The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to focus on action and response that builds up the Kingdom and prepares us to live fully.
The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians is a general exhortation to holiness in sexual contact and to a life pleasing to God.
* [4:2] Instructions: these include specific guidelines on the basis of the Lord’s authority, not necessarily sayings Jesus actually uttered. More profoundly, as 1 Thes 4:8 implies, the instructions are practical principles that Paul worked out in accordance with his understanding of the role of the Spirit.
* [4:3–8] Many think that this passage deals with a variety of moral regulations (fornication, adultery, sharp business practices). It can be more specifically interpreted as bringing general norms to bear on a specific problem, namely, marriage within degrees of consanguinity (as between uncle and niece) forbidden in Jewish law but allowed according to a Greek heiress law, which would insure retention of an inheritance within the family and perhaps thereby occasion divorce. In that case, “immorality” (1 Thes 4:3) should be rendered as “unlawful marriage” and “this matter” (1 Thes 4:6) as “a lawsuit.” The phrase in 1 Thes 4:4, “acquire a wife for himself,” has often been interpreted to mean “control one’s body.” (1 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 4, n.d.)
Psalm 97 praises the Glory of God’s Reign.
* [Psalm 97] The hymn begins with God appearing in a storm, a traditional picture of some ancient Near Eastern gods (Ps 97:1–6); cf. Ps 18:8–16; Mi 1:3–4; Heb 3:3–15. Israel rejoices in the overthrowing of idol worshipers and their gods (Ps 97:7–9) and the rewarding of the faithful righteous (Ps 97:10–12). (Psalms, PSALM 97, n.d.)
The Gospel of Matthew is the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids.
* [25:2–4] Foolish…wise: cf. the contrasted “wise man” and “fool” of Mt 7:24, 26 where the two are distinguished by good deeds and lack of them, and such deeds may be signified by the oil of this parable.
* [25:11–12] Lord, Lord: cf. Mt 7:21. I do not know you: cf. Mt 7:23 where the Greek verb is different but synonymous.
* [25:13] Stay awake: some scholars see this command as an addition to the original parable of Matthew’s traditional material, since in Mt 25:5 all the virgins, wise and foolish, fall asleep. But the wise virgins are adequately equipped for their task, and stay awake may mean no more than to be prepared; cf. Mt 24:42, 44. (Matthew, CHAPTER 25, n.d.)
Gladyce Janky comments that the wise virgins know that faith is something to nurture and grow over a lifetime. They continually fill their lamps with God’s wisdom and generously pour out the gifts and talents (the oil) they have received for the greater good of humanity and our planet. They trust God will constantly replenish their oil. The foolish virgins cling to what they have, afraid they will be left wanting if they give anything away. They do not understand the importance of growing in trust by deepening their relationship with God.
Reading the parable reinforces the importance of my relationship with God and trusting He is always delighted to fill/refill my lamp with oil. Hopefully, my life exemplifies the meaning of faithfully preparing for the bridegroom’s arrival, but I cannot give another person my faith (the oil in my lamp). Faith is a gift only God provides, and I cannot give the “oil” that is my faith to someone else.
The question for my reflection is, Am I preparing (open to receiving more oil from God) to enter the wedding celebration, or am I sitting outside the door, taking a nap? (Janky, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “The Kingdom of God compared with ten maidens,” by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD).
"The whole story is about the great day of the Lord, when those things concealed from the human mind will be revealed through our understanding of divine judgment. Then the faith true to the Lord's coming will win the just reward for unwavering hope. For in the five wise and five foolish virgins (Matthew 25:2), a complete separation between the faithful and unfaithful is established... The wise virgins are those who, embracing the time available to them, were prepared at the first onset of the coming of the Lord. But the foolish were those who were lax and unmindful. They troubled themselves only over present matters and, forgetting what God said, did not direct their efforts toward hope for resurrection." (excerpt from the commentary ON MATTHEW 27.3,5) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 25:1-13 comments that God doesn’t want us to go through life like these “foolish” people. Our free will allows us to make a myriad of choices. But we should make every important decision with our eyes open, testing it against our ultimate goal in life: to please the Lord and to abide in him, both now and forever. When we do that, we are acting wisely, not foolishly.
Are you facing a decision right now? If so, ask yourself, “Will this choice bring me closer to God? Will it help me get to heaven?” We can’t predict the future, and there’s no guarantee that we will always make the right choice. But the more we think about the spiritual consequences of our decisions, the more likely we will end up like the five wise virgins: ready to greet the Lord whenever he comes.
“Lord, give me the wisdom to consider all my choices with you in mind.” (Meditation on Matthew 25:1-13, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that Paul encourages not committing adultery and contrasts the pagan tendency to try to placate God with the horizontal dimension of Christianity to avoid sinning against our brothers. Friar Jude reminds us of the pain involved in breaking the matrimonial bond and our call to live in a life that is indistinguishable from our eternal life.
James Finley encourages each of us to continue on the contemplative path. We know by experience that in a relative, but very real sense, we are the arbiters of our journey, that we must take responsibility to cooperate with the grace of being faithful to our contemplative practices. If we do not meditate there will be no meditation in our lives. If we do not patiently work through the obstacles encountered along the way, we can lose our way and lose ourselves in the process. But at a deeper level, the entire journey is one in which we are called over and over again to surrender to a self-transforming process not of our own making. Each time we give ourselves over to our contemplative practices, whatever they might be, we find ourselves, once again, one with the communal mystery in which there is no separate self. [1]
Let me emphasize … the need to discern and take steps to correct the ways in which our contemplative self-transformation is hindered by our failures to compassionately love others. Ideally speaking, a commitment to contemplative living is synonymous with a heightened awareness of and response to the real suffering of real people. The difficulty however, is that our own wounded ego can circle about contemplative experiences in ways that make us less, not more sensitive to our own real needs and the needs of those around us. Religious faith, artistic inspiration, romantic-sexual love, the process of psychological healing, and all other arenas of contemplative experience and self-transformation, can and should be arenas of heightened compassionate sensitivity to the real needs of those around us…. (Finley, 2023)
Our contemplation and action, guided by the Spirit, will reinforce our commitment to live in a Way pleasing to God and prepared to love our neighbour.
References
Finley, J. (2023, September 1). Compassionate Contemplation — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC Daily Meditations 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/compassionate-contemplation-2023-09-01/
Janky, G. (2023, September 1). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/090123.html
Matthew, CHAPTER 25. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/25?1
Meditation on Matthew 25:1-13. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/09/01/770336/
1 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 4. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1thessalonians/4?1
Psalms, PSALM 97. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/97?1
Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Foolish Will Miss Heaven's Wedding Feast. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 1, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=sep1
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