25 September 2025

‘For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’ (St. Matthew 13;12) were spoken by Jesus to the disciples after he had shared the ‘Parable of the Sower’ with the crowd.

The disciples had asked him after he had finished speaking to the crowd, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ To this, Jesus answered, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.’

As a result of this, not only will more be expected of the disciples but they will gain more as a consequence of their privileged position. This verse is also to be found towards the end of the ‘Parable of the Talents’ (St. Mattew 25;29) to account for the ones who invested wisely compared to the third who did not invest at all.

It is easily seen that the old adage, ‘The rich get richer, the poor get poorer.’ can be seen as a consequence of this analysis. This is known as the Matthew Effect. It was initially  coined in 1968 by two sociologists, Robert K Merton and Harriet Zuckerman.

It was applied to scientists and the phenomenon whereby scientists who were successful in getting funding for research became better known than others and as a consequence continued to gain an advantage over younger or less well-known scientists in the field.

The Matthew Effect is evident in all walks of life and needs to be called out where it diminishes the work and value of others. In the Church, people who gain prominence in a particular field often continue to dominate even though  younger or less visible colleagues may be just as able but do not get the chance to shine.