Monday in the 34th Week of Ordinary Time, November 22, 2021
The Feast of St. Cecilia
Matthew 25:1-13
At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to His disciples: Then will the kingdom of heaven be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom and the bride. Five of them were foolish and five wise. But the five foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, while the wise did take oil in their vessels with the lamps. Then as the bridegroom was long in coming, they all became drowsy and slept. And at midnight a cry arose, 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go forth to meet him!' Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ The wise answered, saying, ‘Lest there may not be enough for us and for you, go rather to those who sell it, and buy some for yourselves.’ Now while they were gone to buy it, the bridegroom came; and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Finally there came also the other virgins, who said, ‘Sir, sir, open the door for us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Amen I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
The link for the online Bible Study on Monday night, 7:00 PM Central Time, 8:00 PM Eastern time, is:
The Gospel reading for ordinary time scheduled for today tells the story of the widow with the two coins, which we have considered recently. The above is the proper Gospel reading for the Feast of St. Cecilia as found in the traditional Latin Missal. This reading allows us to reflect on both virginity, as St. Cecilia is a virgin, and also the end of the world, which is a theme in the ordinary readings as we enter Advent.
“Then will the kingdom of heaven be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth.” Virgins and lamps are connected by the Lord in this verse. We can understand from this that a Christian can see farther and more clearly than anyone else by virtue of her virginity. That is, her virginity is a “lamp” that shines in the darkness, illuminating for her in a particular way the dangers that may lie in her path — and also the Bridegroom, that is, the Lord Jesus, when he arrives. The “lamp” of her virginity also frees her so that she may act in ways others cannot because they are more or less hindered by the darkness. In other words, she is free to serve the Lord in ways others who have various responsibilities connected with their state of life cannot. This freedom is found in its perfection in the Blessed Virgin Mary and is seen in her absolutely free readiness to give her assent to God in the Annunciation as well as in her going “in haste” to her relative Elizabeth, whom she learned was pregnant. Virginity in itself does mot sanctify a person or make someone wiser than another. It makes a higher level of sanctity and wisdom possible, but only for those who use it, so to speak, in the service of God. It means little as an end in itself. And so in the parable Jesus speaks of five wise and five foolish virgins. These were granted this special call to serve him, but only half of them did. These wise ones proved themselves wise in doing so for they were received into the wedding feast. The others possessed the same means to serve but they wasted these in their preference to serve themselves. They rejected the Bridegroom and the wedding feast in favor of a little self-indulgence.
We can see this parable in another way: that from early childhood the wise virgins admired a certain man. He was handsome, intelligent, of good family, and was generous to all. They dreamed of marrying him or of at least helping with the wedding feast if he married another. And when his marriage was announced, they rejoiced for him because of their love for him, rather than to feel badly for themselves. When he chose them to be the virgins to light the way for him on the night of the wedding feast, they rejoiced again. Out of love for him they made all their preparations and were resolved to remain awake all night waiting for him if necessary. Just the chance to serve and to be included in the feast, near him and sharing in his joy was motivation for them. And when human nature crept up on them so that they did sleep for a short time, their dedication made them ready, and they lit their lamps quickly. The light given forth by their lamps hardly equaled the glow of happiness in the faces of these virgins. They lit the way to his door and went in with him in exultation.
This was the virginity of St. Cecilia. It is said that even at the wedding her parents forced her into she sat apart from family and friends and sang to God in her heart, for he was ever present to her. Her “lamp” enabled her to see what others could not, despite their wealth, power, and nobility. She was guarded by an angel whom her husband was able to see after he was baptized. Realizing the special call she had received from God, he did not attempt to consummate the marriage with her. She remained constant in her virtue and clear in her vision throughout her arrest and the attempts to put her to death for her faith in Christ. As was said of St. Perpetua, her near contemporary, “Possibly such a woman could not have been slain unless she herself had willed it, because she was feared by the impure spirit.”
Though not all are called to virginity, yet all are called to chastity and can offer themselves to God according to their state in life. With our eyes set on his Son and our hearts poised to serve, we can give him the wedding gift of ourselves in purity of heart.
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