Are you ready for the coming of the Bridegroom?

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church 

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

November 6, 2011

In the Israel of Jesus’ time, weddings were big stuffs. It was a time when friends and relatives, both far and near would gather together to share in the joy of the bride and bridegroom. The whole village would come out to accompany the couple to their new home; and they usually take the longest route so as to receive the best wishes of many people. One of the highlights of any wedding was when the bridegroom came in the night to take his bride from her father’s house and take her to their new house. Since the bridegroom came out at night, the path to the bride’s house was usually lighted by the virgins- the bridesmaids, who would hold their oil lamps for him to see where he was going. 

In the parable that Jesus told today, the bridegroom as usual came out at midnight. Then there was a call, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out and meet him!” The ten virgins who were deeply asleep, were awakened. They took hold of their lamps, but their lights were going dim already. Five of them who came with enough oil were able to refill and therefore kept their lamps burning. The other five who did not come with enough oil were not able to refill. Seeing that their lamps were going out, they asked the five wise virgins to give them some of their oil. But they were asked to go into the village to buy theirs because the oil they had wasn’t going to be enough for everybody. As soon as the five foolish virgins stepped out, the bridegroom came in and the door was locked. When the five foolish virgins returned, they called out, “Lord, Lord, open the door for us!” But the response from inside was, “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.” Jesus ended the parable with a caution, “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Today’s parable of the ten virgins- five wise and five foolish is about preparedness. The story is more of allegory than a parable because Jesus used an earthly story familiar to the people to people to explain the eschatological reality. The bridegroom in the story is Jesus Christ. The wedding feast is his Second Coming- the Lord’s triumphant return to earth. It is the time when every person will be rewarded for good or for bad. The ten virgins or the bridesmaid are everyone of us. Some of us will be ready and prepared like the five wise virgins, while some of us will be ill-prepared and not ready, just like the five foolish virgins. 

In today’s gospel, Jesus speaks about staying awake and being readily prepared. He wants us to be ready always; he wants us to stay awake, that is, awake in the Spirit because we don’t know the hour when he, the bridegroom will come. Jesus wants us to understand that part of being his disciple is staying awake; and part of our vocation is getting ready for his Second Coming. Today’s gospel taken from Matthew 25:1-13  makes it clear to us that we have absolutely no idea when the Lord will return. Therefore, we should be ready and prepared all always. 

Like a thief who strikes with no prior notice to the owner of the house, so Jesus will come. But we don’t have to walk around with fear as long as the candle light given to us at our baptism is burning brightly. 

Remember, at our baptism, the priest gave us a lighted candle and said the following words, “Receive the light of Christ.” Then addressing our parents he also said, “This child of yours has been enlightened by Christ. He or she is to walk always as a child of light. May he or she keep the flame of faith alive in his or her heart.” 

Dearest beloved, the candle light given to us at our baptism represents the light of Christ. It stands for the light of faith. When the Lord is revealed, if that light is still burning brightly, we will be admitted into the banquet hall of the Son of God. Keep the light of faith alive in your heart and life. Keep the light of Christ given to us at baptism alive. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus tells us, “You are the light of the world...” St. Paul says 2 Timothy 1:6, “Therefore I remind you, fan into flame the gift of God...” 

To keep the light constantly burning, we have to make sure the oil does not run out. The five foolish virgins, realizing that their lamps were running low, asked the other virgins for some oil. After all, they  were all from the same village and were all involved in the same celebration. But their request was denied. The oil in this story is not a worldly thing that we need to survive like bread, fish or water. The oil in this story is righteousness. The Lord wants us to make sure that the righteousness that comes from believing in him is still with us. Jesus is talking about the purity of heart. In Matthew 5:8, Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” We need to possess this righteousness; we need to possess this purity. Righteousness or purity is not something we can borrow. It’s something we have to have, something we have to develop on our own. 

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us that there are something we cannot borrow. We can borrow material things from our neighbor or friends, but we cannot possibly borrow  relationship with God. No man or woman can borrow a character; he or she must wear  it as a clothe. We can borrow a clothe from a friend, but we must clothe ourselves with the righteousness of God. We can borrow a car from a friend, but we need to ride with Jesus in his boat to heaven. We can borrow water from a neighbor, but we need to possess the Water of life. We can borrow salt from neighbor, but we must be the salt of the earth.  We may borrow a pair of shoe, but we must walk in the footsteps of Jesus to be admitted into the Lord’s banquet. Whatever relationship we enjoy in this world with other people, it is the relationship with Jesus that will guarantee us a pass into the banquet of the Lamb. 

By the virtue of our baptism, we are already enlightened sons and daughters of God. But to keep the candle light given to us at baptism burning up to the time of the coming of Jesus, we need Jesus. We need to keep our relationship and friendship with him. With Jesus in our life, we will not stray. We need Jesus to make it!