Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Before the beginning of the school year, all the Catholic School teachers from the Diocese of Lansing met at Lansing Catholic for an in-service. One of the teachers from Queen of the Miraculous Medal parish in Jackson texted me in the middle of the in-service and wrote, “We were just in the gym at Lansing Catholic, and I saw school records in track held by Strouse. Are those yours?” I had to reply, “No. While I did run track, I never broke any school records. Those are my sisters.”
Allison, my youngest sister, graduated from Lansing Catholic in 2006 and holds records in the 200 and 400m dash, and the 400, 800, and 1600m relay. Amanda, my other sister, also ran track, but really excelled in cross-country. In fact, one of the awards at Aquinas College is named after her, based upon her skills on the course and in the classroom. Amanda was always a really good long distance runner, and she just completed her first marathon a few weeks ago in Grand Rapids. I think she get it from my parents, both of whom ran cross country, and both of whom have run marathons, including Boston.
Marathon runners have a different way of thinking about things. They’re in it for the long haul. They don’t have to accomplish everything in a short period of time. They have a long ways to run, and they know that if they just keep a good, steady pace, they’ll make it to the end.
There’s no evidence that the wise virgins were marathon runners, but they certainly had that way of looking at life. They were most concerned about being ready when the bridegroom was coming. They knew it wasn’t simply about getting their first. They had to make sure that they had enough oil to make it to the end. The foolish virgins, on the other hand, were not thinking about the end, but expected the bridegroom to come shortly.
It doesn’t take a Scripture scholar to recognize that this parable is about the return of Jesus at the end of time. In these last weeks of Ordinary Time we pay particular attention to the end of the world as a reminder that what we have now is not always going to be here. The world will not continue forever. Jesus will return to usher in a new heaven and a new earth, where the sinful will go to their eternal punishment of separation from God, as their actions while on earth showed they wanted, while the just will go to their eternal reward of perfect happiness with God in heaven, as their actions while on earth showed their wanted.
Recently, there has been no small number of people claiming the world is going to end soon. It’s as if they forgot to read our second reading today, where St. Paul has to calm the Thessalonians down because they’re worried about the short term: some of their friends and family members have died before Jesus came again, so what’s going to happen to them? St. Paul takes the “marathon” approach, reminding the people that, although Christ hasn’t yet returned, he will, and those who have fallen asleep in death will be raised first, then we who remain will be caught up with the dead “in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” In other words, St. Paul is telling them to be the wise virgins who are keeping oil for their lamps so that, whenever the Divine Bridegroom comes, they will be ready.
Our Divine Bridegroom, Jesus, is Wisdom incarnate, the Wisdom we heard about in the first reading. If we love the Lord, then we will receive Him; if we seek Him, then we will find Him. If we wait for Him at the dawn, then we shall not be disappointed. Our entire life: marriage, family, work, school, recreation: all of it has to be entered into with the mindset of the wise virgins or the marathon runners. If we are living life each day in a Christ-centered way, waiting for the return of our Lord and Savior, then the coming of Christ will not shock us, or confuse us, but will be the finish line to the steady pace we’ve been keeping. It means that we strive, to the best of our ability, to be ready at any moment for the Lord to return and welcome His faithful disciples into his Heavenly Kingdom.
Otherwise we are like the foolish virgins, the ones who figure, “I’ve got time; I’ll have my fun today, doing whatever I want, and then, when I’m older, I’ll be sorry and change my ways.” What happens to those people is that the coming of Christ, whether in death or at the second coming, catches them off guard; they are not prepared. And then they have to go and get more oil for their lamps, and while they are gone, the doors are locked, and, no matter how much we cry to be let in, the Bridegroom will say, “‘Amen I say to you, I do not know you.’”
Keeping that steady pace means keeping a daily habit of prayer, communication with the Lord Jesus, of brining our faith into all that we do, rather than compartmentalizing our lives into different segments, some of which we use our faith, but others of which are purely secular, where we feel Jesus has no place. Keeping extra oil means that we live a life of regular repentance through personal acts of penance like giving up certain foods or certain good things, not just in Lent, but each month and each week, to train ourselves to be focused mainly on Jesus. Being ready for the Bridegroom to come means that we prepare our hearts and souls through the Sacraments to welcome Him who is communicated though the Sacraments. For, “whoever for [Wisdom’s] sake keeps vigil shall quickly be free from care.”