Homily for 12 November 2023

 

My dear friends today we celebrate the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time year A. The first reading today is taken from the Book of Wisdom.  This Book is so called, because it deals with the excellence of Wisdom, the means to obtain it, and the happy fruits it produces. Unfortunately, wisdom in today’s world is quite out of fashion. Undoubtedly, we have a lot more information at our fingertips than we ever had. We are technologically more superior than we have ever been however, are we wiser today than we were in the past? Not quite sure of that. In an age of artificial intelligence, we are getting more accustomed to quick-fix remedies than long-term solutions. The reading, therefore, reminds us: that the pursuit of wisdom is not only noble, but very necessary. The text personifies wisdom and gives us its description. Wisdom can be found by those who search for her. She makes herself known to those who desire knowledge of her. Searching for wisdom does not make one weary instead wisdom is searching for those who are worthy of her and she meets them halfway. What is important is a desire to learn and to have love for her. So while information and knowledge are surely good it is wisdom that we should be striving for. As the saying goes, “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.”

The second reading is a continuation of St. Paul’s 1st letter to the Thessalonians. The topic of concern here is death and what happens to the dead while awaiting Jesus’ second return. Will they participate with living believers in the joy of the Second Coming—or has their death somehow disqualified them? Paul isn’t suggesting that Christians shouldn’t grieve, but rather that they shouldn’t “grieve like the rest, who have no hope.” The reason for this is that “we believe that Jesus died and rose again”. Christ’s death and resurrection constitute the central belief of the Christian faith. Paul himself suffered beatings, imprisonment, shipwreck, and a host of other miseries for the sake of Christ. His willingness to endure these hardships makes sense only if he had experienced the risen Christ personally. He presents before us a vivid eschatological image - Jesus descending from heaven with a cry like that of a military commander, with the voice of the archangel announcing Christ’s coming.  All will “be caught up together…to meet the Lord in the air.”  Paul doesn’t talk about going to heaven, but rather being “with the Lord forever.” However, not all the dead will rise, but only those who believed in Christ. Paul directly addresses the concern of the Thessalonian Christians that their deceased brothers and sisters might be disadvantaged when Christ comes again. No, he says, they will not be disadvantaged. This verse highlights Paul’s concern of comforting those who are grieving at the death of loved ones. He wants them to be reassured that their loved ones haven’t lost anything by dying before Christ comes.

In the gospel taken from Matthew, we are presented with the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids which builds on the previous narrative of the wise and foolish servants. The banquet itself is symbolic imagery of the eschatological messianic banquet. An important part of the wedding ceremony was the procession from the home of the bride’s parents to the couple’s new home. As the bridegroom escorted his bride to their new home, their pathway was lighted by wedding guests holding aloft lamps or flaming torches.

At the start, there are 10 women, all with lamps, waiting for the bridegroom. And, when the bridegroom is delayed, they all do the same thing—fall asleep. The difference comes when the delayed bridegroom finally does arrive. The “wise” women brought extra oil and could trim their lamps and get ready, while the “foolish” “took no oil with them,” and so are in need. Both groups knew that the groom was coming and waited with their lamps burning, but only half considered that the wait in the darkness might be longer than anticipated.  Although these bridesmaids were chosen to accompany the bride and groom, their role as bridesmaids did not guarantee them a place at the banquet. The plea of the foolish ones recalls Jesus’ warning that not everyone who cries “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. The central message of the parable is ‘to keep awake’ or to be vigilant.

A traditional interpretation of this story gives the idea that we need to be ready for Jesus to return at any moment and not be caught unprepared. However, if we treat this parable as an allegory with each element having a symbolic or hidden meaning then the symbol of oil becomes very important. What is this oil that we all as bridesmaids are expected to have when the bridegroom i.e. Jesus comes for the wedding i.e. the second coming? 

Oil could be interpreted to be having Jesus in our lives or it could mean spirituality or the Word of God or even deeds of love and mercy.  A personal relationship with Jesus, a strong spirituality based on the Bible and good deeds are things we need to have in our lives as we live and await the Lord's coming. However, these are generally perceived to be things to be done when one is old, we have retired from work and we have a lot of free time, right?  While we are young, who has the time or even the interest in these things? And that’s where a majority of us get things wrong. Since we have never invested in our spiritual life from a young age by the time we are old, we are too set in our ways to listen to anyone else or even to listen to God. We have to accept that our lives are unpredictable - things don’t always happen the way we want them to. Our lives are also quite fragile - some people are hit by death or sickness in the prime of life. We all will at some point or the other face a situation when the oil in our life will run out and when it does what is going to hold us up? There won’t be time for preparation then, the time to prepare is now! Not a pleasant thought but just imagine if we were to lose our lives today where would we find ourselves? Admitted to the wedding party or facing a closed door?

Let us therefore pray today for wisdom, that we may make the right choices in life and that we don’t delay our preparation any longer and start stocking up on the oil right now. Take care and God bless.