Friday in the 21st Week of Ordinary Time, September 1, 2023

Matthew 25, 1-13

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

The Gospel Reading for today’s Mass continues the Lord’s teaching on the end of the world, his second coming, and the great judgment.  He is teaching in Jerusalem, certainly in the Temple courtyard, a day or two after his triumphal entrance of Jerusalem.  Many people were expecting him to announce at that time the reestablishment of the Kingdom of Israel and war against the Romans.  Instead, he teaches the establishment of a kingdom “not of this world” (John 18, 36) by him.

“The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins.”  This might otherwise be stated as “The establishment of the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, etc.”  In this parable, the Lord describes the present age of vigilance, his bringing his Bride the Church to heaven, and the punishment of the wicked.  The ten  virgins in the parable signify those who wish to enter the Kingdom.  We might also think of them as the Christians alive at the time of the second coming and the Bride whom the Lord brings to his house as the deceased righteous who have been raised up.

“Five of them were foolish and five were wise.”  That is, five chose to be foolish and five chose to be “prudent”, the actual meaning of the Greek word translated here as “wise”.  The five chose to be foolish for even if they possessed lesser intellects and did not know what to do they did have the example of the prudent virgins to follow.  “The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.”  The foolish virgins act contemptuously as though they did not care whether they had enough oil or not.  And since their role was purely ceremonial, they act against their own interests for they will hardly be allowed into the celebration when the groom does come.  We can understand the “oil” here as faith or commitment to the faith, or even to love for the bridegroom.

“Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.”  The bridegroom, is answerable to no one and may take however long he wishes to return to his house with his bride.  He acts in accord with a plan with which we are not familiar so that his return seems delayed, but in fact it is not.  We ask, “Where is his promise or his coming? For since the time that the fathers slept, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”  But the Apostle Peter answers: “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some imagine, but deals patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance” (2 Peter 3, 4; 9).  

“At midnight, there was a cry.”  Literally, “in the middle of the night” when it was darkest and the groom was least expected.  This may also signify the last, most terrible persecution of the Church which will take place just before the end: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24, 9).  “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!”  The cry of the archangel sounds through the world, announcing that time has ended.  All will be gathered to him in an instant from the ends of the earth:  “And [the Son of Man] shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them” (Matthew 24, 31).  

“Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.”  Those who chose to be foolish and were unprepared for the bridegroom’s coming panic at his second coming but it is already too late for them.  They did not persevere in their faith or use the time they had to build up treasure in heaven with good deeds.  They did not love the bridegroom enough to make sure they had all that they needed to serve him.  Nor can they borrow this from those who have it, for each person will be judged according to his own deeds: “But according to your hard and impenitent heart, you treasure up to yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to everyone according to his works” (Romans 2, 5-6). 

“The bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.”  Those dressed with the white wedding garments of faith and good deeds.  These have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb (cf. Revelation 7, 14).  “Then the door was locked.”. It was locked by “him who opens and no man shuts and who shuts and no man opens.”  When the Lord comes, the time for repentance — the ample time he gives to each of us — ceases.  

“Lord, Lord, open the door for us!”  The virgins who chose to be foolish desire entrance to the celebration but did nothing — not even the small task they were given — to merit this.  “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.”  I do not know you as my own.  “I know you not who you are. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity” (Luke 13, 27).  Could there be words more horrifying to hear than these?

Let us fill up the “jars” of our souls with the oil of fervent faith and pious deeds so that we may enter into the eternal wedding feast in heaven.