A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 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.”
Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins who took their lamps to meet the bridegroom at his arrival at midnight. Five of them were wise and had extra oil for their lamps, while the other five were foolish and did not bring any extra oil. As the foolish virgins went off to buy oil, the others went in with the bridegroom to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. At the end of the parable, the five virgins who returned to the wedding feast cried out to the bridegroom, “‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'” And then Jesus says to conclude the parable: “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” In the first reading, wisdom is found by those who seek her. In the responsorial psalm, the flesh pines and the soul thirsts in those who seek God. In the Gospel, Jesus exhorts us to stay awake and be prepared for his return. The message is unmistakable.
Father in heaven, help me in my desire to wait for you, to watch for you, as one waits for wisdom and is vigilant for her arrival. Help me keep from falling asleep in waiting, in lapsing into apathy or being held captive by the foolishness of this world. What does it mean to pine for you, Lord? To pine is to yearn to the point of suffering, to experience pain in longing for you. The irony is that I often fail to recognize that—that anything in this world will never be enough, that you alone through your condescending love make me whole, wanting nothing else. Give me the grace, Lord, to always be ready to recognize you at your coming.
From the responsorial psalm: “O God, you are my God whom I seek; for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.” Lord, you are my help.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.