32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Victor Feltes
Today’s parable about the wise and foolish virgins teaches about Jesus Christ and us. Jesus elsewhere calls himself the Bridegroom and we are encouraged to enter his wedding feast. So we are those wise or foolish virgins awaiting the Bridegroom’s coming.
Realize that all ten virgins in this parable believed in the bridegroom. All ten hoped for and awaited his arrival. All ten became drowsy and fell asleep. All ten held lamps and wanted to enter his wedding feast. But when the ten awoke, the foolish virgins did not have enough oil for their lamps. (Apparently, this oil represents a thing which the wise virgins could not share with them.) When the foolish ones return, they find the door to the wedding feast locked. They say, “Lord, Lord, open the door for us!” But he says in reply, “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.” So what did those five foolish virgins do wrong?
When I pondered upon this parable, I considered what a timely lighted oil lamp would have allowed those virgins to do. Recall that the Bridegroom arrives after midnight. Someone who walks in the dark of night without a light will stumble. But the virgins with well-oiled, lit lamps can encounter the Bridegroom. They can find him, see him, follow him, and walk with him. They can know him and be known by him. The important takeaway for us is that we must keep our lamps lit and well-oiled.
If I were to bring out my bigboom box, plug it in, and scroll through the FM dial, we could listen to Country music, Top 40 hits, or 80s and 90s songs. We can easy forget that these radio stations are broadcasting every day. We can ignore their invisible signals flying past us right now. Without tuning-in our radios to them, their broadcasts are imperceptible to us. If we want to listen to them, it’s obvious what we must do. So it is with God.
Sometimes people say, “If God is everywhere, then why do I need to go to church?” I reply, “The air around us holds water vapor, so water is all around us! But if you only swallow air, you’ll die from dehydration! When you’re thirsty for life-giving water, you should go to a faucet, or a well, or a water bottle.” As the psalmist says, “O God, you are my God whom I seek; for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory…”
You know how radios work. You know what to do when you’re thirsty. And you already know what you should be doing to tune in to God and be refreshed and refilled by his grace. The ways of obtaining oil for our lamps are not actually difficult, but we must prioritize them and do them ourselves since others cannot do them for us. Be steadfast about attending Mass and receiving Christ in Holy Communion. Be dedicated to daily prayer, both speaking to God and listening. Be committed to regular Confession and practicing penances. Meditate upon Christ’s mysteries, by reciting the Rosary, or studying Scripture, or contemplating his Stations of the Cross, or through other holy devotions. Perhaps commit to be with the Lord for a monthly Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration. Allow the Bridegroom fill your lamp to keep it lit so that you may see him, follow him, and walk with him, and know him like you are known.
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