Preparing for the Unexpected

Bible Reading for the Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time: Matthew 25: 1-13

Even though today’s Gospel is a very familiar one, it has always raised questions such as, “Why didn’t the wise bridesmaids give the others oil? Is Jesus praising selfishness? Wasn’t the bridegroom being too strict by not letting the latecomers in?”

Matthew’s audience may have understood “oil in the lamps” as a metaphor for good works. Since most of Matthew’s Christian audience were of Jewish origin, they may have remembered that some rabbis used that same metaphor.

Someone else’s good works cannot substitute for my lack of charity and compassion. Jesus also invites us to be vigilant. He encourages us to pray at all times, not simply when someone is sick, or needs to pass a school or board exam or has some kind of trouble or emergency.

In prayer we seek the wisdom praised in today’s first reading. God gives such wisdom to those who seek it by means of persevering prayer. Such prayer helps us to identify our illusions and accept God’s invitation to exchange them for true wisdom.

Wisdom is like a diamond with many facets. It has a brilliance of meaning that seems to change according to how we view it.

At first glance, the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids seems to be a story about the need for common sense, and what can happen to those who don’t have it.

But we know that parables have many different levels of meaning. We know that in being unprepared for a very significant meeting, the foolish virgins were lacking in both common sense and foresight.

The meeting with the bridegroom was not unexpected. There was time to prepare their torches but they foolishly believed that everything would go smoothly. Because they didn’t take the unexpected into consideration, we can say that they were lacking in wisdom or what we at times call common sense.

Any sensible plan of action must take into consideration the different possible “scenario” to provide alternatives, in case something different from the expected happens. When we are preparing for a garden party, we must check the weather, and provide an alternative venue in case it rains.

The difference between the two groups of bridesmaids in the parable does not lie in that some were vigilant while the others were sleeping. No, all fell asleep. But the five wise girls had foreseen the possibility that the bridegroom might very well be delayed; consequently, they had taken the precaution of providing themselves with a reserve of oil – a thing, which the five foolish ones had failed to do.

And we know the consequence. They proved incapable of fulfilling their essential task – to illumine the way for the wedding procession.

What does the oil symbolically represent in the story? Surely something fundamental to Christian life, since without it led to the exclusion from the wedding.

Perhaps we should be thinking of everything that makes up our preparation for the great encounter with Christ. In short, a Christian life lived fully in all its demands. In other words, it is not enough to become enthusiastic in a superficial way for the person of Jesus, to be at the rally of the “Jesus movement,” to be waving hands and shouting “Alleluia!” and “Praise the Lord!” to sing at the top of ones lungs “Jesus Christ Superstar,” to go through religious high.

The five foolish girls too were not lacking in fervor when it came to sallying forth to meet the bridegroom. They only forgot to take time into account, the delay of the arrival), thinking that everything would happen in an instant. There was no backup plan. No plan B.

But, in order to become truly Christian, time is needed. It is necessary that the lamp of everyday love, of patient hope, of the steadfast ripening of faith, burn in the depth of our heart, while as to the rest of the world life goes on very steadily, as if nothing were happening: adorning the bride, merry chatter, sleep.

Jesus invites us to be vigilant in acts of service. Selfish people tend to ignore the needs of others. If they do notice such needs, they always consider them less important than their own.

Jesus told the Apostles that the poor would be with them always, not to marginalize the poor (as if to ask, “What good does helping them do, anyway?), but to remind the Apostles that they would always have a chance to serve the poor.

At the hour of our death, when we will fall asleep for the last time, the lamp of our life must be ever-filled with the oil of our self-sacrifice, of our services, of our welcome to others, of our love.

And then, when our Beloved will come to wake us from that ultimate slumber, we will have quite enough light to follow him into the banquet hall.

For the time being, the only wise thing to do is to worry about our lamp: do we fill it with enough oil every day?

Can we be like Fr. Pedro Arrupe, the late Superior General of the Jesuits, when asked in a radio interview, “Do you fear death?” “No, no, no. I’ve always looked forward to death in my life. I look forward to it with joy and hopefulness. My whole life had been directed to this. Death for me will be my last Amen in this life and my first Alleluia in the next.”

Let us close with a story. It will illustrate what today’s readings are inviting us to do. Years ago the actor William Gargan discovered he had cancer. Ironically, at the time, he was playing the role of a cancer patient in the play “The Bestman.” Thirty-six hours after the cancer was discovered, Gargan was in surgery.

Looking back over those 36 hours, Gargan said he learned two important things about himself. First, he learned that he was not afraid to die. He had prepared for this moment while living. Second, he learned that Jesus was his friend. From his youth Gargan had made it a habit to talk to Jesus daily. He used the same memorized prayer.

Now, in his moment of need, he became aware of how talking to Jesus daily using that prayer helped him cultivate the deep relationship with Jesus. The prayer is called “A Prayer after Communion to Jesus Crucified.” It reads: “Here I am, good and gentle Jesus, kneeling before you. with great fervor I pray and ask you to instil in me genuine convictions of faith, hope and love, true sorrow for my sins and a firm resolve to amend them.”