We All Live in Ordinary Everyday Nazareth

 

Deacon Dave · We All Live in Ordinary Nazareth

Homily for Holy Family Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. Gospel of St. Luke 2:22-40. Theme: We All Live in Ordinary Everyday Nazareth 

 Even though it’s still Christmas-time many of the sights and sounds of the season are starting to slowly disappear. Things are gradually returning to the normal and the ordinary again. And today’s Gospel is very much like that. It starts out sounding a lot like Christmas with Simeon and Anna rejoicing over the Newborn Messiah while His parents stood by in amazement. It must have reminded them of the shepherds of Bethlehem when they came to the stable and told them about angels singing the praises of their Son. 

 But the Gospel’s closing verses move us away from the extraordinary events surrounding Jesus’ birth. They bring us back to the normal and the ordinary as they tell us of the Holy Family returning to their hometown of Nazareth. Their life in that little village was so very different from all the supernatural phenomena they had been experiencing in Bethlehem and Jerusalem since Jesus’ birth. In Nazareth there are no heavenly angels singing glory to God in the highest! And there are no temple-prophets praising the Messiah-King. Nazareth was not like that at all. Nazareth is a place where the Holy Family lived by faith and not by miracles. It was an ordinary everyday kind of place where they lived an ordinary everyday kind of life. 

 The Gospels don’t say much about the life of Jesus in Nazareth. All we have are a few verses telling us that He was obedient to His parents as He grew in age, wisdom and grace. We are told that there was nothing extraordinary in what He said or did that made Him stand out from among the other residents of Nazareth, nor even among His own relatives. The Scriptures do inform us that though He was God, Jesus didn’t cling to His divinity nor exploit it as a kind of perk in becoming human. He left all that behind and had to develop as we all do in mind, body and soul. Amazingly, this means that God Who is Love now had to learn what it means to love and what it feels like to be loved as a human being. Imagine that! 

 Jesus grew up as a rural backwoods boy, experiencing the ups and down of daily life in the boondocks of Galilee. He was socially counted among the poor, because in ancient Israel there was no middle class. Only those in power had it all. Everyone else, including the Holy Family, simply struggled to make ends meet. And so to do Hs part, Christ became a craftsman, a laborer, following in the family business. He earned his living by the sweat of his brow and the work of his hands. He had to pay taxes to the emperor, deal with bills and difficult customers, and meet with the men of the village to arrange for protection and store up provisions. As a devout Israelite, Jesus observed the rituals and festivals of Judaism, went to synagogue every Sabbath, and prayed the Psalms with Joseph and Mary every night at home. He had fun celebrating weddings and births and He mourned as we all do in times of suffering and death. In other words, He was exactly like us in every way and in all things, except for sin. 

 But is that how we usually think of Jesus? Or do we focus more exclusively on His miracles and majesty? Both are important, of course, but too often I think we just kind of overlook the fact that for 30 of his 33 years as a man, God chose to live the ordinary kind of life that we all live. Now it’s important to remember that God the Son freely chose the condition and status of His earthly life. And since both the Scriptures and the Church teach us that everything He did was for our instruction and salvation, we need to stop and ask ourselves: what is He saying to us in the fact that 90% of His life was lived in obscurity, in spending His days doing the usual and the ordinary? He just has to be saying something to us in all this because God didn’t come to earth simply to waste time! So, what message does Nazareth hold out to us? 

 I think the message of Nazareth is that we need to stop looking for God and holiness only in the extraordinary and the miraculous. God is present and active in every single aspect of life no matter how insignificant or trivial it may seem. Jesus blessed and sanctified the ordinary and the humdrum simply by participating in it. He knew that this is how most of us live and so He wanted to show us and teach us that loving and serving God can be accomplished even in those everyday things that we don’t think are all that special. And He invites us to also bless and sanctify our daily duties by carrying them out in a spirit of solidarity with Him and His everyday life at Nazareth. 

 We can do this every morning by simply making a conscious decision to embrace our day and everything we will experience in it in union with Him. It’s really that simple. We can make this decision with words or simply by the intention of our minds and hearts. And when we do so, then everything that makes up our day – all of our prayers, works, joys and sufferings – everything, can become a part of His own offering of His life and work in Nazareth to the glory of God the Father. This spirituality of the daily offering enables us to give deeper meaning to all that we do and enables us to become partners with our Savior in consecrating the world to God. It actually has the capacity and potential to make us into saints. 

 So, yes, the extraordinary events surrounding the Nativity of the Lord were truly spectacular and awesome and I look forward to celebrating Christmas every year! But honestly, Nazareth stands out to me so much more than Bethlehem, because it’s where the Gift of God’s only Son is unwrapped, so to speak, revealing for us what it meant, what it looked like, for God to become a man. Nazareth is where I see Jesus most fully and most humbly and most amazingly living out His Christmas name of Emmanuel, which means God-with-us, God-as-one-of us.

Rejoicing as We Bless the Bambinelli, Cause of Our Joy!

 

Deacon Dave · Rejoicing as We Bless the Bambinelli, Cause of Our Joy!

Bambinelli Explanation & Blessing, Gaudete Sunday 11AM Mass, Dec 17, 2023

 At this time we’re going to have the Bambinelli Blessing of your Christ Child figurines, but first a few words to put this ritual into context. You know, at Christmas-time we’ve sort of been programmed by our culture to expect joy in unrealistic ways such as can be found on greeting cards or in Hallmark movies. These storybook scenarios project a Christmas of perfect presents, that are all perfectly wrapped and artfully placed underneath the perfectly decorated Christmas tree. Then everyone gathers as a perfect family, to eat a perfectly cooked meal, while enjoying perfect conversation shared by all in perfect harmony. But the problem is that kind of joy simply doesn’t exist. It’s a joy based totally on fiction. 

 However, there is a joy that can be ours no matter what we are going through in life as today’s Scriptures illustrate for us. For example, when Isaiah spoke his upbeat prophecy the people of Israel were being crushed by an oppressive government and threatened with economic disaster. And when St. Paul was writing about rejoicing, he was on the run for his life having narrowly escaped an angry mob that was bent on killing him. And when the Blessed Mother was singing out her joyful praise to God that we repeated in our responsorial this morning, she was facing the heart-wrenching task of informing her fiance and her parents that she was pregnant, which would also bring social shunning in her village once the gossip spread. 

 And so we bless the Bambinelli on Gaudete Sunday precisely because that Child in a manger brings us a joy that is fact and not fiction. The Baby is the manger is tangible proof of God’s love for us and so we can rejoice even though we may not feel like it and even if life around us doesn’t encourage it. We can rejoice because that Baby in a manger is Emmanuel, which means God-is-with-us, God-has-become-one-of-us and there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can take that joy away from us.! This is the authentic holiday cheer of Christmas that we all need and are eager to possess. This is why we rejoice and bless Him on Gaudete Sunday. And now that we understand why, let’s bless the Bambinelli. Please hold up your Christ Child figurines while I give the blessing. 

BAMBINELLI BLESSING 

 God our Father, You loved the world so much that You sent Your only Son as Savior to call each one of us back to You. We ask You to bless + and sanctify these images of the Christ Child that they might become for us a sign of His Presence and a Cause of Joy in our homes. 

 May the sight of this Holy Child in the manger, wherever it may be placed, open the hearts of those who look upon Him to believe in the great love You have shown for by sending Jesus as Emmanuel, God-with-us. Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Caution: Spiritual Roadwork Ahead!

 

Deacon Dave · Caution: Spiritual Roadwork Ahead!

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent. Gospel: Mark 1:1-8. Theme: Caution: Spiritual Roadwork Ahead! 

 The sights and sounds of Christmas are all around us these days. And a plethora of holiday characters, both fact and fiction, can be found decorating our homes and stores, or featured in holiday movies as well as being displayed in the front yards in our neighborhoods. Among all these figures we will surely find Mary and Joseph, of course, along with the whole retinue of stable animals, shepherds and kings. But there are many other characters as well, completely foreign to the original Nativity Story that have made their way into our holiday hearts and minds: Santa and his elves, Rudolph and his reindeer gang, Frosty, Grinch and even old Mr. Scrooge. 

 But amidst all this Christmas crowding there’s one figure who, though vital, is completely missing. You won't find this person in the holiday section of any store nor featured in a Nativity scene. There are no inflatable likenesses of him for your lawn and he is utterly absent from every single holiday greeting card. Yet he is crucial to helping us experience the whole reason for the season. The great missing person of Christmas is St. John the Baptist! 

 For millennia, the Church has placed John the Baptist front and center in our liturgy during Advent because he embodies its very spirit. He is the carrier of the Christmas message that the Messiah comes to transform our lives and restore our lost spiritual fortunes. Both the Old Testament reading from Isaiah and the Gospel from St. Mark in today’s Mass emphasize that he is the one whose voice cries out in the wilderness to us saying, “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!” 

 But these directives will make no sense to us unless we step back in time to learn how people of those days prepared for the arrival of nobility. When news of an upcoming imperial visit came to a village certain indispensable steps of cultural protocol had to be followed. And so the entire village, from the youngest able-bodied person to the oldest, got busy with literally filling in low spots in the road and leveling off uneven terrain. In this way they could show their respect for the royal entourage and give it a proper welcome. And this is the way our Christian tradition interprets Isaiah’s prophecy and John's Christmas message. In other words, if there was a construction warning sign flashing purple and pink lights to announce Advent it would read: “Caution – Spiritual Roadwork Ahead!” We are to get busy and give it all we got in making smooth and straight the Lord’s pathway into our hearts and clearing away the garbage that has accumulated in the wasteland of our lives, Then when the King arrives He will bless those who prepared so diligently. 

 St. Mark’s Gospel opens by recalling the prophecy from Isaiah and then showing us that it’s being fulfilled in the person and ministry of St. John the Baptist. He is the voice of one crying out in the desert calling us to make a way for the Lord into our hearts by straightening out the inconsistencies and crookedness in our lives. In other words, he is challenging us to repent, which means to have a change of heart, a change of mind, a change of attitude and set our sights on the Lord’s Kingdom. He is calling us to recognize that we need to allow God to be actively present in our lives, He promises that Jesus the Messiah will make our personal transformation possible through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit Whom He pours into us. 

 Both Isaiah and St. Mark are asking if we are willing to do the site preparation and accomplish some serious personal construction for this to really happen. Do we have a blueprint, a plan in mind as to how we will proceed? Are we aware of the spiritual tools of prayerfulness and mercy that we will need to repair the broken bridges in our lives so as to reconnect with others and with God? They are asking us to make room, in the midst of our very crowded Christmas season, for St. John the Baptist as our Advent Voice of Preparation. He’s calling us to get ready for much more than just another festive holiday. He’s reminding us that it’s never too late to change so as to experience God’s love, grace and power which will lead us to a new way of thinking, a new way of looking at life, and a new way of living that will be so much better than how we have lived up till now.

Christ Comes in History, Mystery & Majesty!

 

Deacon Dave · Christ Comes in History, Mystery & Majesty!

Homily for the First Sunday of Advent, Dec. 3, 2023. Gospel of St. Mark 13:33-37. Theme: Christ Comes in History, Mystery & Majesty! 

 Well, here we are at Advent once again, ushering in the holiday season that is always so special in just about everyone’s heart. The word Advent is derived from Latin and means “coming” or “arrival”, reminding us that we are in a season of preparation, a time of awaiting the return of the Lord of the house, as Jesus calls Himself in today's Gospel. He used the people’s familiarity with the vital role of a gatekeeper to get across the importance of attention and expectation, two important qualities for our own Advent waiting. Our Lord often referred to familiar stories and experiences as illustrations of his teaching and we can do the same thing by using stories we are familiar with to better understand His message. 

 For example, to me one of the most cherished stories that powerfully brings the spirit of Advent to me is A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. I am sure you are all familiar with this holiday tale of how on bleak and cold Christmas eve, the greedy miser Scrooge is converted into a generous Christian man by means of the three visitations he has from the Ghosts of Christmas-Past, Christmas-Present and Christmas-to-Come. Well, you know, it wasn’t by accident that Dickens thought up this plot. He lived at a time when Christianity still permeated culture and we can see in his classic story a strong hint of the triple traditional meaning of Advent as a season that refers to the past, the present and the future. 

 It’s in Advent-Past where we all tend to spend so much of our time and energy during this season. It’s what all of our holiday shopping, decorating and cooking revolves around! It’s when Jesus came to us in history, giving up his divine power in becoming a vulnerable baby born in Bethlehem to a poor working class family. He did this in order to truly be our Savior by sharing in and sanctifying every aspect of our lives and even to the point of suffering and dying as we all must do. But Jesus doesn’t want us to spend Advent just remembering what He did for us, as marvelous as it was. He wants to be born into our hearts and come to live in us today. He wants us to move on out of the past and spend more of our time in Advent-Present. 

 Advent-Present, is the miracle of Jesus coming to us here and now in mystery. He comes to us as the Bread of Life, really present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. He becomes personally present to us in the assembly of His Body the Church. And He continues to be mystically present for us in the persons of the needy poor. Jesus Himself told us about these realities of His Presence. He clearly taught that the Eucharist was His living flesh and blood by which He would live in us and we in Him. He declared that “where 2 or 3 are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them.” Finally, Jesus identified Himself intimately with those who are in need in any way when He said, “whatsoever you do to them, you do to Me.” 

 And so we see clearly that if we want to encounter Jesus truly and personally present in our lives here and now, we must turn to the Eucharist, to Christian community, and to the relief of those who suffer. These three things are precisely why worship, festive gatherings, and increased charitable actions have long been part of our Christmas customs. And so, it should be obvious that living Advent-Present is the most important meaning of the season because it’s the only one that is truly in our hands. Advent-Past is history. Advent-Future is yet to come But Advent-Present is ours to live here and now. 

 Finally, we have Advent-Future, Advent-to-Come. This was the most effective part for old Mr. Scrooge’s conversion and perhaps it can be the most effective for us as well. You’ll recall that in the novel Mr. Scrooge is led by the Ghost of Christmas-to-Come to the site of his future grave. In a similar way, Advent-to-Come makes us face the fact that life is both short and temporary; that our time on planet Earth will end. However, our personal existence will continue because we all survive our physical deaths. What will become of us when we meet Christ in His majesty? Where will we go to spend our eternity? The choice is ours to make here and now while we still have life and breath on planet Earth. How we live Advent-Present says a lot about what will become of us in Advent-to-Come. 

 So this year let's try to live Advent to its fullest, Past, Present and To-Come. Let’s keep in mind the history, the mystery and the majesty of Christ to help us observe Advent to the best of our ability. And let’s pray that Christmas Day will find us as changed and transformed as was old Mr. Scrooge, when he woke up on that decisive morning after the triple visitations, and suddenly found new gratitude and such joy in his new way of thinking, his new way of looking at life and his new way of living!

Viva Cristo Rey! Christ the King Lives!

 

Deacon Dave · Viva Cristo Rey! Christ the King Lives!

Homily for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Nov. 26, 2023. Gospel of St. Matthew 25:31-46. Theme: Viva Cristo Rey! Christ the King Lives! 

 At 10 a.m. on Nov. 23, 1927, a 36-year old Jesuit priest was taken from his death-row cell and marched across the prison yard. He was among the most wanted men in Mexico. As he walked he held a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other. One of the guards approached him and with tears in his eyes begged forgiveness for what was about to happen. Upon arrival at the place of execution, the priest asked permission to pray and knelt before a wall that was stained with blood and riddled with bullet holes. Then he stood up, extended his arms in the form of a cross, and facing the firing squad he exclaimed in a loud steady voice: “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” “Christ the King Lives!” Shots rang out and the priest fell to the ground. To the frustration and dismay of the government authorities - and despite great danger to themselves - 60,000 Catholics lined the streets of Mexico City for his funeral procession, repeatedly chanting his dying words: “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” “Christ the King Lives!” 

That priest was Father Miguel Pro, whom we now honor as a martyr and whose feast day is appropriately celebrated every year close to Christ the King Sunday which we are observing today. He ministered during the bloody persecution of Catholics in Mexico in the 1920’s, but for a short time he sought refuge not too far from here down in Los Gatos. In order to evade the police he became a master of disguises, continually avoiding capture and persistently bringing the Gospel and the Sacraments to the Catholics of Mexico City. And he had a great sense of humor and daring when carrying out these escapades. For example, one time he dressed in a fancy suit, lit up a cigarette and then walked hand-in-hand with a female parishioner right in front of police headquarters. The officers thought they were seeing just another young couple out for an evening walk, having no clue that they were greeting one of Mexicos’ most wanted and that hidden safely in the women’s purse were consecrated hosts of the Blessed Sacrament being brought to the sick and dying. 

Blessed Miquel became a government target precisely because he stood up for the truth, bravely defying the anti-freedom laws which forbid the display of faith in public. He ignored these illegal policies, firm in the conviction that no earthly government has the authority to deny religious freedom or eject God from civic life. He protested the idea that the practice of religion was to be confined behind the walls of a church, or kept politely within the parameters of one’s personal life as a simply private matter. He knew that a truly free and just society was one built upon public faith in God. And you know, we are actually in a similar situation today. 

 In our own nation, people of faith are told to keep God and His Word to themselves when it comes to our schools, our workplaces and in our politics. Our present-day attacks on religious freedom may not be bloody but they are nonetheless very real and carried out by means of discriminatory government directives and echoed by the public voice of a very anti Judeo-Christian biased media. We need to have within us the very same spirit as Fr. Pro and make his cry our own: “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” “Christ the King Lives!” 

Pope Piux XI established Christ the King Sunday just 2 years before the martyrdom of Fr. Pro as a way to highlight the importance of faith and support religious freedom. Humanity had just come out of the never-before-seen horrors of the First World War. The godless tyrannies of Communism in Russia, Facism in Italy and Nazism in Germany were rising and demanding absolute loyalty while canceling human rights. But those who kept faith amidst persecution made a huge difference. People with faith had much more inner strength to endure and survive. It was faith that led them to put their own lives on the line to serve and protect their suffering brothers and sisters. And so, Pope Piux XI hoped that Christ the King Sunday would inspire Christians to recommit to Christ and live according to the values of the Gospel so that it would be possible to build a civilization of love, rooted in peace and justice, and characterized by compassion and mercy. 

The message of today’s celebration is that it means very little if we simply say that Christ is King but do not make him Lord of our lives. To do so, we must dethrone ourselves and give this pride of place to Jesus. It means we must put and keep Christ first in our lives as King of kings and Lord of Lords. In return, He will bless us and transform us into Kingdom-people whose hearts become healed, restored, changed and forgiven by obedience to His Word and the grace of His Sacraments. And then he will send us out as ambassadors of the Kingdom, as missionary disciples who share with others what Jesus has done for us and what He can do for them. In this way we enable the grace and Good News of the Kingdom to touch and influence our families and our friends, our neighborhoods and our workplaces, our government and our politics. And this is really what today’s celebration of Christ the King Sunday is all about. I would like to end by leading you in a prayer based on that which Pope Pius XI asked to be recited every year on Christ the King Sunday: 

 Christ Jesus, I acknowledge You as King of the universe 

And I enthrone You as Lord of my life. 

 I here and now renew the promises of my Baptism 

 asking You to live and reign within me. 

Open my mind to be taught by your Holy Word. 

Open my heart to be fed by Your Holy Sacrament. 

Open my mouth to share Your Good News to others 

so that Your Kingdom may come to every human heart. 

 Amen.

The Mexican government took photos of Fr. Pro's execution thinking that they would serve as a scare-tactic warning to protestors. Their plan failed and actually had the opposite effect of increasing faith and uniting the people against their unjust government.

Blessed Miquel Pro kneeling before execution.

Fr. Pro at the moment of his martyrdom.

The Talent of Intercessory Prayer

 

Deacon Dave · The Talent of intercessory PRayer

Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Nov. 19, 2023. Gospel of St. Matthew 25:14-30 Theme: The Talent of Intercessory Prayer 

 Today’s gospel is known as the “parable of the talents”. And as with every parable, the characters and plot of the story represent something deeper than what appears at surface level. The Master of the parable is God. The talents represent a gift we have been given by God for the sake of spreading the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ. As an aside, a “talent” in Jesus’ time was a financial figure that equaled a common laborer’s payment for 15 years of work, so that gives us an idea of why the Master expected wise investments! Finally, the Master’s evaluation of the servants’ responsibility symbolizes our own personal judgment before the Lord at the end of our earthly lives. We will each be held accountable for what we have done - or failed to do - with the talents that God has entrusted to us. 

 Just as none of the three servants received the exact same amount of money, so not all of us are born equally talented. This reality check can help us avoid the mistake of comparing ourselves to others. Too often we look at those whom we admire for their outstanding abilities while minimizing or even overlooking the very real and worthwhile gifts which we ourselves have been given. But I want to suggest that there is a talent we have all received and which enables every one of us to invest in making a real difference in the world and, indeed, in the lives of others. And that talent is intercessory prayer. 

 Not all prayer is intercessory, of course. We have the prayer of praise and adoration by which we express our dependence upon God and gratitude for His blessings. And there is contemplative prayer and meditation in which we ponder the Scriptures, reflect on the mysteries of our Faith or simply rest peacefully in the Divine Presence. Then there is intercessory prayer by which, as its name implies, we present various persons and petitions to God, asking Him to bless and assist them and us in our various needs. 

 You know, often people talk about intercessory prayer apologetically as if it’s the least they can do to help others. Or they refer to it as a kind of last resort when all our human efforts seem hopeless! But this outlook is all backwards! Prayer is the first thing we should do when dealing with situations head-on because it can go where we cannot. Prayer is not confined by walls or hindered by geographical distance. It opens up doors, not physical ones but opportunities to reach out to someone. This can be especially significant in situations where actual doors would be shut to us. Our prayer can travel through those locked doors and penetrate into the heart of the person behind them. 

 This is why we keep praying for someone even if we don't see observable results within the time-frame we would like. Our prayer can become like powerful waves of the ocean that pound against the hull of a boat. If they keep crashing incessantly against the ship it will find or make a weak spot allowing the water to enter in. And even just a little crack in the closed heart of a person is all that God’s grace needs to penetrate and take effect. And so we don't give up praying for someone even when things seem to be against us because we trust that the continual waves of our intercessory prayer will eventually open the pathway for Christ into their lives. 

 And this basic power principle of prayer is also how we can reach out to the larger world in its needs. Take, for example, the horrible present situation in the Middle East. Can we realistically make a difference and contribute to de-escalation and peace? Of course we can! Authentic peace and lasting social renewal can only happen in a meaningful way with the conversion of hearts, person by person. And the only way hearts are truly transformed and people are changed is by the grace of God. If peace and reconciliation are not rooted in a real change of hearts then they are only temporary and fragile. So when we pray for peace we ask that those involved become personally aware of God’s deep love for them which will open their hearts to the gift of Jesus as Lord and Savior, as Messiah and Prince of Peace. 

 But we need to be aware that there are two temptations that keep people from fully using their talent of prayer: distrust and laziness. Distrust is a lack of faith rooted in the idea that God won’t hear prayers because of our sins or that what we are asking is in fact impossible, even for Him. And so there are people who won’t even try to begin to pray. They see it as a waste of time and energy. The second obstacle is spiritual laziness which is rooted in an improper sense of priorities and time management. This manifests itself in a person who, for example. has no problem juggling work, family needs and social life yet somehow cannot find the time to pray the rosary or some other form of intercessory prayer. Laziness leads us to bury our talent and do nothing with it like the wicked servant in today’s parable. What we need to ask ourselves is this: which of the three servants do I choose to follow in putting my talent of prayer at the service of our Master and His Kingdom?

The Master & Servants of the Parable

is There Oil In Your Lamp?

 

Deacon Dave · Is There Oil in Your Lamp?

Homily for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Nov. 8, 2020. Gospel of St. Matthew 25:1-13. Theme: Is There Oil in Your Lamp? 

 At this time of year as nature seems to become more quiet and a bit lifeless, the liturgy turns our attention to the fact that we are each moving closer to the end of our time on planet Earth. Catholic spirituality reinforces this theme by setting aside the month of November as a special time of prayer for the faithful departed. We all know that death is an inescapable fact for each one of us and that we need to be better prepared for our ultimate meeting with the Lord. And so through today’s parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids, Jesus is asking each one of us: Are you prepared? Are you ready to meet Me when I arrive? 

 Ancient Christian writers tell us that the lamps and oil in this Sunday’s parable can be interpreted as symbols for the body and the soul. The foolish bridesmaids had beautiful ornate bridal lamps but they were running on empty and fundamentally useless because they did not have the one thing necessary: a flask full of oil. In a similar way, we can have great lamps, that is, bodies that are in excellent physical condition. But inside ourselves we can be running on empty by lacking the one thing necessary to receive eternal life: a personal and vibrant relationship with God. 

 In both Scripture and in the Liturgy, oil is a symbol of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why it’s used in the Sacraments to consecrate us to God, to anoint us as His holy people, and to bring His healing touch into our lives. It’s this oil of the Spirit that enables us to speak with God from the heart in prayer. It’s the supernatural fuel that enables us to keep moving forward in the Christian life even amidst ridicule or difficulty. It’s the spiritual energy we need to remain faithful to Christ by keeping the flame of faith burning brightly in our lives and guiding us along the way. 

 So, it’s important to always be checking our personal oil level on a regular basis. When we start running low on this fuel we need to fill up the flasks of our lives because there are some things that we just cannot borrow from others. I think this is what the parable means when it says that the 5 wise bridesmaids would not lend any of their oil to the foolish ones. It’s reminding us that we can’t borrow someone else’s faith. We can’t borrow someone else’s grace. We can’t borrow someone else’s relationship with God. But what we can do is make sure that we keep replenishing this oil of the Spirit by praying from the heart every day, by reading and applying the Word of God to our lives, by repenting of our sins and confessing them, by receiving Jesus in the Eucharist with mindfulness, and by doing our best to treat those with whom we live, work and socialize with kindness and mercy. 

 Some people take the risk of being like the 5 foolish bridesmaids who waited until it was too late to check their lamps and fill up with oil. Such people know they should focus more on God in their lives and get things in order, but they assume they have plenty of time to do so. They put it off for later, for tomorrow, for “another day”. But in doing so they risk sharing the bitter disappointment of those foolish bridesmaids who unexpectedly found the door to the feast shut and locked! This locked-door symbolizes for us the fact that it's too late to change once death comes knocking. 

 Our years here on planet Earth are just a tiny drop in the bucket of our whole existence. Now is the time to choose God. Now is the time to choose Christ. Now is the time to choose eternal life. Once the door to the heavenly wedding feast is shut tight and locked, our opportunity to make these choices comes to an end. And so we need to keep this parable in mind and listen to the voice of Jesus speaking deep inside us and asking: Are you prepared? Are you ready to meet Me when I arrive?