Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps (Matthew 25:7).

Transcription

1 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps (Matthew 25:7). 32 nd Sunday in Ordinary Time November 6 th, 2011

2 First Reading: Wisdom 6: Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. 13 She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her. 14 One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for she will be found sitting at the gate. 15 To fix one s thought on her is perfect understanding, and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care, 16 because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought. Responsorial Psalm: 63:2-8 Lector: 2 I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, All: beholding your power and glory. Lector: 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, All: my lips will praise you. Lector: 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; All: I will lift up my hands and call on your name. Lector: 5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, All: and my mouth praises you with joyful lips Lector: 6 when I think of you on my bed, All: and meditate on you in the watches of the night; Lector: 7 for you have been my help, All: and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. Lector: 8 My soul clings to you; All: your right hand upholds me. Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

3 Gospel Reading: Matthew 25:1-13 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him. 7 Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. 9 But the wise replied, No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. 11 Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, Lord, lord, open to us. 12 But he replied, Truly I tell you, I do not know you. 13 Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Homily As we move toward Advent, the lectionary readings move toward an increasingly eschatological theme. Now, that s a fancy theological term but one that is commonly used in biblical studies, so I have written a brief piece on it in our study notes below. The concept of time and how we use it expectantly, how we prioritize our lives is a core understanding that we are given in the readings today. In the Gospel Reading, we have a story of ten virgins or bridesmaids, which seems a little strange to us if you do not understand ancient mid-eastern wedding traditions. The bridegroom will show up at the bride s home to bring her to the home of his parents. Family groups of several generations typically lived together in a home or cluster of homes, a tradition that continues today in some parts of the world. So the ten young women s job was to be a part of that entourage that accompanied the bride and the groom to her new home.

4 What is the message of this story? We might realize that as we mature, we hopefully develop a different sense of what is urgent and what is not. We are all familiar with young children in waiting for Christmas or a special occasion such as a birthday who repeatedly ask how much longer. On a trip they may ask, Mommy, are we there yet? Young children have a great deal of difficulty conceptualizing the future. By age three, most kids barely have a concept of yesterday, today, and tomorrow but as they grow, hopefully they learn to anticipate and to wait, to live with not yet, which psychologists have termed learning delayed gratification. We know that those who do not learn it have a lot of trouble in their adult lives. In working with people suffering from addictions, we see this problem in its extreme, where emotional stress and conflicts are short-circuited through the use of alcohol or drugs, to kill the anxiety and to bring them to a state of satiety in the here and now. We need to be able to maturely balance what is truly needed right now and what can wait. The story of the bridesmaids combined with the First and Second Readings and the Psalm gives us a proper perspective. In our First Reading, we are reminded to watch for God at sunrise. We keep vigil because Wisdom or the Holy Spirit of God seeks those who are waiting for her and She meets them. Hence, we wait upon God, we stay awake and thirst for God, and the Holy Spirit comes to us. The Psalm names our longing, or thirst, our hunger, our most basic need. The Psalm tells us that God s kindness is a greater good than life, a kindness that is a far greater good than anything else, and it is worth the wait. We can like children say I want and as adults we also know that sometimes we need to delay and wait, and Wisdom waits for us and comes to us. If we watch for Her at dawn, we will not be disappointed as She will make her rounds and seek out those who are watchful, ready, and looking for her. If She is sought, she will be found. Do we know the meaning of today? Do we keep eternity or lasting things in proper perspective with what is going on right now? There are levels of meaning in today s Gospel reading. It seems to be about a wedding party, but the wedding may be thought of as our meeting and our relationship with God coming to a deeper, more intimate place. So the story is about how God relates to us as human beings. God waits for us and we do not necessarily know when the moment of meeting him will appear. Yet we prepare and wait. We are taken by surprise. The kingdom is dawning here and now and we need to be prepared to receive him in a fresh way today! How has He made himself known to you today?

5 Lord, we try to catch glimpses of you. We search the stars, the flights of geese and the planet paths. The child s face. We look into cross-country runners people of the street, our best friends, every sorrow and all joy. Please bless our searching for you flasks full and lamps trimmed, trusting you to come. *** Come to us, O Wisdom. Sit by our gates. Do not disappoint us for we love you. We surely will keep vigil and watch for you. Help us see the way you see, the depths of all things, in creation. Amen. Prayrers copied by permission. Copyright 2011, Anne Osdieck. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal or parish use.

6 Study Notes: First Reading Book of Wisdom: 1 It is believed that this book was written in Alexandria between BCE at a time when Hellenism and Greek ideas of wisdom were rapidly spreading because Alexander had conquered the world. Here, the Hebrew idea of wisdom is linked to Solomon s search for Wisdom, and posed as a model. The original readers would have seen Lady Wisdom, Yahweh s throne partner, as alluding to the Egyptian deity, Isis, who was considered the goddess of culture and a benefactor of humanity. Over time, the Hebrew depiction of Wisdom as a woman seems to merge with an aspect of God, God s breath Ruach and with we call the Holy Spirit. If you were raised Protestant and this book was not in your Bible, it is well worth your time to read. Second Reading: I Thessalonians: 2 This is the very earliest NT writing, and it comes about 20 years after Jesus died and was raised. Believers expected Jesus to return within their lifetimes. As you study later writings of Paul, you will see that this concept evolved. The scenario of Jesus return is similar to traditional Israelite motifs as well as in other literature a command from God, an archangel s call, clouds, trumpet, and a sudden shift in awareness. Its main point is to emphasize God s initiative which may bring us to a radical shift in thinking without advance warning. Later events in Paul s life led him to realize that he could die before the parousia (2 Corinthians 1:8-10) and that it might yet be far off. His view was time conditioned but there was an underlying truth. Fr. Reginald Fuller 3 says that scholars are divided as to whether this word of the Lord given by Paul originated in a saying by the early Jesus (Mark 9:1) or if it was a saying derived from a prophet and the risen Christ as depicted in Revelation. He suggests that the ultimate hope had two components, Christological and corporate. It was Christological because it was not simply hope of an individual survival after dying but a transformation of existence for all because Jesus entered resurrection existence and thus enables us to enter it too. It was corporate because the hope was not merely individual salvation but the restoration of the entire cosmos and all humanity in Christ. 1 John J. Pilch (2004). The Cultural World of the Prophets: The First Reading and the Responsorial Psalm: Sunday by Sunday, Year A. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, page John J. Pilch (2001). The Cultural World of the Apostles: The Second Reading, Sunday by Sunday, Year A. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, pages Reginald Fuller and Daniel Westberg: Scripture in Depth (November 6, 2011, 32 OTA, St. Louis University Liturgy website).

7 Eschatology: 4 This term is used to describe teachings concerning last things, such as the Last Judgment, the end of the world, and the creation of a new world, or the resurrection of the dead. In the inter-testament period of time between the OT and NT, the idea of resurrection was developing more fully, although in Jesus era, the Sadducees and Pharisees differed the former did not believe in a personal resurrection. During the Israelite monarchy from 10 th 6 th centuries BCE, some voiced the hope that a descendant of David would conquer their enemies (Psalm 2; 110). Amos, an 8 th century BCE prophet, predicted that the northern kingdom of Israel would fall, and he used the image the day of the Lord. In 722 BCE, the Assyrians defeated the northern kingdom, and in 587/586, the southern kingdom was destroyed by the Babylonians. An anonymous prophet known as Second Isaiah (2 nd half of our book of Isaiah, chapters 40-55) promised a return of the Jews to their land. Near the end of the 6 th century, the Jews were released from captivity, but their return home was not a glorious end, as conditions were bad in this post-exilic period. So as time went on, some in the Jewish community felt the continuing persecution very strongly and were increasingly pessimistic about an earthly kingdom of God. They began to look for God s direct intervention to change their plight, leading to the development of what is termed apocalyptic eschatology (Isaiah 24-27). The prophet Joel envisioned the day of the Lord as bringing destruction. The book of Daniel was written in the second century BCE and intended to encourage the oppressed Jews that God s kingdom would soon appear. The prophets and the apocalyptists thought a new era of God s intervention to save them would complete God s judgment on Israel and all nations, restoring Israel in its land and bringing resurrection and a new heaven and earth. Jesus himself announced the near arrival of the kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17). The context was casting out demons, and powerfully demonstrating his mastery over Satan to show that the kingdom had begun. There was both a future component and a present component: In the future, the kingdom would come in all its fullness. But Jesus also understood that the kingdom had arrived with himself, a concept known as inaugurated eschatology. God s reign was already present in him, and it is fulfilled here and now. 4 William B. Nelson, Jr. (1993). Eschatology. In Bruce M. Metzger & Michael D. Coogan [Editors]: The Oxford Companion to the Bible. NY: Oxford University Press, pages

8 Paul emphasized more of the future resurrection, based on Jesus resurrection. Revelation is the main eschatological work of the NT, pulling in components from the OT prophets, with the great battle coming from the books of Ezekiel and Joel. Revelation also weaves in the messianic tradition, with Jesus as the son of David and the conquering king. Being between the kingdom which is now and the kingdom which is to come, we are to be prepared, to be busy in doing good works, and teaching the Gospel. Gospel Reading: 5 Some people have read this passage and others as depicting the future, the end times, but perhaps it is wiser to think of it as depicting what is important that will last. We can see them as a path to wisdom as we start each new day, because every day could be our last. We may not see another day. If we focus on preparing for some unknown apocalyptic event, perhaps we have failed to prepare for what is here and now. We need to value what vies us an anchor, what is worthy of our attention and care. All the chatter and scare of the rapture and end times depicting perdition and calamity miss the point. The story is also thought to reflect the early Church beginning to take individual elements and give allegorical interpretations and to adapt them to their current situation. 5 John Kavanaugh, SJ. The Word Embodied. (November 6, 2011, 32 OTA, St. Louis University Liturgy website).