We are in the month of November, a month dedicated to the holy souls in purgatory. A life after our earthly life, Isn’t it quite amazing? This eschatological dimension is part and parcel of our faith journey. We are meant for eternity. But often, many of our brethren tend to think and live as though this earthly life is the only life that we have, and the eternal life is an unknown form of existence about which no one is sure. Many of our brethren tend to believe that life ends here and eternal life is mere fiction; therefore, they don’t want to live a life of commitment and accountability. We should be able to take responsibility for every choice that we make in our lives. It is our choice that is going to determine our eternity.
In today’s gospel, we mediate the parable of the ten virgins. The parable is in the context of a wedding feast. In the parable, among these ten, five were addressed as wise, and the remaining five were called foolish. The wise virgins carried extra oil for their lamps, whereas the foolish virgins failed to do so. When they hear the coming of the bridegroom, though they were ready, the foolish virgins can’t welcome him because they did not have sufficient oil to spend the festive eve with him. They requested the share of oil from the wise virgins, but they pointed out that if they share, they will lack oil to keep their light for the entire festive night. So they advised them to go and buy. They went to buy the oil, while the bridegroom came, and wise virgins entered inside along with the bridegroom. When the foolish virgin came back, they requested to open the door. The bridegroom replied that he did not know them. Why did the bridegroom behave so indifferently? Why couldn’t he give them one more chance?
The wedding feast is the eternal life organised by Abba Father in the honour of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ. The virgins represent all of us who await Jesus Christ, our bridegroom. Let us analyse what went wrong with the so-called foolish virgins. Can we call them foolish? They were called foolish because they had three misconceptions. The first was that they thought they were ready to receive the bridegroom. Anyhow, they were not fully ready because they forgot to carry the essentials, which gives meaning to their presence on that festive eve, the oil. The oil represents the good works that we are supposed to do while here on earth. At the end, when we stand before Jesus, our bridegroom, we should be ready with our accountability.
The second misconception was that they thought that the bridegroom would wait for them. However, their expectations went wrong. The bridegroom entered along with the wise virgins, who were present and ready with their lamps. If we are not able to give a proper account of our lives before the Lord, we can be sure that the Lord will not await us. That is not the time to realise that we forgot to fulfil the obligation of doing good work.
The third misconception is that the Lord will open the door for them. Nevertheless, it did not happen. The bridegroom’s response when they knocked on the door was one of indifference. They too remained indifferent, especially before their needy brethren. Every day, we are blessed with the opportunity to engage in good deeds here. God has given us the freedom, and the choice is ours. If we choose not to engage in good deeds, the Lord will respect it. After our deaths, we should be able to take responsibility for the choice that we made. There is no meaning in giving lame excuses like the foolish virgins.
Let us prepare each and every day of our lives to meet our bridegroom, Jesus Christ. Let us grow into a deeper awareness that earthly sojourn is the moment God has given us opportunities to do good deeds, and it will not happen after our deaths. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Mt. 5:7) If we fail to become witnesses to God’s mercy, he will not await us, and even our plea will not be heard. As we continue our faith journey, let us try to be the face of God’s mercy so that we may receive his mercy and cherish our banquet of love with him.