20201107 THE TRULY WISE
08 November, 2020, Sunday, 32nd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading | Wisdom 6:12-16 © |
Wisdom is found by those who look for her
Wisdom is bright, and does not grow dim.
By those who love her she is readily seen,
and found by those who look for her.
Quick to anticipate those who desire her, she makes herself known to them.
Watch for her early and you will have no trouble;
you will find her sitting at your gates.
Even to think about her is understanding fully grown;
be on the alert for her and anxiety will quickly leave you.
She herself walks about looking for those who are worthy of her
and graciously shows herself to them as they go,
in every thought of theirs coming to meet them.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 62(63):2-8 © |
For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.
O God, you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry, weary land without water.
For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.
For your love is better than life,
my lips will speak your praise.
For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.
So I will bless you all my life,
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,
my mouth shall praise you with joy.
For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.
On my bed I remember you.
On you I muse through the night
for you have been my help;
in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.
For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.
Second reading |
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 © |
Do not grieve about those who have died in Jesus
We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him. We can tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching, that any of us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming will not have any advantage over those who have died. At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call out the command and the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise, and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up in the clouds, together with them; to meet the Lord in the air. So we shall stay with the Lord for ever. With such thoughts as these you should comfort one another.
Gospel Acclamation | Mt24:42 44 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand ready,
because you do not know the hour
when the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 25:1-13 © |
The wise and foolish virgins
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.’
THE TRULY WISE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Wis 6:12-16; Ps 63:2-8; 1 Th 4:13-18 (or >< 4:13-14); Mt 25:1-13]
In the first reading, we are called to seek wisdom in life. What is wisdom? Wisdom does not come from study and research. One can be intellectually brilliant and yet is not wise. One can be imbued with deep philosophical insights and yet that is not considered wisdom. Knowledge must not be confused with wisdom. One can have scientific and technological knowledge and yet not have wisdom. Neither is wisdom some insights that we gain through personal experiences in life. Wisdom is not some wise sayings about how to live one’s life or manage worldly affairs.
Wisdom is to share the mind of God. Wisdom is divine. It is identified in Christianity as Christ, the Word of God, the incarnated wisdom of God in person. This is why wisdom is one of the seven messianic gifts of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom means the ability to see the ultimate realities of life. It means knowing our true identity, our origin, our purpose on earth and our final destination. How can we call a man wise when he is confused over his own personal identity, is not aware of where he comes from or his purpose or goal in life, and most of all, where he is going after his life on earth? These are fundamental questions that science and technology cannot answer although philosophy tries to grasp the meaning of existence.
In the second reading, St Paul tells us about the ultimate destiny of man. He wrote, “We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him.” Indeed, as Christians, with the death and resurrection of Christ, we are certain of our future destiny, which is to be with Christ. Those who do not believe in Christ will simply only have hope, if at all, in this life. This explains why many people are just living for today because secularism has robbed them of a hope for a future beyond this life. Without any hope of a life beyond this earth, all that we live for, work for, built and given our time and energy to, becomes meaningless. One might as well just try to enjoy our life as much as we can since after death we are no more.
But St Paul underscores the truth that we will share in the resurrection of our Lord at the end of time. He said, “We can tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching, that any of us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming will not have any advantage over those who have died. At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call out the command and the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise, and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up in the clouds, together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. So we shall stay with the Lord for ever. With such thoughts as these you should comfort one another.” Last week, we just celebrated All Saints Day and All Souls Day. It is because we are clear of our destiny, which is to be with Christ, sharing in His resurrection that should motivate us to prepare ourselves in this life to enter into the heavenly kingdom.
Our sojourn on earth is to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord. Jesus in the gospel reminds us of who we are. We have been chosen as the bridesmaids to welcome the Bridegroom to meet His people, His bride, the Church. Like the bridesmaids, our task is to prepare our people to welcome Christ. Christ’s mission is to reconcile man with God and through our union and intimacy with Him, we share in the heavenly banquet. We cannot enter heaven alone but we enter heaven together with the rest of humanity. Indeed, when the bridegroom comes, the bridesmaid will enter with the bride to the wedding banquet.
How, then, should we prepare ourselves to accompany the bridegroom when He comes? The gospel makes it clear, we need to light up our lamps and bring sufficient oil to wait for His coming. The light of the lamp represents a life of faith, hope and charity. These are the theological gifts of the Holy Spirit. Only faith in Christ can give us hope in life and it is this hope that inspires us to live a life of charity. In the letter to the Romans, St Paul wrote, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that … God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (cf Rom 5:1-5)
What, then, would be the oil that is necessary to give strength to our faith, hope and charity? In this same chapter of Matthew 25, following the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, we have the parables of the Talents and the Last Judgement. Whilst today’s parable focuses on the need to be prepared for the Lord’s coming, the other two parables tell us how to prepare ourselves, namely, by being responsible with the graces or talents we have received from Him; and to use them for the service of others, especially in helping the poor and the weak. The oil for the lamp of faith, hope and charity is kept burning only when we cooperate with His grace. We have all been given the grace of faith in Christ and hope in the future and the capacity to love with His love in our hearts. But like anyone who has been given the graces, unless we make use of them properly, wisely and conscientiously, these would have been given to us in vain. So, we must ensure that we have sufficient oil to inflame the gifts of faith, hope and charity in our hearts. We need to keep our faith, hope and charity alive by enkindling them.
The important lesson to learn from today’s parable is that when it comes to preparing ourselves to meet the Lord, there are certain things in life that cannot be shared. The oil of spiritual life, spiritual maturity and spiritual goodness cannot be shared. We have to own them ourselves. There is no treasury that we can draw upon to help us to encounter the Lord if we have not made any efforts to do so. Indeed, relationship in life is something very personal. We cannot replace relationship just by doing things for people or using money and material things to win people’s hearts. Whilst all these can be expressions of love and care, what cannot be substituted is finding time to interact, speak and share with the people that we care and love. This explains why when the five foolish bridesmaids asked the wise bridesmaids to give them some oil, they told them, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves.” This was said not out of selfishness but because the bridegroom’s coming was all important, nothing must be given to chance. They could not take the risk of the lights going out half-way whilst accompanying the bridegroom in the middle of the night. It would be even more disastrous than to be without the burning lamps of the other five. It would be a great insult to the bridegroom who will say to us when we arrive, “I do not know you.”
Finally, it is important to remember that the wait for Christ’s second coming would be long and also unpredictable. “So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.” The early Christians in the first reading written about 50 AD believed that the Second Coming would happen in their time. By the time of Matthew’s gospel written around AD 80, they knew that the coming would be delayed. Indeed, we will not know the time of His coming. He could come at our death-bed or at the end of time. This is immaterial. The point is that we will eventually have to meet the bridegroom. If we are not ready, then like the foolish bridesmaids, we will be denied entry into the kingdom of God. We cannot join Jesus in the heavenly banquet without the light of faith, hope and charity. If we do not take care of our spiritual life, our relationship with God and our brothers and sisters, then when the time comes for us to meet Him, we would have lost all hope in life because like many in the world today, they have lost faith in God and eventually in humanity. Without faith in God and hope in eternal life, there is no motivation to do good or to sacrifice ourselves for others. Even if we do, we will become disillusioned because of so much evil and selfishness in the world.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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