BE READY FOR THE TEST

20160826 BE READY FOR THE TEST

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

1 Corinthians 1:17-25 ©

Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News, and not to preach that in the terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed. The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God’s power to save. As scripture says: I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned. Where are the philosophers now? Where are the scribes? Where are any of our thinkers today? Do you see now how God has shown up the foolishness of human wisdom? If it was God’s wisdom that human wisdom should not know God, it was because God wanted to save those who have faith through the foolishness of the message that we preach. And so, while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans madness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 32:1-2,4-5,10-11 ©

The Lord fills the earth with his love.

Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;

  for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.

Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,

  with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.

The Lord fills the earth with his love.

For the word of the Lord is faithful

  and all his works to be trusted.

The Lord loves justice and right

  and fills the earth with his love.

The Lord fills the earth with his love.

He frustrates the designs of the nations,

  he defeats the plans of the peoples.

His own designs shall stand for ever,

  the plans of his heart from age to age.

The Lord fills the earth with his love.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Ps129:5

Alleluia, alleluia!

My soul is waiting for the Lord,

I count on his word.

Alleluia!

Or

Lk21:36

Alleluia, alleluia!

Stay awake, praying at all times

for the strength to stand with confidence

before the Son of Man.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 25:1-13 ©

Jesus told this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.” At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out.” But they replied, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves.” They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed. The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us.” But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.” So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.’

BE READY FOR THE TEST

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [  1COR 1:17-25; MT 25:1-13]

This parable of the Bridesmaids is chiefly about people who are ready and people who are not ready to welcome Christ. The central idea is preparedness.   The parable is clear that we must be ready for the coming of God’s Kingdom, which can be at any time.  Hence, we must make a decision for Him. Otherwise, we will be greatly disappointed and disaster will befall us.  But it is still not too late to change our ways as we can learn from the bridesmaids.

This is particularly so when we do not know when the Parousia, that is the advent of the Lord, would take place.  In the context of the evangelist and the early Church, this parable was told to prepare the early Christians who thought then that the Second Coming of Christ was imminent, although it never took place.  In the light of the delay of the Second Coming, symbolized by the delay of the bridegroom, Christians were exhorted to be ready to welcome Him at a time unknown, but certain to come.  This calls for constant preparedness.

How, then, can we be alert to Christ’s coming?  Firstly, the truth is that even before the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time, Christ is existentially coming here and now, at every moment of our lives, in so many different ways.  Indeed, God comes to us in different ways, in nature, in people we meet each day, in world events and in our personal life.  Unless we are conscious of His presence, such graced moments would pass us by. But with the eyes of faith, we will be able to see the presence of God even in our failures, trials and tribulations, as St Paul tells us that the wisdom of God is revealed in the crucified Christ. The tragedy is that we often overlook these moments of manifestations because we are sleeping, like the bridesmaids.   We fail to see the presence of love, kindness, goodness; the blessings of health, vocation, work, that we experience each day in our lives. 

Secondly, we are called to be ready for the trials that come together with the Kingdom of God.  The coming of God’s kingdom entails suffering and a struggle against evil and sin. We must never think that Christian life is a bed of roses.  There will be persecutions from within and without.  Our faith will be put to the test.  In such moments, we feel like giving up our faith, because life does not seem to be worth living. Worse still, Jesus appears to be absent when we need Him most.  We do not feel His presence.  Will we continue to hold on to our faith like St Paul and rely on the Wisdom of God rather than the wisdom of the world?  Only with faith in Christ, can we continue to trust that God is at work in our lives, even when we encounter failure, rejection and disappointment.  Only those who endure to the end will be able to see the power of God at work in their lives.

Thirdly, the trials would demonstrate whether we are ready to stand firm in our Christian values.  Will we have the Christian character to stand up for what we believe when we are tested in our virtues?  Can we still remain humble and generous in service? Will we be led astray and carried away by our achievements, our successes, falling into the snares of power, glory and status, those very temptations that Jesus fought throughout His ministry? The bridesmaids were tested on their vigilance and initiative.   The careless ones did not bother to anticipate the challenges ahead of them, whereas the diligent bridesmaids took the necessary precautions.  The danger is that we can be lax and careless in cultivating a virtuous life and hence in the face of temptation, succumb easily.

How then can one be prepared?  The Gospel says we need the oil of Christ, the oil that gives light and new vision to us, the oil of love.  But we need to be prudent and store up enough oil to last us through the hard times as well.  And this oil of Christ is found in our spiritual and intellectual formation. We want to be spiritually strong and deep so that we will see the world and life differently from the worldly people; and be able to ward off all kinds of temptations in the world.   We want to be intellectually informed, so that we might not mislead those who look to us for leadership and guidance into falsehood.  We want to bask in His love so that His love can see us through in those moments when we feel so alone.  Our formation in virtues and living a life of grace will enable us to withstand the trials in our lives.

Most of all, to be prepared is to immerse ourselves in the passion and death of Christ.  Unless we come to understand the full import of inserting ourselves in the passion of Christ by dying to ourselves, our sins, and trust in the grace of God, we can never experience the power of His resurrection.  Faith in the crucified Christ therefore, as St Paul tells us in the first reading, is the key to be prepared for the fullness of Christ’s coming, here and at the end of our lives.

Having said all these, there is a warning for us too.  This oil cannot be shared.  We must be ready to deepen our relationship with the Lord.  No one else can make us ready for the great time of testing if we do not take steps to strengthen ourselves.  In the parable, the bridesmaid who had oil could not share with the others.  “Buy it for yourself!” they advised the others without oil, because they knew that love for the Lord requires a personal commitment.  Yes, there are certain things in life that we have to do for ourselves.  We cannot borrow a relationship with Christ but we have to personally cultivate a friendship with Him.  We cannot pray for others to live a good life if they themselves do not also pray; we cannot meditate for others if they do not contemplate the Lord themselves; we cannot study for others or experience God for others, or go through the trials of life for others expecting that they could benefit from what we have gone through.  No, each one of us will have to face our own trials and be tested accordingly.  Others can support us, but ultimately, we have to fight the battle alone with the help of Jesus.    It is therefore vital that above all, we must deepen our prayer life so that our relationship with Christ deepens.  It behooves us to spend time to meditate on the Word of God and to do regular examen so that we can become conscious of His presence in our lives throughout the day and accordingly, live out the kind of life He wants us to live.  Like the wise virgins, let us always be prepared and ready for the coming of God’s Kingdom.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved