XXXII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 25:1-13
The first reading (Wisdom 6:12-16) speaks about wisdom and how she comes to all those who look for her. Indeed, we are in need of wisdom to find meaning in our lives and to establish bonds of friendship and solidarity with others in the community. Without wisdom, we are not able to see our own limitations and to recognise the contributions of others to our own welfare. It is wisdom that helps us to recognise the presence of God in the world around us, mainly in the faces and the lives of the people we live with. Only wisdom can set us walking in a straight path, the path to justice and peace.
A Bemba proverb tells us: Amano uli weka: tayashingauke koshi (Alone your wisdom: does not go around your neck) and another one says: Amano mambuulwa (wisdom, the things that you pick up, learning from others). True wisdom cannot thrive in loneliness, much less in selfishness; instead, it learns from and with the others, making communion and peace possible. True wisdom is God himself guiding us through the path of life.
In the gospel, we find the parable the ten virgins who went to welcome the bridegroom for his wedding feast. The theme of a bridegroom and his wedding feast appears several times in the New Testament (for instance, Rev 21:2,9). Christ is the Bridegroom; he will come at the end of times and then his beloved bride, the Church, will be presented to him. The bridesmaids represent all of us. Like them, we wait for his coming. When is he coming? We do not know. We just wait and wait and the delay seems to be too prolonged, so that we may get tired of waiting.
The ten virgins fell asleep, all of them and someone had to wake them up. Like them, we may go through moments of tiredness and sleepiness or times of disappointment and darkness. We may think that we are waiting in vain and that, in the end, nobody is coming and we will realise that our wait was wasted time. However, the parable tells us that Christ is coming; and at his coming, there will be a great celebration, full of joy and happiness. Will we be there and have a share in that feast?
According to the parable, there were two kinds of virgins, the wise and the foolish. Some prepared themselves for the delay, while others did not think of such a possibility. They were not prepared for hard times when the Lord seems to be absent and we see ourselves as abandoned and lost. So, when they heard the announcement of the bridegroom’s arrival, they had to go out into the darkness of the night to buy oil for their lamps. When they came back, the feast had begun and the door was closed. They were late. To enter the banquet hall, one must be ready and well prepared. The Bemba proverb says Umuti uwila uko wakongamina (the tree falls to where is bent). If we are turned to Christ, then we will fall to Christ.
Let us ask the Lord the grace of being prepared for his coming.
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