Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13

1 ‘Then the kingdom of Heaven will be like this: Ten wedding attendants took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

2 Five of them were foolish and five were sensible:

3 the foolish ones, though they took their lamps, took no oil with them,

4 whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps.

5 The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.

6 But at midnight there was a cry, “Look! The bridegroom! Go out and meet him.”

7 Then all those wedding attendants woke up and trimmed their lamps,

8 and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out.”

9 But they replied, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves.”

10 They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed.

11 The other attendants arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said, “open the door for us.”

12 But he replied, “In truth, I tell you, I do not know you.”

13 So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.

Reflection:

The Gospel for today speaks about “being prepared for the coming of God”.

The story of the 10 wedding attendants of which 5 were wise and the 5 was foolish represents us people living our lives here on earth. Some of us are the 5 foolish attendants and the others are also the wise attendants. How are we similar to those attendants? Let us first talk about the foolish ones. There are those who are wise enough that they stand prepared for what is going to happen anytime as they ventured life here on earth. It means that they prepared their souls well enough for the great coming of God which no one really knows when. Rich and poor wise people alike in preparing their lives by walking a path which Jesus taught us through service and dedication to our fellowmen and love of God.  The lamp represents our souls and the oil represents the good deeds which we invested here on earth. If we are well prepared enough, there is nothing to fear, and worry and death could not hold us for we know that we lived properly and we are sure that in the next life, we can be with God eternally.

On the other hand, those 5 fools represents also those people who never cared about their souls and instead lived a life full of wastage here on earth. They tend to take advantage of the chances that are given to them and instead of living a life full of holiness here in this temporary world, they risk doing the opposite. In the Gospel, the bridegroom arrived late that is why all of them fell asleep but during midnight, they were called to gather for the bridegroom has arrived and of course, those who were wise got to meet and go with the bridegroom and enter the wedding hall and those foolish ones who were not prepared with their oils got to take time to buy and when they return, the door was already locked for them. The bridegroom represents judgment day, when God will appear like a thief and nobody will know when He will judge us according to what we have done here on earth. For those who are prepared, they will automatically light their lamps and leave with Him into His kingdom but those foolish ones, whose who lived lives full of waste here on earth will never be with God for all eternity and even though they will knock at the door of heaven, its already late for the door won’t be opened to them.

So, as a reminder to do our mission here on earth, let us try to reconsider doing what is best for our souls. Let us feed our souls, and not our flesh. Earthly things won’t matter when the final judgment comes. It is said that God will appear like a thief at night, we don’t know when He will come for us so we better be prepared enough and be ready with our lamps and extra oil with us all the time. This time of pandemic is the best time to offer our prayers and help the poor and homeless if we have more than enough in our abode. Christmas is already fast approaching and let us not lavishly celebrate it instead we have to offer more prayers and give alms to the needy and those homeless children. I tell you, these deeds are just the first steps in filling up your lamps with oil in preparation for the coming of God. – Clea | Helpline PH