Homily for the Week of November 6, 2011

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2011

Wisdom 6:12-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

Different people have very different attitudes toward time. At one extreme are those who are early for every occasion and filled with panic at the thought of being late or in some way unprepared. At the other extreme are those who will be late for their own funerals. And somewhere in the middle are the economically efficient group who pride themselves on arriving just on the dot so that not a minute of life is wasted by waiting around. Close relationships between people of different types can create a lot of tension. It is a part of life in which each group finds it very difficult to understand the other's point of view.

The story that I just read of the sensible and foolish bridesmaids can sound very puzzling to us. For one thing, we do not usually have young women accompanying the bridegroom at weddings. In fact our custom is to keep the genders apart, with the groom assisted by the best man and the bride by the bridesmaids. But Jesus is not trying t give us advice about weddings.

Jesus is giving us a more urgent message. Jesus is talking about death. Jesus tells this story toward the end of his public life. He will soon be facing His death on the cross. Jesus the bridegroom will be taken from his disciples,. They will not be prepared. Not only do the sensible bridesmaids refuse to share their supplies with the foolish; the bridegroom, when he comes, refuses to recognize the latecomers. And it could be argued that it is only because of his delay that the foolish ones have found themselves in their predicament!

Many people blame God in a similar fashion when things go wrong in their lives. Surely God could have had the foresight to arrange things differently. But God has the more urgent concern of getting us to understand the principles of wisdom, the first of which is the need to be awake, to be alive to what is happening around us. We are constantly being challenged to be aware of what is going on around us and to make sure our resources are capable of dealing with what life throws at us.

Sometimes we sleep our way through life. It can feel more comfortable to avoid struggling with things we feel we can do little about anyway. We get fixed into our patterns of behavior which may, for example, include always being early or late. We excuse our lifestyle by pointing out that in a hundred years no one will remember our little actions. But what happens when we are really challenged or in pain? Then we need more substantial answers. If we are caught napping in our relationship with God, we may find ourselves feeling uncomfortably far from help.

Just as we know that Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming, we should know that our final day will also come. Jesus made three things clear: First, all things will come to an end. Second, we must prepare ourselves for this. Third, preparing ourselves for the end is not frightening, but rather a labor of joyful expectation. Putting off preparing for holiday celebrations is one thing. Jesus tells us today that we actually can also run out of time trying to make our lives acceptable to God: At one time in our lives each of us will knock on God's door. We do not want him to say to us: I do not know you.

We cannot — and should not — live as though death is right now, but we should live as if we know it is coming. Just as we know that Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming, we should know that our final day will also come.

What God asks us to do is prepare ourselves by increasing our ordinary awareness of what is happening in our lives. The Book of Wisdom says that if we are on the alert for Wisdom, we will quickly get rid of anxiety from our lives because of wisdom. The path to the truth may be a painful struggle, but it is the path to healing and wholeness. The pattern of Christ's life and his ongoing presence help us face up to what we might prefer to keep hidden or avoid.

If Jesus were present in person here today he would ask: Is there some part of your life you would prefer not to pay attention to?

Let us ask Jesus to make us wise so as to increase our understanding and acceptance of ourself. Remember a time in our life when we might have felt angry with God for our situation. Looking back on that time, do we see how we may have grown in wisdom or understanding as a result of our difficult time? Each day may be our last. The last things are the lasting things: this moment of gratitude, this one gift of another breath, this particular person before me, this chance to hope, this hour to believe. It is all now. Eternity is now. And God is with us. All that we need is to be alert.