Jesus told the parable of the ten virgins
in Matthew 25 and this is what
the homily was about during mass yesterday.
Fr. Herb, our priest, told us that during the time
of Jesus, weddings took several days.
The ten virgins were guests at
the wedding feast and had been
waiting for the bride and
bridegroom to arrive.
They all became tired and fell asleep.
When the bridegroom party was arriving,
they woke up and trimmed their lamps.
There were 5 virgins who wisely brought oil
to refill their oil lamps,
but the other 5, called the foolish virgins
in the parable, had to leave and buy some oil.
When the bridegroom arrived,
the foolish virgins were locked out of the
wedding banquet.
"Lord, Lord," they said, "Open the door for us!"
But he replied, "I do not know you.
Therefore keep watch,
because you do not know the day or the hour."
The wedding feast is the heavenly banquet.
The bridegroom is Jesus, and the bride is the Church.
The virgins are you and me.
The question is, are we one of the wise ones,
or one of the foolish ones?
Do we have extra oil with us?
There are many explanations for what the
oil symbolizes.
Faith? The Holy Spirit?
Whatever it is, we need to be prepared
for when the Lord comes at the end of our lives.
"Stay awake and watch."
The danger is really in the waiting.
The parousia (an ancient Greek word
meaning presence, arrival or official visit)
is long delayed.
Sometimes we grumble when we HAVE TO
go to church, or service, or prayer meetings,
or men's and women's groups
as we have them in our Covenant Community.
Sometimes we are ungrateful for our spouse,
our children, our work, our community.
The big danger is routine and familiarity.
We lose faith, we lose our enthusiasm.
We lose our desire to have
a closer relationship with the
One who created us, the One who loves us,
the One who gave our lives meaning.
When the light of faith and
enthusiasm dies out,
that's when we are
unprepared to meet the Lord,
that's when we need oil to
keep our fire burning!
Let us pray for the gift of
a growing relationship
with the Lord,
and let us pray for the
gift of gratitude!
The ten virgins were guests at
the wedding feast and had been
waiting for the bride and
bridegroom to arrive.
They all became tired and fell asleep.
When the bridegroom party was arriving,
they woke up and trimmed their lamps.
There were 5 virgins who wisely brought oil
to refill their oil lamps,
but the other 5, called the foolish virgins
in the parable, had to leave and buy some oil.
the foolish virgins were locked out of the
wedding banquet.
"Lord, Lord," they said, "Open the door for us!"
But he replied, "I do not know you.
Therefore keep watch,
because you do not know the day or the hour."
The wedding feast is the heavenly banquet.
The bridegroom is Jesus, and the bride is the Church.
The virgins are you and me.
The question is, are we one of the wise ones,
or one of the foolish ones?
Do we have extra oil with us?
There are many explanations for what the
oil symbolizes.
Faith? The Holy Spirit?
Whatever it is, we need to be prepared
for when the Lord comes at the end of our lives.
The danger is really in the waiting.
The parousia (an ancient Greek word
meaning presence, arrival or official visit)
is long delayed.
Sometimes we grumble when we HAVE TO
go to church, or service, or prayer meetings,
or men's and women's groups
as we have them in our Covenant Community.
Sometimes we are ungrateful for our spouse,
our children, our work, our community.
The big danger is routine and familiarity.
We lose faith, we lose our enthusiasm.
We lose our desire to have
a closer relationship with the
One who created us, the One who loves us,
the One who gave our lives meaning.
When the light of faith and
enthusiasm dies out,
that's when we are
unprepared to meet the Lord,
that's when we need oil to
keep our fire burning!
Let us pray for the gift of
a growing relationship
with the Lord,
and let us pray for the
gift of gratitude!
Linking with
Spiritual Sundays,
Spiritual Sundays,
Click on the pictures for
sources of the photos!
Great!
ReplyDeleteAwesome Post... so true... we need to be prepared and ready at all times! We need to grow in our relationship with Jesus always.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this today.
Hugs and blessings
Kelly
Hi Patsy. I found your blog through the Hear It, Use It community and really enjoyed looking around. I agree with your comment that "the big danger is routine and familiarity" -- it's a challenge for me to not confuse an appreciation for the routine with complacency. And wow. Your artwork is fun! What a great way to share your faith!
ReplyDeleteI believe the oil could refer to both faith and the Holy Spirit. We certainly do need the oil of the Holy Spirit burning in our lives as we reach out to others. We sang a song as children The chorous went like this - -
ReplyDeleteFill my cup Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more--
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!
Yes, a growing relationship with God and a grateful heart are truly gifts from God
ReplyDeleteThanks for walking me through this parable, Patsy. I was always a little puzzled by it, but you shed new light on the story for me here.
ReplyDelete{and as always, I just love your art!}
my heart sings every time i come here for the beauty of your place... for the color and creativity and holy of your work. you are such a gift, friend. thank you.
ReplyDeleteI always admire your artworks ... it makes me smile all day long =)
ReplyDeleteI've always been intrigued with this story in the Bible. For sure we don't know when Jesus (our bridegroom) is coming back and we need to be ready at all times. Thank you for sharing this reminder.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Charlotte
Patsy, I pray these things with you. This is one of my favorite Bible stories. How important it is to wait well. That is what Playdates do for me.
ReplyDeleteYour art calls to me. This story frightened me as a child. Now as an adult I see more clearly the joy in the story -- those who have their lamps as prepared as my heart. And those childhood fears are now an anticipation of joy.
ReplyDelete