Matthew 25:1-13 1
1 ‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” 7 Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” 9 But the wise replied, “No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.” 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. 11 Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” 12 But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” 13 Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins by Jorge Cocco
Faithful to our daily reading of the Gospel, we can follow Matthew's plan as he presents Jesus's teaching about discipleship and membership.
The precedent parables we have recently seen lead to the morality of His teaching. One parable speaks about a man who invites others to join in the banquet of his son; another parable tells of two men practicing their responsibilities where one is a faithful servant and the second is evil.
This parable speaks about women. The Gospel is the good news for men and women equally. Both have the same dignity and the same responsibility in God's eyes. They both deserve to be mentioned in His teaching.
In the previous parables, Jesus says, "The Kingdom of God looks like," but here, reading carefully, we hear the Lord saying, "The Kingdom of God will look like," referring to the future. All the team members are invited. They know about the coming of the groom and they are supposed to lead the reception upon his arrival. The ten are aware and well-informed that the groom will arrive later. All of them have their lamps to use after sunset. All of them have their lamps full of oil. All is good and ready for now, but only five thought about what may happen later. All were people of the past and people of the present moment, but loving the groom and waiting for his arrival, they need to think about the future.
This is where five of them were wise and took their provision of oil for their lamps. The other five were living in the moment without thinking about how to keep alert in the future! The groom arrives. The wise women were ready and well equipped to extend their present into the future.
Loving the Lord should be a reciprocated love that transcends the past and the present to continue forever. Such love is joined with wisdom and real responsibility. This how we are called to live our full faithfulness to the Lord, not only in our past or at the present time, but to see our future as part of His presence. Like these wise women, we are called to keep ready for His coming at a moment we may not expect, at a moment of challenge.
Men and women are called to form one kingdom and to share responsibility as one body of Christ, practicing our faith and building up the Church, which is symbolized in the parable by the readiness of the wise women. The morality of this parable is today in our Holy Land maxim for when someone fails to finish a good work that they began, we say that they are, “short of oil.” This illustrates St. Paul in Philippians 1:6, “I am confident that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Keep your lamp lit and never forget your provision of oil, which is to be extracted from the Gospel, meditation, prayers and partaking in the holy sacraments. Are we people of the past or the present? Are we convinced and ready to continue following Him with full love and readiness to witness for His Kingdom, showing real wisdom and true responsibility!?
Father Kamal - November 8, 2020