Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

MATTHEW 251-13
ONE DAY A PRIEST WAS SPEAKING ABOUT THE STORY OF THE FIVE WISE AND FIVE FOOLISH VIRGINS. AT THE END OF HIS SERMON, HE ASKED THEM, “AFTER WHAT YOU'VE HEARD, WHERE WOULD YOU RATHER BE? INSIDE THE HOUSE, ENJOYING THE FEAST, OR OUT IN THE DARK WITH THE FIVE FOOLISH YOUNG WOMEN?” A YOUNG MEN IN THE AUDIENCE REPLIED, “I'M THINKING.”
WHEN I WAS IN COLLEGE, EXAM TIME WAS ALWAYS STRESSFUL. I WOULD USUALLY BE TAKING SIX COURSES AT A TIME, AND ALL THE EXAMS WOULD BE SCHEDULED OVER A THREE DAY PERIOD. THAT MEANT THAT I HAD TO STUDY MY SIX DIFFERENT TOPICS, AND HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION ON HAND SO THAT I COULD DO WELL. I WOULD NOT GETA LOT OF SLEEP DURING THIS TIME. AND WHEN YOU DON'T GET SLEEP, AND YOU ARE UNDER A LOT OF STRESS, YOU CAN HAVE INTERESTING DREAMS. ONE RECURRENT DREAM WAS THAT I HAD ACTUALLY REGISTERED FOR A COURSE THAT I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT. I HADN'T GONE TO THE CLASSES, I HADN'T STUDIED – BUT I WAS STILL SCHEDULED TO TAKE THE TEST. I WOULD WAKE UP IN A COLD SWEAT.
WE AREN'T AT ALL FAMILIAR WITH THE SCENE JESUS DESCRIBES, BUT TO HIS HEARERS IT WAS COMMONPLACE. IN THE LITTLE VILLAGES A WEDDING WAS A VERY BIG DEAL. IT WAS AN OCCASION FOR PUTTING ASIDE ALL THE CARES OF DAILY LIFE AND SPENDING A WEEK HAVING A PARTY. YOU REMEMBER THE WEDDING FEAST AT CANA. WHAT WE DON'T REALIZE IS HOW MUCH WINE WAS BEING CONSUMED; IT WASN'T JUST A CHAMPAGNE TOAST AND TWO DRINK TICKETS AT THE OPEN BAR. THE WINE THAT JESUS MIRACULOUSLY MADE FROM WATER AMOUNTED TO ABOUT SIXTY GALLONS OR SO. AND OF COURSE, THE PARTY HAD BEEN GOING ON A WHILE EVEN BEFORE THIS HAPPENED.
THE WEDDING WAS NOT SCHEDULED FOR A CERTAIN TIME; IT WAS ONLY APPROXIMATE. THE BRIDESMAIDS WOULD BE ATTENDING THE BRIDE, MAKING SURE HER HAIR WAS PUT UP JUST RIGHT, HER GOWN WAS READY TO WEAR, AND HER LAST MINUTE NERVOUSNESS WAS QUIETED. AND THEN THEY WOULD GO OUT TO WAIT FOR THE BRIDEGROOM. IT WAS SORT OF A GAME; HIS JOB WAS TO SURPRISE EVERYBODY AND THEIRS WAS NOT TO BE SURPRISED. AT SOME POINT THE FRIENDS OF THE BRIDEGROOM WOULD ANNOUNCE THAT THE GROOM WAS COMING, AND THE BRIDESMAIDS WOULD GREET HIM AND ESCORT HIM BACK INTO THE HALL WHERE THE BRIDE AWAITED HIM. IN A SOCIETY WHERE THERE WAS VERY LITTLE LEISURE, WEDDING PARTIES WERE ONE OF THE PLACES WHERE YOUNG MEN AND YOUNG WOMEN COULD MEET EACH OTHER. THE PEOPLE WHO HEARD JESUS COULD FEEL WHAT A TRAGEDY IT WOULD BE FOR THESE YOUNG WOMEN TO MISS THE CHANCE TO MEET POTENTIAL HUSBANDS; THEY DIDN'T JUST MISS THE PARTY; THEY MISSED OUT ON THEIR FUTURE HAPPINESS, ALL BECAUSE THEY HADN'T BEEN PREPARED.
I THINK THE STORY REALLY TELLS US TWO VERY IMPORTANT THINGS. FIRST, THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN'T PUT OFF. WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, WE WERE OFTEN TOLD STORIES ABOUT DEATHBED CONVERSIONS; SOMEONE HAD LIVED A TERRIBLE LIFE, AND AT THE LAST MINUTE, MADE A PERFECT CONFESSION AND WENT RIGHT TO HEAVEN. WE WERE ENCOURAGED TO MAKE NINE “FIRST FRIDAYS” BECAUSE A PROMISE HAD BEEN MADE BY THE BLESSED MOTHER THAT THOSE WHO DID SO WOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECEIVE THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE BEFORE THEY DIED. AND MAYBE AN INDIRECT EFFECT OF THESE IDEAS WAS INDEED THE NOTION THAT WE COULD “PUT OFF” REALLY, REALLY BECOMING CHRISTIAN UNTIL LATER IN LIFE. AFTER ALL, THAT'S WHAT AUGUSTINE DID, AND NOW HE'S A GREAT SAINT.
WE ALL KNOW WHAT WE SHOULD DO; WE ALL KNOW HOW WE COULD BE BETTER CHRISTIANS, HOW WE COULD SPEND MORE TIME IN PRAYER, MEDITATION, READING SCRIPTURE, DOING GOOD WORKS. BUT WE PUT OFF CHANGING OUR LIVES, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, IT DOES TAKE WORK, AND WE HAVE OTHER THINGS TO DO. BUT IN ADDITION TO BEING PREPARED FOR OUR ULTIMATE END, FOR THAT END OF LIFE WHICH COULD COME IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, THERE IS ANOTHER KIND OF PREPAREDNESS. EVERY DAY THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE A NEIGHBOR, TO HELP SOMEONE OUT, TO GIVE A KIND WORD TO SOMEONE; AND SO OFTEN WE AREN'T PREPARED, WE MISS THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE CAN BE GOD'S GRACE TO SOMEONE ELSE. THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN'T PUT OFF.
AND THE SECOND POINT IS THAT THERE ARE SOME THINGS FOR WHICH WE CAN'T DEPEND ON OTHERS. THE FOOLISH VIRGINS WANTED TO BORROW OIL FROM THEIR WISE SISTERS. IN JESUS' STORY, IT COULDN'T BE DONE. THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO MANAGE TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE BECAUSE SOMEONE HELPS THEM OUT. IT CERTAINLY SEEMS TO BE TRUE OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO NEED A LOAN FROM MOM AND DAD, BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE DECENT JOBS, OR CREDIT, BUT STILL FOR LIFE TO GO ON A NEED MUST BE FULFILLED. AND WE PROBABLY ALL KNOW PEOPLE WHO JUST CAN'T GET IT TOGETHER, AND CONTINUE TO DEPEND ON SIBLINGS, OR EVEN ADULT CHILDREN, IN ORDER TO GET ALONG. BUT WITH RESPECT TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, THAT RELATIONSHIP ON WHICH OUR WHOLE ETERNITY DEPENDS, WHETHER OR NOT WE WILL LIVE IN LIGHT FOR ALL ETERNITY OR LIVE IN DARKNESS AND LONELINESS, NO ONE, NOT EVEN GOD, CAN STEP IN AND CREATE THAT RELATIONSHIP FOR US. BECAUSE FORMING A RELATIONSHIP REQUIRES THE FREE ACT OF MY WILL, AND GOD HAS GIVEN ME THAT FREEDOM, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
THE THING THAT IS SO SAD ABOUT THIS STORY OF JESUS' IS THAT THE FOOLISH VIRGINS HAD THEIR HEARTS IN THE RIGHT PLACE. THEY MEANT WELL. THEY DID NOT FORGET THE EXTRA OIL ON PURPOSE. BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER; GOOD INTENTIONS WERE NOT ENOUGH TO GET THEM IN TO THE PARTY.
THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT CAN'T BE PUT OFF. THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT NO ONE CAN HELP US WITH. AND GOOD INTENTIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH TO GET US IN TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. THOSE ARE VERY IMPORTANT TRUTHS WHICH SHOULD ENGAGE US THIS WEEK, AS WE GO BACK INTO THE WORLD. THE BRIDEGROOM IS COMING; WE DON'T KNOW WHEN; AND WE NEED TO TAKE STOCK: ARE WE READY? WE ONLY HAVE THIS ONE CHANCE.