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Homily for Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

READ: (Wis 6: 12 -16; 1 Thes 4: 13-18; Matt 25:1-13)

REFLECT: Be prepared to meet the Lord joyfully…

Dear friends, today we are in the thirty-second Sunday in ordinary time. Preparation matters a lot in life. A total preparation of heart, mind, body and self would definitely enable us to achieve and execute the plans successfully. Preparation is a valuable aspect in life, although it is hard. Preparation instills and increases Confidence. Preparation gives us ample knowledge and skills that we need to face challenges and complete the tasks successfully. Preparation helps us to run functions smoothly and makes us save time, reduce stress in life. So preparation is a key to success in life we can say. The entire liturgy of the word today helps us to make a better preparation to meet the Lord. So I would like to share with you three points of reflection as how we can prepare ourselves to meet the Lord joyfully.

1.     Be a seeker of Wisdom:

The first pointer to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord is “being seekers of wisdom.” There is a beautiful saying that makes a distinction between knowledge and wisdom: “Knowledge is the accumulation of facts and data that you have learned about or experienced. Wisdom is the ability to discern and judge which aspects of that knowledge are true, right, lasting and applicable to your life.” Yes, wisdom enables us to discern right choices and be happy about it. Today, most of us have knowledge of various things, places and people but lack wisdom to discern and lead life on the right track. So we need to aim at wisdom than the knowledge. So the wisdom of God can be a great aid for us in our search towards wisdom for life.

In the book of proverbs we hear about wisdom, “Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.” Wisdom is God’s treasure, and He offers it to you. Seek it with all your heart and He will give you His understanding,” (Prov 8: 10-11). We all know King Solomon asked God for wisdom to govern the people (1 Kings 3:10-15). King Solomon understood that wisdom can enable him to choose right path that God wishes or desires. Therefore, for us too wisdom is necessary and becomes essential to human living. Wisdom becomes an eye-opener to see the reality of life and understand the inmost depth of human life with the choices we make to be happy and successful in life. That’s why someone has very beautifully said, “Wisdom is a key to make choices that bring us joy. Wisdom allows us to make better contributions to people by balancing one’s needs and boundaries with those of others.”

Yes, something similar we find in the first reading form the book of Wisdom. It manifests to us the importance of wisdom and the availability of wisdom to those who love and seek for it. Yes, wisdom is not limited for few individuals rather it is open for all and it is available to all. It is we who don’t seek after wisdom or it is we who don’t love wisdom, because we are satisfied with the knowledge that we have than wisdom. Perhaps wisdom can open a better door for us or bring great outcome in life. Today, many of us despise wisdom, because we don’t understand the importance of it or not interested in it. We have misplaced our projects or purposes or focuses on trivial things that can give us temporary satisfaction or pleasure and not life-long satisfaction that can be obtained or gained by wisdom of God that leads to an abundant life. So let us search, love and long for wisdom, because wisdom can free us from fear and anxiety of what is to come. Let us rely on the wisdom of God than the wisdom of human persons, for wisdom of God is far greater than the wisdom of human persons. Wisdom of God widens the horizon of life, wisdom of God empowers life, and wisdom of God enables us to discern life better, making us walk towards him alone.  

2.     Be persistent in hope:

The second pointer to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord is “being in persistent hope of Jesus.” Being persistent in hope would mean that one perseveres in the faith firmly grounded, stable and does not move from the hope of the Gospel that one has heard. We can say that being persistent in hope is an optimistic perspective of the mind to expect positive outcomes in reference to events and circumstances of life or the world at large that we live in. It is a kind of never-giving up attitude. Yes, we Christians are called to be persistent in hope of Jesus and in the faith that we profess every day. It counts how persistent in hope we are in Jesus, when hard waves strike us to wash us away from the grip of God’s love and care. It requires courage and conviction; it involves determination and dedication.

That’s what we find in the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to Second Thessalonians. The scriptural passage of the day deals with the questions about the return of the Lord in the community of Thessalonica. St. Paul, as a way of answer very beautifully exhorts the community at Thessalonica with an assurance that God would provide them every opportunity in and through Christ for everyone to be part of heaven, provided they continue to live the faith and have hope in Jesus. Perhaps, the context of today’s second reading is that the community of Thessalonica was deeply disturbed and worried about their and their ancestors’ salvation at the second coming of Jesus. They conceived that the second coming of Jesus would be soon and they would be left behind. So St. Paul assures them of their salvation and the second coming of Jesus, exhorting and encouraging them to persist in the faith that they have or profess in Christ Jesus. He even assures the people of Thessalonica that they will be with God for ever and urges them to comfort one another about the presence of Christ forever.

Yes, our hope is in the presence of Christ with us and within us forever. Most of the problem starts, when we fail to realize the presence of God within us or with us. The many trials and suffering that we go through evade our human life and affects the spiritual atmosphere and sphere of life too. There are times what we hope for may not happen as we wish to be; there are times what we desire may not be at our disposal; there are times what we dream may not become a reality. It is during these hours of tough times we need to pray and have persistent hope in Jesus. Although, the answer from God may be far from sight, yet we need to take recourse to God, because God listens and answers our cry always. That’s the greatness of God and goodness of God. God loves us and wishes us that we all be there as part of his family. So let us persevere and persist in our hope and faith in the Lord and obtain eternal reward and salvation that he offers lavishly.

3.     Be vigilant and watchful:

The third pointer to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord is “being vigilant and watchful.” Being vigilant and watchful would mean that one is always on the lookout especially in times of danger or an opportunity. Being vigilant and watchful helps us to be away from the danger we might face in life or an opportunity that we might miss or lose. Today’s gospel reading presents before us such an incident that speaks of ten bridesmaids, the mix up of five foolish and five wise virgins. The portrayal of the parable is that how the five foolish virgins failed to meet the bridegroom (Lord) for lack of vigilance and watchfulness and how the other five wise virgins met the bridegroom (Lord) as they were vigilant and watchful.   

The context of today’s gospel passage is continued in Jesus’ proclamation about the end time of the world. The Chapter Matthew 24 begins with the destruction of the temple, signs about the coming of the son of man and ends with the a servant, who takes advantage of his master’s delay in coming and ill-treats his fellow servant, misusing the servant’s job, but the master comes at the time he did not expect and punishes the servant for the offence. It is after these episodes that we have the parable of the ten bridesmaids, the five wise and the five foolish bridesmaids as the gospel reading of the day. This parable speaks of being vigilant, alert and active to the coming of bridegroom, Christ. In and through this parable of the ten bridesmaids, Jesus gives us warning to be vigilant and prepared for his coming, so that we might avoid the opportunity of missing or losing Jesus in our lives as part of us.

Pope Francis very beautifully says that, “The Bridegroom is the Lord, and the time of waiting for his arrival is the time he gives to us, before his Final Coming with mercy and patience; it is a time of watchfulness; a time in which we must keep alight the lamps of faith, hope and charity, a time in which to keep our heart open to goodness, beauty and truth. It is a time to live in accordance with God, because we do not know either the day or the hour of Christ’s return. What he asks of us is to be ready for the encounter for a beautiful encounter Jesus, which means being able to see the signs of his presence, keeping our faith alive with prayer, with the sacraments, and taking care not to fall asleep so as to not forget about God.” Yes, today what we need to do is to be vigilant and be prepared to encounter God at his coming. When we are not awake and alert to God’s coming, we would miss the opportunity of having such a beautiful and blissful encounter with God. Today most of us are not prepared or not watchful because of the spiritual lethargy or physical laziness. As a result of the lethargy that creeps in, we fail to meet the bridegroom, the Lord. So we need to be watchful to meet Jesus in our lives every day.

That’s what the parable ends with a conclusion and the command is for vigilance. Jesus says, “Watch,” that is, be prepared in Matt 25:13. Like the bridegroom, God may delay his coming longer than people expect, but we need to be vigilant and watchful; Like the wise bridesmaids, the followers of Christ must be prepared for such a delay and be watchful to meet. Unlike the foolish bridesmaids, who did not prepare sufficiently to discover the damage of neglect or loss, we need to prepare sufficiently to discover God in life, so that we may not lose the grace of God in store for us. So it is not sufficient that we take or burn the lamp of faith alone in life rather we need to take along with us oil of love, hope, charity, which keeps the faith alive, which keeps the faith strong and steady, which makes the faith meaningful and purposeful. Some of us might thing that we have faith in Christ, but what promotes and fosters faith in Christ (love, hope and charity) must be fed everyday and every time, so that we obtain strength and draw nourishment to profess and live the faith strong always. So let us be vigilant and watchful to meet the Lord whenever he comes.

RESPOND:

Do we seek the wisdom of the world or the wisdom of God that governs everything rightly and righteously?

Do we persist in hope of Jesus or do we resist to grow in the hope of Jesus?

Do we keep ourselves vigilant and watchful to meet the Lord in our daily duties and activities?

So let us seek the wisdom of God, persist in hope of Jesus and be vigilant to meet the Lord to obtain life eternal. Amen.

God bless us all! Live Jesus!

Fr. Ramesh George MSFS

rameshvkmsfs@gmail.com

9500930968