November 12, 2017

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A Wisdom 6: 12-16; 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18; Matthew 25: 1-13 It’s an age old question: What would you do if you knew today was the last day of your life? What would you do if you knew you were going to see the Lord today? What would you do if today was your first day in heaven? We probably have thought of the first two and then quickly move on because we don’t want to think that our end is that close? We probably have never thought of the last question… why not? I think it was St. Pope John XXIII when asked what would he do if the Lord was in the next room…another version said what would you do if the Lord is coming within an hour…to both questions the Pope said, “Look busy!” How are we to live our life? Look to Jesus’ life and teaching and live accordingly. Don’t take any shortcuts…just know that each person has been created in love and graced continually in love and is asked to live each moment in love. So how are we doing? Every day is to be a day of love. Christ is always in our lives helping us to love, so living in His love is the way we are called to follow as His disciples. Each of the readings give us a different slant and help us witness God’s wisdom and grace. The Book of Wisdom, so frequently referring to Solomon as its author, urges each person to seek the Lord God above all else. The opening and closing chapters examine the many advantages enjoyed by people who realize they are created in love and who live love as best they know how. The middle chapters show how ‘wisdom’ is a special gift from God. This book was written during the mid-first century BC It attempts to answer the perennial question, why do the wicked prosper while the good suffer. The author encourages us to slow down, look at our lives and see how many ways we are touched by God’s love. Do I do that at the end of the day? Where did I see God? Where did I hear God? How did I witness God’s love? Was I touched by the people and their experiences who know God’s love is alive and well? Paul is writing to the Thessalonians: they are concerned that the believers and those who have witnessed Jesus are dying off. Paul is sharing about the imminent return of Jesus in the parousia (Second Coming). The community is noticing that membership has increased maybe feeling that the urgency of the end times is coming quickly. So the basic worry they had that if the end is in sight what are they to do? Some felt they could quit their jobs and sit at home and relax. Other felt they should be fasting and praying and watching the sky for the clouds to rollback. Paul realizes that he has to write another letter to tell them the he spoke of the Lord’s return being near, they needed to live in light of that but also live as if His coming was far off. With this in mind, Jesus gives the parable of the ten virgins with the message to each person to be vigilant. A look at the Jewish wedding ceremony at that time will help. Now Jewish weddings were often arranged by the parents of the bride and groom. Fidler on the Roof gave an interesting interpretation of these customs. Today the groom and his future wife see each other, begin dating, fall in love, the proposal followed for the plan for festivities. At the time of Jesus, when a boy was very young, his parents would begin to look for a girl for him to marry They would look for a family that they would want to be related. Then the two families would come together and work out the arrangements. This would include the boy learning a trade, and when he was good enough and could make a living, he would begin to construct his house. When everything was finished the man, by now maybe in his thirties, would get this friends together and they would have a wedding parade through town to go and get his bride. In the meantime the girl is learning to become a woman, a wife and a mother, She is sewing her wedding gown. Since she does not know what day or hour her groom might come for her, she must be ready for him at all times. Word did filter to each of them on the progress of the house and gown. It was not a good way to start a wedding if the bridegroom’s parade showed up at her house and she was not ready. Now the virgins were what we would call bridesmaids. At the wedding celebration they would perform a wedding dance around the bride and groom holding their torches and this dance symbolizing the light of their love and the bright future they had together. So how do we interpret Jesus’ parable? The bridegroom is obviously Christ. Even though the bride is not actually mentioned in this parable, here the bride represents the Church. And the church is made up of all those people, whether Jews or Gentiles, who have believed in Jesus and await His return. In the parable the foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. The torches they carried were long sticks with one end wrapped with rags and strips of cloth which had been soaked in oil which could burn for fifteen minutes. That’s not a long time but to make the torch burn longer, they would repeatedly soak the strips of cloth in oil and would carry vessels of oil. Oil then represents salvation…what am I doing to prepare myself for the Lord and heaven? Todays parable is from Matthew 25: 1-13…In 18 more verses, Jesus gives the parable of how God judges at the end of time: “When the Son of man comes in His glory…before Him will be gathered all the nations and He will separate them one form the other…then He will say to those at His right hand, Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom….for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and You gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me….and when did we see You…when you did it one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” And to those who did not respond or help or care or love…”And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” I reflect on: • How do I ready myself to meet the Lord each and every day? • Jesus words remind me that when I am doing His work, I must be careful that I serve by washing others feet, not by asking them to wash mine. Do I live this way? • How do I tend the light of God that is inside me? How do I minister to those who do not see the light of God in themselves? • If the foolish really understood that they would not be let into the feast, would they have neglected to bring their oil? Why did they take for granted that they could get in, no matter what? • Am I prepared for my own death? What things might I still want to do? Sacred Space 2017 states: “Does Jesus have trouble waking me up when He arrives? I ask for the grace to be alert and responsive to the constant coming of God into my life. We are the light of the world, Jesus says. As I move among people today, I imagine that light radiates from me toward them, and from them to me. Does this change the atmosphere in which I live? I pray for all who have given up hope, for those for whom the waiting seemed too much to ask. Jesus suggests that there is a proper time to prepare. I look to the ‘oil and lamps’ of my life and ask God to replenish and restock my reserves”