In my opinion, the Parable of Talents reflects on the idea of investing your talents and skills that you have been given to best serve God, meaning to use them morally, ethically, and in service to others. In the parable, the master gives his slaves talents and leaves them to do with them as they please. When he returns, the slave that had been given five talents returned with five more, the slave that had been given two talents returned with two more, and the slave that had been given one talent buried it and returned with nothing more in addition. The master praises the first two slaves but does not approve of the actions of the third slave that did not invest his talents. Reflecting on this, the parable shows that one should use what they have been given without fear and reservation to the best of his ability as the talents have been given to them by God and should be empowered to do so responsibly. If one does not use use their skills in this way, he is wasting gifts that God has given them. It is also important to understand that because gifts have been given by God then it is required that the investment be ethical and for others, which can be connected to the pillars of Catholic Social Teaching.
These ideals are should be incorporated into the ways in which I use my skills, talents, and knowledge in the workplace and in all aspects of my life. I have been given the opportunity to study Computer Science at the University of Notre Dame and learn the skills necessary to be successful in the future. This is an opportunity that not everyone gets to have and therefore I have been given a talent that I could (and should) invest, most likely through my future career and projects. I personally feel the call to invest my skills in the nonprofit and social realm as I feel it is the only method to which I can reap the most benefits for others, therefore investing and producing ethical and moral profits as mentioned in the discussion above. By doing so I would be serving God to the best of my ability and putting to use what I have been blessed with, especially because others have not been blessed with the talents and gifts that I have. However, others have been given talents that I have not been given. Therefore it is important for every person to invest their talents in order to collectively make the most of God’s gifts.
However, I question whether this interpretation of the parable is at odds with the fact that the profits of the talent investment come at the expense of others (e.g. others lost their talents when the slaves gained them). If this is true then in fact, the third slave was the only one to act correctly and the first two acted immorally. It seems that there should be a way to reconcile the two to ensure that God is being served according to his will.
Ethics 