'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
Mt.25,1-13
Rev. Alexander Diaz
It is indispensable to acquire the wisdom that will make us ready to our definite encounter with God, Our Lord. Today’s liturgy prepares us right now for the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. The first reading gives praise to Wisdom and underlines the fact that is “found by those who seek her”. Hence, wisdom is not far from us. If we want, we can find it.
This “wisdom” does not consist solely in gaining a lot of scientific information, but it is rather a wisdom based on God. It is a profound knowledge and experience of God and His love, a clear knowledge of oneself, of all men and women, my brothers and sisters.
Today’s Gospel also talks to us about wisdom and about the wise, well prepared virgins who were ready to receive the bridegroom. It is compared to the Kingdom of heaven, a nuptial banquet, it underlines the necessity to be prepared because we know not with precision the time when the bridegroom will arrive.
The virgins are wise because they knew how to adequately prepare themselves, taking with them enough oil to keep their lamps lit. The other virgins were foolish, because they went out thru the paths of life without being prepared, they did not realized that the bridegroom could be delayed, , they did not realize that time could make a dent in their hopes and their dreams.
Then they realized, in horror, when the voice of the bridegroom is heard, there is no oil in their flasks to keep their lamps lit. They are not prepared for the final procession that will take them to the bridegroom’s house.
It was a Jewish tradition to accompany the couple from the bride’s parents’ house to the house of the bridegroom. They organized a festive procession with lamps and songs. It was therefore necessary for the virgins or maidens to have their lamps lit to accompany responsibly the bridegroom on his arrival.
It is about having a vigilant attitude, a disposition of the mind and the spirit to go out and meet the Lord who is arriving. The objective is to keep the lamps lit, maintain the confession of our faith in Jesus Christ, Our Savior, to keep a hopeful joy, maintain the ardor of mercy to the last moment of our lives.
On the contrary, to be foolish means “to go to the last events of life, without being properly prepared” allowing love to die first in your heart. Which is, we ask ourselves, this oil that will keep my lamp lit till the coming of Jesus? And the answer could be none other than LOVE.
The ardent and generous love that maintains the soul facing towards God and our brothers and sisters. Love that is a donation of oneself. The love which consists of discovering in each brother and sister the image of Christ. It is the love that triumphs over sin, over selfishness, over arrogance. It is the love that “is the greatest of all virtues”.
If you wish to be prepared for the coming of the Lord, avail your soul for love, to “remain in his love” (Jn. 15,9), because “at the dusk of your life you will be tried over love”. Scriptures tells us that whomever does not love, remains in death. The parable also indicates that the wise preparation for the arrival of the bridegroom is a personal matter.
Each one of us must prepare himself/herself, because when the bridegroom arrives, it will not be possible to exchange the flasks or pass the oil from one to the other. Each one is responsible for himself/herself and must begin to prepare his/her soul for the definite encounter with God.
You see, it is not a small responsibility we have in our hands. We have been created by God out of love and we constantly walk towards Him. It will be very insensitive to live as if God did not exist, as if our lives were not passing by minute by minute, as if after death there was not a celestial banquet available to us and the eternal possession of God.
One of the biggest temptations of the modern and Christian man is to reduce his hopes only to that which is earthly and worldly. A man without an eternal horizon. As if eternity did not exist and it was not closer to us each day.
Let us keep our spirits alive, let us abandon our drowsiness and laziness, let us firmly maintain our confession of faith because, “the bridegroom is near”. Might be delayed, but he will come. Let’s check our flasks, let us check our souls and if there is no oil, if there is no love, let us not continue ahead, let us get to work, because “at dusk, I will be judged by LOVE”.
Amen!
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