32nd Sunday of Year A

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

Filling our lamps with oil.

What state of life would I like my life to be when it ends? Am I living my life in a way that will achieve that state? In truth, most of us cannot answer these questions. This is because most of us do not think about the end of our lives. As we approach the end of the year, these are precisely the questions God is inviting us to reflect on. For how we want to die determines how we should live. And we live determines whether we are fulfilled in life.

In the Gospel this week, Jesus tells us the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids. In the parable, the ten bridesmaids were waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom. As was the Jewish custom of the time, the bridegroom would arrive at an unexpected time of the night, trying to catch the bridesmaids by surprise. In the story, five of the bridesmaids were foolish, and did not bring enough oil to last the night (verse 3). As they left their watch to buy more oil, the bridegroom arrived. When the foolish bridesmaids returned, they were locked out of the door. While this may sound like a trivial story, there is much truth embedded within. My brothers and sisters, do we go through life without thinking when life might end, that is, when the bridegroom might arrive? Do we go through life without preparing the oil needed for the journey – like the foolish bridesmaids – and were left with regrets when our life comes to an end? What are my regrets and my unfinished business if my life were to end right now?

For us believers, we already have the lamp – our churches, our institutions, our creed, our rituals, and our community. But the lamp is just the vessel. Simply having the lamp is not enough to gain us entry into the house. Simply being baptised, coming to church, participating in the rituals of the church, etc. is not enough. Faith is not about doing just enough to enter heaven – it is not like a student doing just enough to pass an exam. We want to fill these lamps with oil and keep refilling it. We do not want to leave them empty – empty words, empty gestures, empty rituals. “The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’” (verse 8) But the wise bridesmaids refused (verse 9). This was not because the wise bridesmaids were selfish. Rather, the oil of our lamp is something that cannot be shared. We have to fill it up ourselves. We cannot gain salvation through faith and good works of others.

So, what are the oil of my faith? This goes back to our earlier question: What are my regrets and my unfinished business if my life were to end now? This week, Jesus invites us to live our life in truth, in faithfulness to His teachings – of love, kindness, forgiveness and service to others. For example, when we preach kindness, do we actually feel for the poor and hungry? Do we actually go out of our ways to cloth the naked and feed the hungry? When we preach love, do we only love those who love us (Lk 6:32-34)? Do we conveniently ignore those who are most difficult to love in our lives? When we preach forgiveness, are we honest with ourselves and sincerely seek forgiveness from those we offended? Do we sincerely forgive those who have hurt us badly? Do we open all our flaws before God and seek forgiveness? We know that all the bridesmaids were not exemplary in their conduct. In fact, while waiting for the bridegroom to arrive, all became sleepy and fell asleep. (verse 5) But the bridegroom did not reject them on the account of their failures. For those who are sincere, for those who fill their lamps the best way they can, they were admitted into the house. In faith living, we all fall short of the mark. But by His mercy, like the bridegroom in the parable, God still welcome us into His fold. In the Second Reading, St Paul painted a picture of the end-time, of how the righteous – whether dead or alive at that time – will be received into glory. “For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.” (verse 16-17) God is merciful for those who tried their best to love truly – loving God and loving others. My brothers and sisters, let us ask ourselves: Have I tried my best to love truly? Where have I fallen short? How can I do better?

Filling up our lamp, however imperfectly, is wisdom. And wisdom is not beyond us. We read in the First Reading, “Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her.” (verse 12) How is wisdom readily available to us? It is “because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought.” (verse 16) Amen.