PREPAREDNESS OF HOPE: THE END TIME
We are not meant to live forever and the thought of dying one day can be very scary especially when there is no preparedness or hope for the end time. As Christians what gives our human existence a a sense of meaningfulness is our hope of the resurrection. Hence, amidst the uncertainty of earthly life, the Christian hope assures of a bright tomorrow.
Thus, once a philosopher told a Christian, man lives to die, but the Christian responded man dies to resurrect. This is how worldly wisdom serves man negatively with a deep sense of pessimism. While the Christian wisdom from the Holy Spirit encourages man positively with a sense of optimism.
We live in a world where our lives can end at any time, anywhere and anyhow. Hence, we need the hope of preparedness through the Spirit of God. This is why we need the Wisdom of God that enlightens, illuminates and guides us on the path to salvation.
OUR THEMES
The readings of the 32nd Sunday in ordinary time are a reminder that we are getting close to the end of the Church´s liturgical calendar. Hence, they remind us of the end of time. The end of our world or existence on earth through death. The end of our earthly life and our passage to another world. There is also a strong emphasis on the fact that we need true and conscious wisdom to be prepared. For this end-time, no one knows what time, place or manner it will come.
FIRST READING: WISDOM 6:12-16
“Wisdom is readily perceived by those who love her, and found by those who seek her.” As we come to the last Sundays of Ordinary Time, we are invited to seek wisdom and to love wisdom.
The wisdom of God is necessary and important at every moment of our life. It is our guide amidst the ups and downs of life, at every given moment of life and with her we are free from errors and safe in the right path. Hence, wisdom is the central of life´s fulfilment.
The Wisdom of God is priceless, beautiful and eternal. Those who love, seek and long for her, live within graciousness, understanding and knowledge of God, of life and its mysteries. Wisdom does not only help us to comprehend life and death. It also helps us to live in the preparedness of death and life after it.
The psalmist in Psalm 62, invites to unquenchable desire or thirst for the Lord our God. The inexhaustible Wisdom that seeks and finds us as well as guide us in life.
SECOND READING: 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18
St. Paul treats the theme of death and its mystery in the early Christian community of Thessalonica. There is much misinformation about death, resurrection and Christ’s Second coming known as the Parousia. For Paul, the hope of preparedness is seen in the fact that the dead in Christ Jesus will rise to eternal life.
And the living will have no advantage over the dead. Hence, death for a Christian with living hope in Christ is not a loss or tragedy. It is a glorious transformation to see God as He is and to be like Him and be with Him in glory.
Consequently, the month of November began with the traditional Catholic way of remembering and praying for our dead. St. Paul knowing how bereavement and loss of a beloved is something we all suffer and can hardly bear encourages us to live in hope of the resurrection of Christ. This is because everything lost will be restored when Jesus returns in glory. 1Thess. 4:13-18
THE GOSPEL: MATTHEW 25:1-13
The theme of the end of time, death and preparedness for this sudden and inevitable fate of all is connected to the Wisdom of God. The gospel text of the ten virgins illustrates this for us.
The ending time, the coming of the Lord is something sure to happen to us all. We are challenged by the gospel´s story to be prepared, alert and wise for this sudden but inevitable rupture no one knows when and how it will happen.
THE ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION
The virgins represent the Church or Christian community that is waiting for Christ’s Second Coming. The five wise virgins prepared Christians with virtuous lives to meet God. While the foolish virgins are the unprepared Christians with vicious lifestyles.
The Bridegroom is Christ. The wedding feast is the great and joyous occasion in which Christ comes for his Church. The delay of the Bridegroom corresponds to the delay of the Second Coming or Parousia. The Bridegroom’s arrival in the dark of night is the unsuspected Second Coming. The closing of the door is the final judgment and eternal bliss or punishment of all by his or her lifestyle.
THE SPIRITUAL INTERPRETATION
The ten virgins are all of us who are alive and live in this world. The wise virgins are those of us who have heard, understood and practised the teachings of Christ. The foolish virgins are those who heard but did not understand the teachings of Christ or understood but did not practice them.
The lamps are our hearts, while the oil for our lamps is the good values and good deeds inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Wisdom of God. Jesus Christ is the bridegroom whom we all await to join in the heavenly banquet. Midnight is the unknown day or the hour when Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, will come again. The wedding feast is the eternal reward of the righteous ones to Heaven. Equally, closing the door of Heaven on the wicked ones implies eternal punishment.
VIGILANCE IN GOOD DEEDS, WORDS AND PRAYER
1. The central idea is clear: only the alert and the vigilant can experience God coming into their lives.
2. The hope of resurrection and immortality in Christ Jesus is for those who died in Him.
3. There are certain things which cannot be obtained at the last minute of our lives on earth. Like a good relationship with God, good character merits good deeds of sharing and forgiving love and humble service that is done to others.
4. There are certain things which cannot be borrowed in life, especially at the end time. We cannot lend a relationship with God, the ideal character of integrity, honesty or the virtues of faith, hope and love.
Today’s gospel concludes with a ringing exhortation “Stay awake.” Some important ways in which we can stay awake in God are through prayer, preparedness and virtuous living.
Probably, we all want to be with the Lord at the wedding feast of all eternity. Do we live our lives in such a way that we are always ready for Him?
OUR PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, you are the eternal wisdom of God which illuminates, guides and enriches us in our Christian faith and journey. Help us to be ever prepared with this wisdom to understand that we live in a finite and transitional world. And may our lives be oriented to the future immortality of the resurrection of Christ Jesus. Amen.
2 Comments