I once saw a small boy seating patiently by the
gate in front of their house. Considering that it was getting dark and chilly I
asked the boy to go into the house. But he politely refused. When I enquired
why he would not go in, he responded: “I have to wait here to open
the gate for my mummy when she comes back, and I know that she is on her way
now.” Surely, the poor boy was right, and I got it wrong
because while we were still conversing we heard a car horn and a flash, and the
boy with bright eyes and a bold smile on his face said to me, “here she comes, I told you I know my mummy is on her way.” Immediately,
he left me to open the gate for his mum. I guessed, he was
happy because he has
proved a point to me, and even happier because he has taken the wise decision
to continue his waiting game instead of succumbing to my temptation to seek
some pleasure inside the house. This should be our attitude as we wait for
Christ. Unfortunately, the tendency is for us to become impatient or act
foolishly. However, with wisdom, we will definitely make the right choice.
I don’t know if you notice, especially in the
month of November, that as we approach the end of the liturgical calendar, our
focus is on the end or last things, like for example: death, judgment, heaven
and hell. Last Thursday, November 2, 2017, we prayed especially for our loved
ones who have died. Through this “All Souls’ Day”, we recall that we will all
die, and Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead.
In today’s readings, we are reminded to be
ready to meet the Lord. In the second reading, St. Paul speaks of the second
coming of Jesus. He tells us to have hope and to be consoled because everyone
who believes in Him, that is, those who have gone before us and those who are
alive at His second coming, will all rise and be with the Lord for all
eternity. The parable Jesus tells us in today’s gospel is about the wise
and the foolish bridesmaids. The symbolism is clear: the groom is Christ, and
we all are the bridesmaids, the Church, the believers of Christ; the oil is
faith and all believers have some; our job is to welcome Him. Since we do not
know the day or the hour of His coming, either at our own death or at the end
of time, we must be ready at all times to greet Him. Jesus says, “Therefore,
stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour,” (v. 13). What are we
going to do in order to be ready to meet the Lord either at our own death or at
the end of time?
The Gospel passage
(Matt. 25:1-13) unveils one of those dramatic parables of our Lord Jesus
Christ. The parable revolves around a wedding banquet, ten virgins and their
respective lamps. The wedding ceremony is an unusual one going by what is
obtainable at the moment. This is because the bridegroom was coming late from
an unknown destination. The virgins who are also bridesmaid were waiting for
the bridegroom but not the bride who was also not mentioned. Bridesmaids are
known to carry flowers but here they had lamps. The unusual nature of the
wedding is actually the strength of the message which we will see later.
When we look
at the virgins or if you like the bridesmaids, we understand that they were TEN
in number. The number TEN is very significant in the bible. It signifies
perfection or completion of divine order. We have ten fingers and ten toes, God
gave us ten commandments (Ex.34:28). Daniel was ten times better than the
magicians in realm (Dan.1:20), Tithes were to be one-tenth (Deut 14:22), Our
Lord Jesus Christ cured ten lepers and made them whole (Lk.17:12). The Lord’s
prayer has ten parts (Matt.6:9-13).
Apart from
the fact that they were complete according to biblical numerology, they were
virgins. This is an indication of purity. Hence from the moral standpoint they
were spotless. But as we can see further in the story, being a virgin is not
enough because one can also be a foolish and oil-less virgin. Furthermore, they
were all invited for the wedding feast and they all awaited the coming of the
bridegroom and all slept in the meantime and were all awoken when the
bridegroom finally came.
The virgins
may have actually waited for a considerable length of time before the
bridegroom came. They woke up and lighted up their lamps only for the oil-less
virgins to discover that their lamps were going off because they did not come
with oil not that they ran out of oil. They relied on charity from their mates
but they were unable to get that because at that point in time, sharing would
be a kind of disaster for all of them. So they were advised to go to the
dealers and get some oil. By the time they could come back the door was shut
and they called out to the bridegroom whom they addressed as Lord to open the
door for them but the answer was most disheartening “I do not know you!”
Evidently,
our Lord Jesus Christ used the parable to compare what the kingdom of heaven is
like. We are very conversant with the statement “many are called but few are
chosen” (Matt. 22:14). We can see this statement playing out very well in this
parable. They were all virgins; having the same moral excellence. They were
called and they answered. However five of them thought about the future and
made the DECISION to cater for both now and after. The other five were only
concerned about the present and DECIDED not to cater for the future. Perhaps
they PRESUMED that the bridegroom would come early, perhaps they PRESUMED that
even if he comes later their mates would assist them with some oil to keep
their lamps burning after all they all came for the same ceremony.
In the parable here we
have the five sensible virgins refusing to assist the others in their
need. Jesus did not condemn them. Instead, he compliments them and
affirms their action. He praised them for refusing to be conned by the
foolish who were irresponsible and foolish in preparing for the ceremony. He
agrees with them when they confront the foolish five with their
foolishness. He agreed with them when they insisted that the foolish
themselves repair and mend the mistakes they made in their foolishness. I am sure that some of us here will condemn the “sensible” virgins for their
handling of the situation.. Where is the business that Jesus taught
about: If someone asks for your coat, give him your shirt also? And
the later verses of this same 25th Chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel, “Give
food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, etc.” There is
no question that the Lord invited us to a life of charity and generosity.
Generosity even to a fault. Invited? He actually commanded it. And
we must be charitable and generous, even to the point of giving not just out of
our surplus, but also out of our poverty, as did the most exemplary poor widow
in the temple. The lesson is that there is
a limit to human charity. Those who believe that having someone in heaven would
make them not go to hell are gravely wrong in their belief.
Despite the overwhelming teaching of Jesus
that we must be generous and charitable, here in this parable He presents
another side to His command to be generous. We, if we follow his
teaching, must ourselves accept some responsibility and care in deciding
between legitimate requests for help and those that are the result of
irresponsibility and dishonesty. We are not obliged to give to everyone
who says, “Please, please.” The Lord approves when we use wisdom and
common sense in making the decision. A person trying to follow the teaching of
Jesus will be most generous and helpful when such will really assist and help
the other, when it will bring growth and dignity and fulfill a need. But
a true Christian should say “No!” and avoid supporting people who are
dishonest, foolish, and irresponsible, as were the foolish virgins of the
parable. Many times the decision is most
difficult to make. Our sympathy, kindness, generosity get in the way. I
would add that we probably will err more often by being generous, but there are
certainly times when we may and should say “No!”
To apply this
parable to our lives is the most pertinent thing to do today. The ten virgins
represent all of us who are baptized and have been called by God as candidates
for the eternal banquet in heaven. We all are also waiting for the Lord to come
so that we can follow him into the place he has prepared for us (John 14:2).
But this time of waiting requires us to provide for the journey. The oil in
this context is much more than the ordinary lamp oil. Here it stands for faith,
hope and love and the greatest among them is love (1 Cor.13:13).
With
reference to the parable, we discover that all the ten virgins had lamps. This
is the same way there are many Christians with bibles in their hands. Five of
the virgins had no oil in the same way that we have various Christians whose
lives are spiritually empty. The nomenclature Christian is not enough to admit
us into the Kingdom of God just as being a virgin with lamp was not a guarantee
for the foolish ones to enter into the wedding banquet. If we are very
attentive we will discover the following lessons today:
Being a
Christian is not enough to go to heaven. Activate your Christian life with the
oil of faith, hope and love. Be prepared especially for the future. Do not live
in presumption you may end up in “had I known!” Wisdom is all about the
decision you make. Always make the right decision and God will support you for
the right choices. There is always a day or time of reckoning. Wisdom consists
in making plans for that time.
At the end let us reflect these words coming
from an unknown author, about What God Won’t Ask on the Last Day:
God won’t ask what kind of fancy car you
drove. He will ask how many people you took to church who didn’t have
transportation.
God won’t ask the square footage of your
house. He will ask how many people you helped who didn’t have a house.
God won’t ask how many fancy clothes you had
in your closet. He will ask how many of those clothes you gave away to those
who didn’t have any.
God won’t ask how many material possessions
you had. He will ask whether those material possessions dictated your life.
God won’t ask what your highest salary was. He
will ask if you trampled over any people to obtain that salary.
God won’t ask how much overtime you worked. He
will ask did you work overtime for your family.
God won’t ask how many promotions you
received. He will ask what you did to promote others.
God won’t ask what your job title was. He will
ask did you perform your job to the best of your ability.
God won’t ask what your parents did to help
you. He will ask what you did to help your parents.
God won’t ask what you did to help yourself.
He will ask what you did to help others.
God won’t ask how many friends you had. He
will ask how many people you were a friend to.
God won’t ask what you did to protect your
rights. He will ask what you did to protect the right of others.
God won’t ask how many times you told the
truth. He will ask how many times you told a lie.
God won’t ask how many times your deeds
matched your words.. He will ask how many times they didn’t.
Do have a wonderful Sunday and a
great week ahead.
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