Homily: 32nd Sunday, Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Although I was never a Boy Scout, I nevertheless have
always remembered their simple motto: “Be prepared.” This simple motto is meant to remind young
boys of the need to be ready to handle unexpected situations, when they occur. For example, a young man hiking in the woods
should be prepared with a compass and a flashlight in case he finds he has lost
the trail. Similarly, he should be
prepared with extra food in case adverse weather strands him at a campsite for
an extra day or two. Still further, he
should be prepared to assist in adverse situations like, for example, if he
encounters a car accident and other emergency personnel have not yet
arrived. This simple, practical advice
is nothing new, of course. The Boy
Scouts are simply adapting time-honored wisdom to help boys learn how to be
responsible young men, which hopefully will translate into their involvement in
their communities.
For the virgins in our Gospel reading today, we see how
this notion of preparedness rings true. Five
of the virgins, we are told, had taken thought of wisdom and thus acted
prudently when they went out to wait for the bridegroom to return with his new
bride. Even though the reading doesn’t
tell us this, I would guess that, like the foolish virgins, these wise virgins
thought it was unlikely that the bridegroom, even if he was delayed, would
return in the middle of the night. Nevertheless,
they didn’t presume to know for sure and so prudently brought with them extra
oil for their lamps, realizing that it was better to have it and to be prepared
than to be caught without it.
The five foolish virgins, on the other hand, presumed just
the opposite. Instead of considering the
possibility of a long wait or of the bridegroom returning in the middle of the
night, they simply joined the vigil, lamps in hand, but without any extra oil
to fuel them if the unexpected happened.
Thus, even though both the wise and the foolish virgins were surprised
by the bridegroom’s return at midnight, only the wise, who were prepared to
welcome him at this unlikely hour, were able to join the wedding feast.
We, too, often find ourselves to be victims of this kind of
presumption. In our modern culture,
particularly here in the United States, there is a certain cultural phenomenon
occurring called “the tyranny of the urgent.”
Increasingly, people are allowing their lives to be driven by “urgent”
tasks that seemingly cannot be put off until later. For example, when business emergencies lead a
parent to cancel a family vacation or to spend more time at work than at home,
then it becomes apparent that the “urgency” of this person’s work is
controlling his or her personal life, in some sense like a tyrant. The result of this phenomenon is that people have
begun to lose sight of long term goals and thus are failing to prepare for
them. A popular song in the nineteen-eighties
pronounced that “everybody is working for the weekend.” Such a “short term” view fails to recognize
the need to be prepared for unexpected problems in the future.
Probably the thing that is easiest for us to lose sight
of—the thing that seems to be the least urgent—is the return of Christ. For nearly two-thousand years, Christ has
been “ascended into heaven” and is “seated at the right hand of the
Father.” Thus, for us it probably seems
impossible that Jesus would just return without any warning—without some sort
of prolonged sign—that would give us a chance to prepare ourselves to celebrate
his return. Yet, this is exactly the
same presumption that the foolish virgins made, isn’t it? We presume, exactly like they did, that,
since he is long delayed in returning, he will not come at the unexpected time
of midnight, but rather at a convenient time, when we can expect him, thus
giving us time to put off our preparations.
As we saw in the parable of the virgins, however, this is a very
dangerous presumption to make.
What the wise virgins recognized but the foolish virgins
failed to recognize was that everything that they needed in order to be prepared
was readily available to them. The
merchants, it seemed, had no shortage of oil.
In fact, it appears that there were even “all-night” merchants, who were
ready to sell the foolish virgins oil for their lamps even after midnight (the
ancient equivalent to the modern convenience store). This is to show that no one was trying to
prevent any of the virgins from joining into the wedding feast, but rather that
all that they needed to be prepared was readily available to them. The grace, of course, comes when one takes
advantage of the resources available to him or her. Thus, the wise virgins who took advantage of
what was available to them were rewarded for their prudence by being welcomed
into the wedding feast.
In the same way, when it comes to having the resources that
we need to be prepared for the second coming of Christ, God has no less
provided. He has given us the sacraments
as a way to stay connected to Christ’s Body and thus to prepare us for the day
when he comes again. Through Baptism, as
well as Confirmation and Holy Communion, we are initiated into the Church as
members of Christ’s body. Through the
sacrament of Reconciliation, we are healed and restored as members even after
we’ve separated ourselves from it by sin.
Our weekly celebration of the Eucharist fills our flasks with oil and
keeps us alert so that we are ready for the unexpected moment when Christ will
come to take us, his Church, home to the eternal banquet in heaven. Yes, these sacraments are instruments of God’s
grace that connect us to him. They make
us “recognizable” to him so that when he comes again, he will invite us into
the heavenly banquet. Thus, it is the
truly wise who take advantage of them.
My brothers and sisters, as we approach the end of this
liturgical year, we are being reminded to think about the promise that still
awaits us—the eternal banquet in heaven—and of the need to “Be Prepared”—that
is, to remain watchful and ready for when that day comes—for the Kingdom of
Heaven will appear when we least expect it.
Thus, the question we might ask ourselves this week is, “How much oil is
in my lamp?” Whatever your answer may be,
let us remember that, here today, we have an opportunity to fill our lamps with
the grace offered to us from this altar: the Body and Blood of Christ, our
Savior.
Given at All Saints Parish:
Logansport, IN – November 12th, 2017
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