32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel Reading: Matthew 25:1-13

1. 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.
2. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible;
3. the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil,
4. whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps.
5. The bridegroom was late and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.
6. But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.”
7. At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps,
8. and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out.”
9. 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.”
10. 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 were closed.
11. The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us,”
12. But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.”
13. So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.”

Meditation

Today’s passage is a teaching on “what the kingdom of heaven will be like’ (verse 1). This biblical _expression means the coming of grace into the world. The passage therefore is a teaching on grace inviting us to recognize and celebrate our experiences of grace, and to prepare ourselves for future comings.

“Will be” is a reminder that the final and definitive coming of grace lies in the future, but the teaching also refers to the many partial but real comings of grace that we and our communities (including the worldwide human family) have experienced.

The teaching is parabolic so it is important to remind ourselves of how we meditate on the parable;

·        The parable comprises different characters; we chose the one(s) we want to identify with and read the parable from his or her (their) perspective.

·        A ‘crunch point’ occurs at a certain stage of the story, a turning point which jolts us so that we know instinctively that this is the central moment in the parable. The ‘crunch point’ will be different for different people; indeed it will be different for us at different stages in our lives.

In this parable there are four possible ‘crunch points’:
·        The moment of the cry, “the bridegroom is here’ (verse 6) –the grace always takes us by surprise.
·        The foolish bridesmaids find out that their lamps are going out and the wise ones will not give them oil (verses 7-9) – the grace is always ‘disturbing’
·        The wise bridesmaids go with the bridegroom into the wedding hall (verse 10) –grace is pure joy.
·        The foolish bridesmaids come late and are told “I don’t know you” (verse 11 and 12) – grace brings feelings of remorse, despair even, but as a step to conversion.

In each case the bridesmaids represent two possibilities and we have seen both at different stages in our lives. The “wise” (a better word than the Jerusalem Bible “sensible) are ourselves at our best, the “foolish” ourselves at our worst.

We can also focus on the bridegroom, remembering times when someone waited a long time for us to come to the best of ourselves.

Focusing on the person of Jesus can help bring the passage alive for us. At this point in his, he is in Jerusalem, about to be arrested and crucified. The parable then becomes a testimony of his own attitude – he is a wise bridesmaid, ready for his moment of grace. It is also a heartfelt warning to his beloved disciples that they must not be like the foolish bridesmaids, and miss their moment of grace when he is arrested. Who does he remind us of?

Verse 6: We can focus on either of two aspects of the moment of grace:
·        It does not happen instantly, we have to wait a long time for it, so long that we “grow drowsy (get a feel for that) and fall asleep.
·        When it comes it is a surprise, like being wakened from sleep by a peremptory cry (a rude awakening).
Verse 7 – 9: Grace always disturbs. It makes us fumble, look for solutions that are both impractical and unreasonable – like expecting the wise bridesmaid to give of their oil supply even though they risk not having enough, neither for themselves nor for others. We must make the effort to identify what Jesus meant by the “extra flask” of oil. It is what makes the difference between “good” and “great”, “courageous” and “heroic” “run-of-the-mill” and “special”.

Verse 10: The moment of grace is like entering into a great festival hall, accompanied by one we have long awaited. We think of:
·        Our marriage ceremony (or 25th or 50th anniversary);
·        The first sexual experience
·        The return home of an addict
·        A moment of national reconciliation.

Verse 11 & 12: These verses are almost unbearably sad. We enter into the feeling of the rejected bridesmaids, the finality of the doors being closed while the bridesmaid shout, “open up,” the hopelessness of hearing the words “I don’t know you.” We can imagine the remorse – “why wasn’t I ready when he came?”

We think of similar experiences:
·        parents wanting their children to open up to them after years of neglecting them;
·        abusers faced with the break up of their families;
·        national leaders trying in vain to get warring parties to be reconciled.

The teaching reminds us that we must live with the consequences of our choices. There is nothing airy fairy about Jesus – or about teachers like him.

Though this particular relationship can never be recovered, there will be other chances of healthy relationships – so the teaching is positive and a call to repentance.

The concluding verse 13 stands on its own. It is not strictly a comment on the parable since none of the bridesmaid actually “stay awake”. The verse is rather a general teaching on “staying awake” to the grace of the present moment – “the day and the hour”.   The deepest truth of every “day and hour” is that the bridegroom has arrived. We give the word “know” its full meaning of “perceiving all the possibilities latent in…..

Prayer 

Lord you really like to keep us waiting:
·        for long years we struggled with an alcohol problem;
·        we thought that a difficult child would never settle down;
·        the parish youth group kept going from one crisis to the next.

Then all of a sudden, out of the blue the moment of grace came.
It was as if at midnight, when everybody had gone to sleep, there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out to meet him!”
We thank you that we did not give up hope;
Somehow or the other we had left ourselves open
To the possibilities of better things:
·        we had kept an extra flask of oil alongside our regular supply, so that we were able to trim our lamps and welcome the bridegroom when he came. Thank You Lord.

“My mother don’t have time to talk to me. I don’t have her to tell me things. When she comes home from work, she only has time to clean the kitchen, go to sleep and back to work again.” A young boy in Trinidad.
Lord we pray for parents,
It is not easy for them.
They are frequently so tired at the end of the day
That when the children come to share their lives with them
they have grown drowsy and fallen asleep.
Give them that reserve of energy
so that they may never have to come knocking at the door
of their children’s hearts
and hear the terrible words, “I do not know you.”

Lord we thank you for the experience
of the sacrament of reconciliation
celebrated after many years of being away.
It was like arriving late at night, long after we were due,
And yet being welcomed with great joy
Like a bridegroom being escorted into the wedding hall.

Lord nowadays we are accustomed to doing things instantly,
turning a switch or putting in a plug.
So we tend to think that we can know people instantly too.
But having someone open up to us always takes a long time.
It is like being a bridesmaid
and having to wait late into the night
for the bridegroom to come, and then continue to wait,
and when we have almost given up hope that he will come,
to hear that he is there and we must go out to meet him.
It is only after that kind of waiting
That two persons can enter into deep intimacy.

“I promise by the grace that I will embrace whatever I last feel certain is the truth, if I come to be certain.” Cardinal Newman as he wondered whether he should join the Catholic Church.
 Lord, we pray for those who are searching: 
·        those who like Cardinal Newman ask themselves if they should leave the church and join another;
·        young people not sure what their vocation in life is;
·        friends who cannot decide on marriage.

Give them the grace to continue waiting,
Not pretending that the bridegroom has come if he hasn’t
Confident that when at midnight there is a cry, “He is here!” they will go out to meet him.

Lord we spend a lot of energy
Fighting against the present moment:
·        blaming ourselves or others for mistakes of the past;
·        regretting that things are not as good as they could be;
·        anxious about how the future will be.

And so our eyes are closed to the possibilities
That are there in the present.
Teach us always to stay awake,
Because we do not know the day or the hour of your grace.

“Care for the dying is founded upon two unshakable beliefs: that each minute of life should be lived to the full, and that death is quite simply part of life, to be faced openly and with hands outstretched.”  Sheila Cassidy.
Lord we thank you for calling some of us
to minister to the dying.
Some are afraid, others angry of confused.
You want us to help them all to welcome you;
To teach people, as Jesus did,
that it is alright if we fall asleep when you are long in coming,
Because we know that when the cry goes up,
“The bridegroom is here!”
we will merely trim our lamps
and go into the wedding hall with him.