Thirty-second Sunday             November 6, 2011

Wisdom 6:12-16            Psalm: 6            1 Thess. 4:13-18             Matthew 25:1-13           

1.            As we come to the end of the liturgical year, and enter into the season of Advent the readings deal more and more about the end times, and preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. Actually some of the readings of Advent have this flavour.

            The believer is encouraged to seek and find Wisdom. Wisdom is the Key to the door which leads to everlasting life. Such a seeker will stand before the Judgment seat of God without fear or worry, because as we read in the book of Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives and on the last day I will see him face to face.”  It is the confidence of a little child that knows it is safe.

2. The Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians fits in the pattern of eschatology, the pattern of the “End-Times”. Paul like most of the believers in his time believed that the Parousia, the second coming was imminent. In fact, they expected that they would all see the Second Coming. Two things happened:

• -       the Parousia did not happen immediately. It seemed to take time arriving.
• -       some of the believers died.

• Hence they were concerned about what would happen to those who had died. In this context Paul would tell them that they should not be concerned about those who had died. They would not be at a disadvantage. They would rise again.

3. Their hope was based on Christ. In him, they lived, and moved and had their being. Because Christ had died and had risen, their hope would not be in vain. But there was something to be noted about Salvation.

- first it was rooted in Christ. Jesus was the source of Salvation. Salvation was not due to some intrinsic qualities of the believer. It was not acquired by the efforts or deeds of the believer. It was in Christ and through Christ they would be saved.

- secondly:  their salvation consisted in being saved as the Body of Christ. They were saved as a community, not individually. Hence there was a need to be concerned for the well being of each other in the Church.

 Paul tells the Thessalonians that death is not a cause for bereavement or sorrow. Hope is not in vain. Christ had truly died, Christ had truly risen and Christ would come again. (However when this parousia was to take place was not certain.)

4. The Gospel reaffirms the end time with two main images of heaven: the time and the place. The time is “midnight” – an unusual hour, the place: the marriage banquet.  The story has three layers. The original story as told by Jesus, then the flavour it got through the oral tradition, and finally, Matthew’s own redaction or re-editing.

We do not know much about the marriage traditions and hence there are a lot of puzzling elements.

• The bride is never mentioned in the parable.
• The virgins are also called maidens or bridesmaids.
• They should have been with the Bride, not the Bridegroom.
• Is the marriage feast taking place at the Bride’s place or the Groom’s house?
• Would the marriage take place after midnight?
• Why is the Groom so late in arriving?

5. Some scholars tell us that this was probably an actual event that took place. Jesus uses this to bring home a truth of the final judgment.  The nascent Church took this story and turned it into an allegory.  The Son of Man was identified as the Groom. The arrival at Midnight was the second coming. The virgins were the Christians, those who were ready and those who were not. The wedding feast was the Heavenly banquet. 

 From there the listeners were not only to draw their own conclusions, but also to adjust their own way of life. There was an urgency. Some believers would always say: “mañana”, like the foolish virgins, The saying of Jesus, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour”, which he used at other times, could be applicable here:

6. At this stage, Matthew gives his own personal touch, “Be alert, Be on your guard”. We are invited to adapt in our own manner to our own day and age.  There are some among us who take things literally. They look at the signs and times in our day: the tsunamis, the earthquakes, the hurricanes and tell us 

• The Bridegroom is at hand.
• It is the hour of midnight.
• Be on your guard.

Story: C.S. Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters   It tells a story about Christian faith from the perspective of a devil trying to secure the damnation not the salvation of a person. The Devil is the “Father Below” and the Enemy is God. The differences in how God and the Devil view men, Screwtape says: "We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become his children"

• Temptation does not consist in leading men to do extravagantly wicked and deplorable sins. Screwtape is interested in saying that "the safest path to hell is the gradual one." He sees a demon's primary goal to befuddle, confuse, and eventually corrupt a person rather than to tempt him to sin.

“Do not get discouraged about sin, we are human after all.” You can always repent tomorrow.