Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB
In our gospel for
today, our Lord is teaching us that we need to always live out our lives in
anticipation for the ultimate meeting of the Lord, the Bridegroom, when He
calls us to Himself from this life to the next.
The concluding line,
“Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour” reminds me
of the old phrase, “Ready or not, here I come!” The wise virgins were always
ready with the right amount of oil that was needed for the eventual coming of
the bridegroom. They were focused on living out their lives doing God’s will
and remained focused on the coming of the bridegroom in order to go to their
final reward of heaven. The “oil” that the wise virgins were taking with them
during their time waiting was that of loving God and following God’s
commandments. They were accumulating the “oil” of righteousness and were
pleasing to God as a result.
The foolish virgins
appear to be self-centered or selfish, begging the wise virgins for their
“oil”. During their lives they weren’t focused on the bridegroom coming to
bring them to the heavenly banquet but rather living out their lives for their
own selfish needs.
Our oil reserves—a
measure of how spiritually ready and prepared we are for the return of
Christ—are not a shareable resource. We can’t help each other be more prepared
by somehow sharing our readiness with each other. It’s an intensely personal,
individual resource. All we can do is build up our own reserves.
The ways we grow
spiritually is by the frequent reading of scripture and the regular reception
of the Sacraments of Holy Communion and confession. In this way we grow ever
closer to God and helps us to grow spiritually closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us, like the wise
virgins, be ready for the Lord when he comes to meet us. Let us live out our
lives as God centered Christians. This way, when the groom comes to meet us, we
will be ready to greet him.
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteOn the surface it would actually appear that the 5 wise virgins, who were wise because they had prepared by bringing extra oil in case the Bridegroom tarried, were being greedy and selfish because they refused to give some of their surplus of oil to the 5 foolish virgins, who were good virgin ladies who simply had not had the foresight to bring additional oil.
One of the early lessons we learn as children is that we are supposed to share. In my devout Catholic Christian family I was taught --primarily by example even more than words--that if I have more than I need & encounter someone in need I should try to give at least a little of my excess to the person in need. This was reinforced in Church & in Catholic school. So why were the wise virgins not reprimanded for not sharing & seemingly being selfish & greedy but upheld as a positive example??
Apparently the "oil" represents something that is NOT material:
something that the 5 wise virgins had allowed to grow within them that they were UNABLE to give away--something that is part of the relationship between the individual soul and GOD & for which each human being is responsible for cultivating within himself/herself & GOD. Oil is used to represent anointing & the Holy Spirit's Presence. So the oil could be viewed as the life of the Holy Spirit indwelling the person or what the Catholic Church often calls "sanctifying grace".