32nd
Ordinary Sunday (Year A)
First
Reading: Wisdom 6:12-16
Second Reading: 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18 Gospel
Reading: Matthew 25:1-13
“THEREFORE,
STAY AWAKE, FOR YOU DO NOT KNOW NEITHER THE DAY NOR THE HOUR.”
There
is an old story of a jester who sometimes made very wise utterances.
One day, the jester had said something so foolish that the king,
handing him a staff, said to him, “Take this, and keep it till
you find a bigger fool than yourself.” Some years later, the
king was very ill, and lay on his deathbed. His courtiers were
called; his family and his servants also stood round his bedside. The
king, addressing them, said, “I am about to leave you. I am
going on a very long journey, and I shall not return again to this
place: so I have called you all to say 'Goodbye'.”
Then his jester stepped forward and, addressing the king, said, “Your
Majesty, may I ask a question? When you journeyed abroad visiting
your people, staying with your nobles, or paying diplomatic visits to
other courts, your heralds and servants always went before you,
making preparations for you. May I ask what preparations your Majesty
has made for this long journey that he is about to take?” “Alas!”
replied the king, “I have made no preparations.” “Then,”
said the jester, “take this staff with you, for now I have found
a bigger fool than myself.”
'The
parable of the Ten Virgins,'
which we hear today in the Gospel Reading also speaks about the need
of being prepared in our life for coming future event. Of the ten,
five were considered foolish,
because they were
not prepared
for the bridegroom's coming;
while the other five were considered wise,
because they were
prepared.
What about us? Are we vigilant and prepared for
the Lord's coming whenever he comes? Today's parable warns us -
“Therefore,
stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.”
Today
is the 32nd
Sunday in Ordinary Time and we have come closer to the end of our
Liturgical Year. Over the next 3 Sundays, the readings will focus
our attention on the 'End
Time'
marked by the 'Second
Coming of Christ.'
This Sunday the Scripture Readings in
different forms remind us of eternal life after this earthly life and
underline
the importance of remaining vigilant
and being prepared
to meet the Lord at all times.
The Book of Wisdom, in the
First Reading
affirms the immortality of the soul and promises the gift of the
Divine personification of Wisdom to all who seek her. The stress is
on the desire of those who want to live wisely; wisdom will be
granted to those who search for God's meaning and purpose in life. In
the
Gospel Reading
from St. Matthew, we hear about 'The
Parable of Ten Virgins,'
where
the Evangelist changes the emphasis on the theme of eternal life to
stress the necessity of being awake and prepared for the Lord’s
coming and the definitive establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus tells of a division between those who prepare themselves for
the patient wait for the proverbial spouse and those who do not. He
speaks of a lost opportunity as those who should have been ready are
shut out. In the
Second Reading
from his 1st
Letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul reminds the Christians at
Thessalonica of the true meaning of death for the Christian. The
sleep of death is converted into a risen life and all Christians,
both living and those who have already died, 'shall
always be with the Lord.'
It is the Second Coming of Christ that is to comfort and strengthen
Christians here on earth and they are urged to remain in readiness
for it.
“WISDOM IS THE PERFECTION OF
PRUDENCE”:
Wisdom
is greatly prized by the traditions of the world; it is a knowledge
that helps us understand the things that really matter and enables us
to anticipate the unforeseen and to be prepared. It is the perfection
of prudence. The Book of Wisdom belongs to a set of Old Testament
writings that give expression to a spirituality nourished by an
outlook that comes from living one’s life in harmony with the ways
of God. In the First Reading from the the Book of Wisdom, Wisdom is
personified and presented as an alluring
woman
because of her Divine
origin, unfading, caring and waiting for the one who searches for
her. It is in fact a literal personification of the attribute of God,
as sought
by us and seeking
for
us. The Divine Wisdom is never denied to all those who are worthy and
are honest in their quest. Moreover, Wisdom actively searches for
those who yearn and keep vigil for her - for those who, in loving
response, are worthy of her. The stress is on the desire of those who
want to live wisely; wisdom will be granted to those who search for
God's meaning and purpose in life.
The fundamental
problem with human beings is not that they lack knowledge. The
problem is that a great many people simply don’t want to know. Many
people have given up the search for truth and the pursuit of wisdom,
because they know what they want, and what they want just might
conflict with the truth, so they do not seek to discover whether what
they want is truly good and in accordance with God’s will. In
short, they don’t care. There’s an old adage, 'There
are none so blind as those who will not see,'
that is, those who choose not to see for
fear of what they might discover.
“THUS WE SHALL ALWAYS BE WITH
THE LORD.”
Today’s
Second Reading from St. Paul's 1st Letter to the
Thessalonians is a Pauline masterpiece. Animated with divine wisdom,
St. Paul assures the Thessalonians, distressed about the destiny of
their loved ones who died before the Lord’s 'Parousia'
or final coming. Would
they miss the 'Parousia'?
Would they be omitted from that ultimate salvation? For, the
expectation common among early Christians was that the Risen Jesus
was to return to them very, very soon so as to take them out of their
harsh world and put them in God’s kingdom.
St.
Paul's response is that they need not fear that their beloved dead
would miss the glorious deliverance. Indeed, that we shall be united
with the Lord always should be a deep consolation for us all.
Actually, St. Paul is trying to instill hope into the Christians of
Thessalonica. His message, in brief, is that the resurrection of
Jesus from the dead is the proof and the guarantee of our own
resurrection, and that God will take to himself those who have died
with Christ. We died with Christ in baptism; we shall also share his
resurrection. The confusion in the minds of the Thessalonians
provides Paul with an occasion for describing what will happen at the
end of time. His imagination tried to paint a visual image of what
this transition from earthly life to heavenly life would look like,
but his point is clear. His essential teaching is that all, whether
already dead or still living when Christ comes, will be taken up with
Christ into glory. Moreover, He has also made known that Jesus will
come again at the end time as our Judge. Not knowing the day nor the
hour when this will take place, we are asked to be constantly
vigilant,
to be always
prepared
for Christ's final coming.
THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS:
Today's
Gospel text is the first of three eschatological parables of the
Kingdom of Heaven, which we will hear on these final three Sundays of
this Liturgical Year. They are situated in the context of St.
Matthew’s discourse on the end times and the second coming of
Christ, in Chapter 25. They are each famous for their ways of
focusing our attention on how to live life in this world while
preparing for life in the next world, in God’s kingdom. In fact,
they are not about giving up earthly life, but rather, about how to
engage this life ever more fully, responsibly, and thoughtfully!
'The
parable of the ten virgins'
at a wedding which we hear in the Gospel Reading of today is a homely
tale climaxing in the crunch line, “Therefore,
stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.”
Jesus
tells this parable to impress his followers of the supreme need of
vigilance and watchfulness. The parable shows that some of his
followers, who have been chosen to play a special role in the
nuptials of Christ with his Church, will forfeit their place at the
eternal nuptials in heaven through their carelessness and not
positive malice. The image Jesus gave of marriage regarding the
Kingdom of Heaven was easily understood by his hearers. The reference
here is primarily to the Second Coming of Christ as he comes in glory
to judge all mankind. On that day his kingdom will be completed and
the eternal triumphal Kingdom of Heaven will begin. In this story
Jesus illustrates what will happen on that day to some of those whom
he had chosen and to whom he had given every facility to reach their
one and only goal.
Again,
today's parable is found only in the Gospel of Matthew and it is
partially an allegory told in the context of the culture and custom
of a Jewish wedding of the time, which is different from ours. In
this parable, Matthew is telling the Christian community that the
return of the Lord may be delayed beyond their expectation and that
they should, therefore, prepare for the long wait by providing enough
oil for their lamps. Many details of the parable make good sense when
seen against the framework of this principal theme. The bridegroom is
Christ, the Lord. The bride is the Church. The ten virgins represent
the totality of the members of the Church, as they await the Lord's
coming. On the basis of what happens later on, five are described as
wise or sensible and five as foolish. Their wisdom here consists in
their taking prudent steps to do what they need to do in order to
come face to face with their Lord. The lamps, which all the virgins
had, could represent faith which all Christians have. The oil, which
some of them had and others did not, would then represent good works.
A lamp without oil is like faith without good works - dead and
useless.
CONCLUSION:
Now,
as we approach the end of the Liturgical Year, the Church, through
the gospel, invites us to contemplate the end – the
end of our lives
and the
end of the world.
The conclusion to be drawn from today's gospel parable is this: the
time of the arrival of our Lord as judge of the universe, the day on
which the eternal wedding feast of Christ with his elect will begin,
is as uncertain as the arrival of the bridegroom. A follower of
Christ cannot afford to be casual and unprepared for that moment. The
situation can be compared to a student who studies his lessons
regularly. When a surprise test is given, he is ready and passes it.
He is like the wise virgins. On the other hand, the student who
studies only when there is an announced test is like the foolish
virgins. When a surprise test is given, he is not prepared and thus
fails. Finally, when the final examination comes and having no
regular study habits, he crams and, more often than not, fails the
course. We are asked therefore to be like the wise virgins: to be
always vigilant, to be always prepared. “Therefore,
stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.”
Again,
the way to prepare for the end is neither to live in fear and
anxiety, or to go after prophets and visionaries that claim to have
access to God’s secret calendar of how and when the world will end,
nor it is a question of taking a gamble on making a last-minute
confession on our deathbed. A surprising number of people do not die
in their beds. It is a question rather of what I plan to do this very
day and every day. There is absolutely no better way to prepare for
the final call than, first, to put it completely out of one's head,
and, second, to learn to spend each and every day in the company of
Jesus.
A
story is told of an old and holy monk who was sweeping up the fallen
leaves in the monastery grounds. A visitor saw him and asked, "What
would you do, brother, if you knew that you were to die in ten
minutes?" The
old monk said, "I'd
carry on sweeping."
Because the monk has always been vigilant, he is ready to meet His
Judge anytime. We are asked to do the same so that when we stand
before Jesus as our judge, He will to say to us, "Come, enter
into my Kingdom."
Finally,
in an emergency there are some things we can borrow from others at
short notice. But we can
also say in the context of today's parable that the 'oil'
of loving service is not strictly speaking transferable to others.
Our preparedness to meet the Lord is something that is ultimately
only our responsibility. No one can say 'Yes'
to Christ on my behalf. So, while the foolish virgins went off to
make up for lost and wasted time, those who were ready went into the
wedding hall. Then the door was locked. All are invited, but not all
get inside. All are called but few are among the chosen ones. This is
not due to any partiality on the bridegroom's part but because of the
tardiness of some in responding to the invitation. The locked door
means that access to Jesus is not automatic or to be altogether taken
for granted. And that is precisely the warning in today's parable -
“Therefore,
stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.”
And
this is the Good News of today.
**********************
No comments:
Post a Comment