Month: November 2020

Let’s begin by clarifying that the “wedding feast” here refers to Heaven, and the bridegroom is Jesus himself (images already present in the Old Testament). The Church is the Bride of Christ, and each one of us is also his bride.  The bridegroom comes to bring the virgins into the feast with him, but only half of them are ready – the foolish half had run out of oil. They were not prepared for the coming of the bridegroom.

What did they need to do to be prepared? They needed to have enough oil to keep their lamps burning until midnight, of course!

Those waiting for the bridegroom are “virgins” – those who seek “the one thing necessary”, as Jesus said to Martha (Lk 10:42). As today’s Psalm reminds us, their souls thirst for the Lord (Psalm 63); they are focused fully on being ready for Jesus to return for them. He is delayed and comes at the very end, at midnight, when they have all become weary and fallen asleep. Clearly, they were not eagerly watching for his coming! But the wise virgins replenish their oil and stoke up their flames.

What is this “oil”? The oil that keeps their lamps burning to the end of their lives when Jesus comes to bring them into the Heavenly Feast signifies grace and love, their loving desire, faithfulness, and prayer, their pure and burning offering of themselves to him. The foolish ones think of these things as a commodity they can run out and get at the last minute, but growing in love and grace and becoming the person we are created to be is the work of a lifetime. This is why the wise virgins cannot give any of their oil to the foolish ones – the oil is a specific image of Christ-life within each of us, and the warmth and light that come from deep devotion and fidelity cannot be handed off to another at the last minute.

Jesus tells us that he has come to cast a fire on earth (Lk 12:49), and he desires that it burn in a unique way in each of us. This fire that God longs to see in each soul grows throughout our spiritual journey, gradually taking its shape in the depths of our relationship with the Lord and with one another. We can let our light shine for others, and others may light their lamps from this fire, but the oil must come from each person’s cooperation with the work of the Holy Spirit within them, as they become a unique Image of God.

This is the goal of each individual life and of the whole of human history – to grow in our relationship with God in such a way that we burn with the radiance He created us for so that He knows us as His own and we light up the world and heaven in the way that He has called us to shine.

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 “As the world turns, the Cross stands firm.”    -St. Bruno-

At the time I am writing this, we do not have definitive results from the Presidential Election. By the time you are reading this, it’s possible that there will be definitive results. However, I don’t think it matters much because today’s First Reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians reminds us that “…our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ”. St. Paul urges the Philippians to model their lives after imitators of Christ rather than after those who “…conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ”. When we direct our attention toward our end in Heaven, we are able to confidently stand firm in the Lord despite any obstacle, uncertainty, or hopelessness we may be experiencing in our lives.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the story of a rich man and his dishonest steward. At the end of the parable, the rich man praises the steward for being prudent in worldly gains. After reading this over a few times, I was still confused. Is Christ telling us we should commend one another for our world gains, even if they were achieved dishonestly? No, that couldn’t be the message of the Gospel. What I think Jesus is essentially saying is: Imagine where we would be if we put as much effort into our spiritual lives as we do into earthly things. The steward and the rich man are those that St. Paul says are enemies of the cross of Christ because, “Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their ‘shame’”. They indulge in worldly goods and, rather than being ashamed of their misconduct, they are commended for their shrewdness. Their absorption in matters of this world distracts them from their ultimate end which is Heaven and they become children of the world rather than children of the light.

Jesus ends by saying “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of the light”. To the world, children of the light – those who follow Christ and live in accord with His teaching – seem foolish. They are not preoccupied with material things, but rather with their ultimate end which is the glory of Heaven. The children of the world, however, seem prudent to the world because their preoccupation with the world often leads to material gain like that of the steward in the parable. We are called to be children of the light and keep our attention toward Heaven, even if that means appearing foolish to the world.

In this time of unrest and uncertainty, may we appear foolish to the world as we stand firm in the Lord and not become preoccupied with earthly matters. May we remember that we await a Savior and glory in Heaven.

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