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32 Sunday in

nd

Ordinary Time
Wis. 6: 12-16
Cycle A I Thes. 4: 13-17 12 November 2017
Mt. 25: 1-13
INTRODUCTION:
Our readings for this Sunday are very
apocalyptic; i.e. They have to do with
the end of time or the second coming of
Jesus Christ or the consummation of all
things at this time of the Liturgical Year
when the Calendar Year comes to an
end. So, the Church asks us to reflect
on these things.
1

Our second reading is from


St. Paul's First Letter to the
Thessalonians which is the earliest
Christian text we have, written by
Paul around 50 AD - about 20
years from Christ's Resurrection.
1

It gives us a wonderful snapshot


of what life was like in this very
primitive Christian community.
Paul writes to them about the
event that changed his life.
1

Paul saw the Risen Jesus and it


turned everything in his life upside
down inside out. It revolutionized
him in his way of thinking about life
and everything in the light of the
Resurrection.
1
He is talking about a central
point of Christian Faith:
In Jesus Christ risen
from the dead, we hope
to rise from the dead.
1
In Jesus Christ raised to a
new pitch of existence in the
very realm of the Father, we
who have been baptized in
him hope for a similar
consummation.
1
In the light of that, everything
changes; the things of this
world fall into relative
insignificance. My whole life
is rearranged in the light of
this great truth: in Christ,
you will rise.
1 Paul uses lots of apocalyptic language to
refer to this consummation:

" the Lord himself will come down from heaven


at the word of command, at the sound of the
archangel's voice and God's trumpet; and those
who have died in Christ will rise first. Then we,
the living, the survivors, will be caught up with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
1
This is the theology of
rapture! Do not understand
this literally as if we meet the
Lord in mid-air at 35,000 ft.
but this only refers to the
transformation of our lives
into a higher existence.
1
Paul was so over-whelmed at
the experience of seeing Jesus
alive that he thought this
consummation would happen
very soon within his lifetime.
1
Of course, it did not happen
even 2000 years after Paul.
We are still waiting "with the
same joyful hope for the
coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
1

When is he coming?
We don't know 10 years or 5000
years but the hope remains the
same, even today as the center of
our Faith.
2 Fast forward to the
Gospel of Matthew,
written some 30 years
after I Thessalonians.

Shaped by Paul's Letters, like us,


the Christians of Mt's time were
also waiting for Christ and were
wondering how should they wait.
2
They remembered a Parable of
Jesus at the end of his life
before his Passion about the
ten Virgins or Bridesmaids
with their torches who
went to meet the
Bridegroom.
2
The Parable depicts the Jewish wedding
practices and customs during Jesus' time.

Unlike weddings
today, the focus is on
the Groom, not on the
Bride.
2 At night, the Groom in his
sleeping gown leaves his
parents' home and makes a
journey to the Bride's place
whom he takes to make a
journey back to the Groom's
house where the wedding party
takes place.
2

In the meantime, the guests, and


especially the Bridesmaids, would
accompany the Groom in the journey
to and fro. In the first century, unlike
these days of electricity, the night
then was pitch dark.
2

That is why the guests, and


especially the Bridesmaids, would
have torches with plenty of oils to
negotiate the night.
This is the
setting of the Parable.
3
Five of the Bridesmaids were wise,
i.e. well prepared with stock of oil;
the other five were foolish, not well
prepared with not enough stock of
oil.
3
The Bridegroom is delayed! Why?

We don't know just as we don't


know why the Bridegroom
Jesus is delayed in his coming.
3
He tarries but after a long
wait, the Bridesmaids fall
asleep and then suddenly the
Bridegroom is there. The
Bridesmaids have to be ready
quickly with their torches to
meet the Bridegroom.
3

Those who have plenty


of oil light their lamps
quickly and go but those
who have no oil enough
are not prepared and
can't light their lamps.
3
Who gets into the party?
Those who through a long wait
are nevertheless well prepared
and well stocked.
3
Who do not get in? Those
who are foolish and not
well prepared and not well
stocked.
3
How do we read this?
Like those Bridesmaids,
all of us Christians wait for
Christ the Bridegroom in
between the end-times.
3
We know that Christ is
coming to consummate
the wedding of God with
his people but we don't
know when.
So, we wait!
How do we wait?
Some
wisely; others foolishly!
3
What does the oil stand for?

It stands for the Divine Life


that was given to us in baptism
which we have to keep alive
and burning as we wait.
3 Who are the wise waiters?

Concretely, those who pray, frequent the


sacraments Eucharist and Confession,
Reconciliation; those who love or
sincerely seek the good of the others
and do the corporal and spiritual works of
mercy; those who study and sincerely
seek the understanding of their Faith.
3
Who are the foolish waiters?

Those who allow this life to ebb


and die. Concretely, those who do
not practice what the wise waiters
do!
CONCLUSION: Can the Divine Life go out?
Yea, it can! That's the
dreadful truth!
Will we be ready when he
comes? We hope!
What about the request of the
foolish to give them some of the
oil of the wise and their answer
was "no"! Is that not being
unkind? No! +ART
CONCLUSION:

If you spend your whole life


not being ready unlike the wise
did, you can't reasonably
expect the wise at the end of
your life to give you what they
have been striving all their life.
+ART
CONCLUSION:

How do we wait?
Foolishly or wisely?
That's the whole point
of this Parable!

+ART

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