The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with the work of thinkers like Saint Augustine of Hippo to understand love and fullness of life as we prepare for life events.
Food of Life
The reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul identifies Christ as the Power and Wisdom of God.
* [1:21–25] True wisdom and power are to be found paradoxically where one would least expect them, in the place of their apparent negation. To human eyes the crucified Christ symbolizes impotence and absurdity.1
Psalm 33 praises the greatness and goodness of God.
* [Psalm 33] A hymn in which the just are invited (Ps 33:1–3) to praise God, who by a mere word (Ps 33:4–5) created the three-tiered universe of the heavens, the cosmic waters, and the earth (Ps 33:6–9). Human words, in contrast, effect nothing (Ps 33:10–11). The greatness of human beings consists in God’s choosing them as a special people and their faithful response (Ps 33:12–22).2
In the Gospel of Matthew, the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids urges us to be prepared and stay awake.
* [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, 44.3
Nicky Santos, S.J. comments that in the current pandemic situation, these apparent messages can be disturbing and troubling, especially, as the poor and marginalized face a disproportionate burden of the effects of the pandemic. The poor do not have the luxury of stocking up on provisions and retreating to a vacation home to escape the virus.
The parable of the ten virgins has to be viewed from the perspective of the last judgment section that appears later in the same chapter of Matthew’s gospel (verses 31-46). In this section, the ones who inherit the kingdom are the ones who give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit those in prison. Because what they did for the least ones, they did for the king (Christ). The parable of the ten virgins is then a reminder to us that true discipleship (characterized by the five wise virgins) consists in living out the beatitudes and caring for the least among us. Challenging indeed!
Today, we celebrate the memorial of Saint Augustine, bishop and doctor of the church. St. Augustine, who lived in the 4th and 5th century, is most known for his work, Confessions. St. Augustine’s writings had a tremendous influence on the church through the ages and even to this day.4
On the feast of St Augustine, Anthony Meredith SJ explores the life and works of the man who left a great legacy to the Church in the form of his seminal writings and the theological vision he expressed in them.
In all of these areas, Augustine made a contribution to developing a thinking faith, a legacy which is still with us today. In fact it is sometimes claimed that the major theological differences which separate East and West derive from his influence. Two points in particular are singled out: Augustine’s teaching on the divine unity: and his teaching on original sin. He always challenges us, even if we may not feel completely comfortable with the solutions he proposes. He is easy to portray as an either/or man, whereas he is in fact a both/and one. It is not a question of contemplation or action in this life, but both; not faith or works, but faith and works; or again, not faith or reason, but faith and reason, with the important proviso that we must make sure that first things come first.5
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)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 25:1-13 comments that we could spend hours dissecting all the symbolism in this parable, but at its core, it conveys a simple but challenging message: always be prepared. Never let yourself get caught without enough “oil.”
What do you need to do to keep your flask filled with oil? Perhaps you could set your alarm a little earlier so that you are sure to have enough time to pray each morning. Maybe you could give up one night of television each week and offer to volunteer at church. The particulars may vary from person to person and day to day. But what’s important is finding a way to focus your life on God so that he can keep filling you with the “oil” of his love and grace. Because you never know when Jesus might show up!7
Mark Aloysius SJ explains what love is – and is not – according to the famous philosopher, Hannah Arendt, who wrote her doctorate on Love and Saint Augustine.
Arendt herself would come to a renewed appreciation of Augustine’s characterisation of love in her last published work, The Life of the Mind, where she notes that love is recognition of the alterity of the other, and perhaps, she might have come to see love as the precondition for the creation of political space. This is pure conjecture though, for she never completed the third volume of that work. Remarking on how for Augustine it is love that transforms the divided will, she says: ‘there is no greater assertion of something or somebody than to love it, that is, to say: I will that you be – Amo: Volo ut sis’.[xii]]8
Friar Jude Winkler comments how Paul’s preaching in Corinth is connected to his previous rejection in Athens. Stumbling blocks and foolishness are philosophic judgements of Jesus' message. Friar Jude emphasizes being ready as the theme of the parable today.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares that only the whole self is ever ready for the whole God, so Reorder always involves moving beyond the dualistic mind toward a more spacious, contemplative knowing.
The third and largest dome of meaning is THE Story, the realm of universal meaning and the patterns that are always true in every culture. This level assures and insures the other two. It holds them together in sacred meaning. In fact, we could say that the greater the opposites we can hold together, the greater soul we usually have.
Biblical religion, at its best, honors and combines all three levels: personal journey as raw material, communal identity as school and training ground, and an encounter with true transcendence as the integration and gathering place for all the parts together. True transcendence frees us from the tyranny of I Am and the idolatry of We Are. Still, when all three are taken seriously, as the Bible does very well, we have a full life—fully human and fully divine.9
The difficulty Paul expresses with judgments of foolishness and obstacles contrast with the wisdom and grace in which Augustine shared his experience of a full life in relationship with the Divine.
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