32ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

Wisdom 6:12-16;
Psalm 62: 2-8;
1Thessalonians 4:13-18;
Matthew 25:1-13

Christian life is about searching for God who is the source of wisdom. Thus, those who seek wisdom find God. This way, the first reading tells us that wisdom is readily found by those who look for her. When found, wisdom becomes the light that enlightens one’s way and dispels anxiety and trouble (Wisdom 6:12-16).

Meanwhile, we cannot search for something while asleep. Searching requires alertness and awareness of one’s surrounding. In this perspective, the believer, like the psalmist, must stay awake even at night. For the psalmist says: “On my bed I remember you. On you I muse through the night” (Ps 62). This staying awake for God nourishes in us hope. For us Christians, our hope lies in Christ Jesus who died and rose from the dead. For we too will be raised from the dead to meet him when he comes again. This hope is that which comforts us (1Thessalonians. 4:13-18). 

Similarly, in the gospel reading, Jesus ends the parable of the ten virgins who went to meet the bridegroom with a call to stay awake. Among the ten virgins, five were wise because they took oil with their lamps. The five others were foolish because they took lamps without oil, either out of negligence or forgetfulness. 

But whatever the case may be, the parable teaches us three important lessons:

1. We must always take an “extra oil” or a "power bank". We must make adequate provision for unexpected situations.

2. Last minutes preparations can be dangerous. So always be ready, by always praying and doing good.

3. Not everything can be borrowed. For instance, we cannot borrow someone’s good works to go to heaven, the Lord will not recognize us. Thus, each of us must work for his or her own salvation.

May the Lord help us to always and everywhere take the oil of good works and prayer.

 Amen.