virtue of having accomplished all that had to be done) brings us back to fullness. Here is the “five”, in that Action of the Holy Spirit with all those who have been invested with the Rays of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3-4) who bring us back to that fullness, where Christ manifests himself in fullness. Here are those who serve Christ and who become the image and likeness of Christ, who in fullness are pointed out by the Master as ‘good and faithful servants’: many little Jesuses (Gal 2:20), we might say.

Then there is the “two”. Where can this “two” of the “two talents” lead us? I tell you: Mary. Why? Because Mary is seen as the new Eve, the second Eve, the Origin of the second Creation (Rev 21:5). In Mary there is a duality, if you think about it: the dual relationship with God and with men. Mary is the Door to reach and attain the Holy Trinity; therefore… (Act of Magisterium, ‘Mary, the Holy Door of the sons of God’, 24/12/2024). Just as there are two Doors of the Shrine of Divine Mercy in these last days.

Here is the Way, in following Christ, in the fullness of the talents received; and here is the Way of the Teacher, of those who consecrate themselves to Her Immaculate Heart (Act of Magisterium, ‘Consecrating ourselves to Mary is a necessary act’, 14/10/2024), in order to be able, by clinging to that Heart, to bear fruit (Jn 15:5) and, thanks to His Grace (Lk 1:30), to be able to receive Salvation in the same way. This is why this Church invites everyone and always to consecrate themselves to Mary, pointing to Her as the Way to attain Salvation in any case (Act of Magisterium, ‘The privileged Way to attain Salvation’, 15/08/2023). Here are the ‘Five’ and here are the “Two”.

Then there is that servant who receives ‘one’ talent and who, however, does not behave according to God’s Will. I repeat, not so much for the one talent received, but for how that talent was used. Note that those who received “five” and those who received “two” immediately (it is written) set to work to make them bear fruit. This is also important: readiness, “immediately” (Mt 25:16). When God calls, you must act immediately. You cannot procrastinate, you cannot wait. Just as the Maiden of God acted immediately (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, ‘She who is the synthesis of the prophets and the ancient patriarchs’, 26/07/1996) when she was told: ‘Announce the New Jerusalem’ (Rev 21:2). She did not procrastinate, she was not afraid, she did not hide that thought for fear of the reaction of men or, worse still, of God. She acted immediately.

Unlike whom? Unlike the servant called ‘wicked’, “lazy” and then ‘idle’ in this parable, who did not act immediately, but dug a hole to bury that talent (Mt 25:18). He did not do God’s Will, following the example of the other servants. He could have seen how the others did it, finding himself in difficulty; instead, on his own initiative, he wanted to dig a hole. He did not do the Will of God and of the Servants of God, of Christ and of Mary (Jn 12:26). And so, this servant was called “wicked”, “lazy” and then “idle”. The “wicked” makes you think of someone who is devoted to evil, who does evil; “slothful”, someone who pretends, therefore a hypocrite; and the “idle”, someone who, instead of doing, does not do; perhaps he tells others to do, but he does not do.

And who could embody this figure? Jesus helps us. Who was Jesus talking about in the Gospel when he used these terms? Going back a little, in the chapter of Matthew, we understand that, at a certain point, Jesus addresses the scribes and Pharisees – Matthew, chapter 23 – using precisely these terms; he makes it very clear. At a certain point, Jesus says: ‘Then Jesus turned to the crowd and his disciples and said: “The scribes and Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Do whatever they tell you and observe it, but do not do as they do, for they say and do not do” (Mt 23:1-3). Here are the “slackers”, as well as the hypocrites. Then he says again: ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of robbery and intemperance. Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may also become clean! Woe to you, hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, who resemble whitewashed tombs: they are beautiful on the outside, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all kinds of filth. So you too appear righteous on the outside to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity’ (Mt 23:25-28). These are the hypocrites and the wicked.

So, if this parable was told to understand what would come in the last days, we learn from history – which is the mother and teacher of what has been – to understand what will be. Therefore, this hypocrisy, this wickedness was not only of that time, but it is something that Jesus warns about for what would be the end (2 Tim 3:1-5). Here are the consecrated who are devoted to evil, “wicked”; who are hypocrites, “slackers”; and who are also “idlers”: they say they will do, but they do not do.

How can we not think of the invitations that, again in Matthew’s Gospel, in the chapter following this 23rd chapter – that is, in chapter 24 – Jesus addresses to make us understand what would happen in the last days and when the decisive moment to act would come? In chapter 24, Jesus, at a certain point, says – speaking of the abomination that would enter the holy place – “let the reader understand” (Mt 24:15) – so understanding and wisdom are needed: “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Mt 24:16). Just as, moreover, in the Book of Revelation there is the same invitation – made by the Apostle John – when he invites everyone: ‘Come out, my people’ (Rev 18:4), to come out of the one called “Babylon”, which has become a true ‘Babylon’ (Rev 17:5).

Then, at that moment, there is the invitation to act immediately. Those servants who acted immediately, with courage, left ‘Babylon’ and fled to the mountains, to the Mountain, to the Holy Mountain (Jn 4:21), prepared by God (Is 2:2) thanks to His Maiden, so that they could be nourished and preserved. Why preserved? Because those who remain in “Babylon”, those who do not flee, out of fear, because they are timid (then we also see those who are devoted to evil: if the abomination has entered the holy place, it is because evil has entered the holy place, and those who are devoted to evil do not flee, they remain there, because they have taken up residence: this is one part of the City) – but then there is a second part of the City which, despite having recognised the deception, the evil, does not flee – it remains. How can we not think of that servant who buries his talent out of fear (Mt 25:25) and waits, waits? What is there to wait for? I always think of the tragedy of the absurd in Godot: Godot is awaited. God has returned: God has returned (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, “The Return of Jesus”, 30/10/1994). We must not wait any longer, otherwise it will truly become a tragedy, not of the absurd, but of reality. And we are living it.

What is the problem? That this tragedy does not only concern those who will be called ‘idlers’ and sent into darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 25:30). Why? Because it is written that those who remain in ‘Babylon’ will take part in sin and receive part of the plagues (Rev 18:4). But I think of the sheep, dear brothers and sisters, those sheep who look to those servants, who look to those consecrated persons, and who do not move while waiting for them to move. And on their conscience, these people will have many sheep who, anchored to tradition – because that is what we are talking about – united with those who are anchored, clinging to tradition, wait, wait and wait. And so those sheep will then receive, despite themselves, that consequence too (Hos 4:9).

This is my suffering. This is my cry (Mt 25:6) that I want to make heard loudly today, so that what must be done may be done with courage, just as this Church immediately acted with courage.

Behold, the city is divided into three parts (Rev 16:19): one part, which immediately came out of the city with courage, to preserve what had to be preserved (who changed religion? Not those who made this choice; because when the abomination enters the Holy City (Dan 9:27), the holy religion is no longer there, because the Holy Spirit (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, ‘The Holy Spirit’, 13/09/1984) is no longer there); a second part which, if it remains, will receive the same reward; and the third, which is devoted to evil, which certainly remains to complete its work (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Be aware that God’s patience has a limit – I say this also to you who are attached to tradition – because when God allows everything that must be done to be accomplished, you will all fall. And if you begin to fall – those who are considered bulwarks will fall one after another – what will happen? Where will so many sheep go? To whom will they cling?

Dear brothers and sisters, it takes courage to follow Jesus (Mt 10:28). We must put ourselves on the line, with courage. This is the call of those who want to be servants for Love. ‘Do with me as You will,’ this young girl taught us (Act of Magisterium, ‘Maria G. Norcia’, 21/01/2019), ‘My life is Yours, take it.’ Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (Jn 12:24). This is Love that multiplies by division. This is Jesus who gave himself so that many might have Life and have it in abundance (Jn 10:10).

““We want to see Jesus,” say those who are far away. But who will show them Jesus, if not the one who will reveal in his own death the value of Christ’s glorification? Who are the apostles who act as intermediaries, so that the world may recognise the one who draws all to himself? There are many honest men who seek meaning for their lives, for their martyrdom. But will they meet true friends of Jesus who will guide them to Him? Today, there is a possibility of a more personal encounter with the Mystery of Jesus Christ. However, this is on condition that, in every case, you come into contact with the Cross and entrust the grain to the risk of the earth. Every time you accept to be born from the pierced side of Jesus, you draw closer to the glorious Christ. There will no longer be the constraint of observing the law, but for each person there will be the need for responsibility: faith will not be written on stone tablets, but in the heart of man. Christ saves you with His suffering and His death. With the help of His Grace, you too will learn to die, to rise again with Him; to lose yourselves, to find yourselves in Him; to abandon everything, to find everything in Him. The Lord will then instil His Law, His Spirit of Love, into your hearts, because you will have made your life a sharing of His, and He will make you partake in the great Mystery of salvation‘ (Revelation of Jesus to Maria G. Norcia, ’To die in order to live; to lose in order to gain“, 24/03/1985).

Here is the Revelation of Jesus to His Maiden and to those good and faithful servants, ‘good and faithful’: here is God, Good, who in His infinite Goodness will make Himself known; and here is Mary, the faithful Bride. To those who are children of that Good and Faithful God – that is why the children, in turn, are ‘good and faithful’ – will be given ‘authority’ (Mt 25:23), the authority that comes from God, just as this Church has received authority from Above, which is God, because they have been found “good and faithful”, as children of She who is Mother, spiritual, who has Goodness and Faithfulness in Herself.

We are called to do God’s Will with courage. Do not be afraid. Come, dear brothers and sisters, come into this Church (Act of Magisterium, “The True Church”, 08/05/2025) which is ready to welcome you and embrace you in Her arms. Mary, Mother Church, will protect you from all ugliness. Others will weep, even today, but Mother Church will always keep everyone in Grace (2 Peter 3:18), because the Full of Grace (Luke 1:28) dwells in this House, House of Grace, House of children who, following the example of Jesus and Mary, have courageously listened to the Will of the Master and, to the very end, will want to remain ‘good and faithful’. And so be it.