Today’s parable by Jesus (Matt 25:1-13)
reminds me of the parable we heard four weeks ago. Four weeks ago we
heard Jesus’ parable about a king inviting people to a wedding
banquet for his son (Matt 22:1-14). One man who accepted the
invitation did not dress in the wedding garment and was not allowed
to take part in the wedding feast. That parable was teaching us that
although the man had faith, he did not have
the wedding garment of
love of God and neighbor.
In today’s parable, once again there is a
wedding feast. There are ten bridesmaids. All have their lamps but
five have oil for the lamps and the other five didn’t bother to get
oil. The parable concluded with the bridegroom saying, “stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Like the parable four
weeks ago, we could say that all the bridesmaids had faith but five
weren’t ready when called to the next life. Today’s parable is a
warning not to glide through life in an unthinking way but to be
mindful of what life is all about, to be ready for the day when
Jesus will take us from this life.
Since the parable is about the spiritual life,
we could say the five bridesmaids without oil had a spiritual
illness. When we have a physical illness, we go to our doctor or to
hospital and we are diagnosed and treated so we get better. Just
like a physical illness, a spiritual illness needs to be diagnosed
and treated so we get better. One way of diagnosing and curing
spiritual illnesses that the Catholic Church has used for centuries
is thinking about spiritual illness in terms of seven deadly
(capital) sins. Each of the seven deadly sins has a virtue opposite
it that we are to grow towards (Catechism §1866). Growing towards
the corresponding virtue is the treatment to overcome the spiritual
illness of each of the seven deadly sins.
If we were to connect the five bridesmaids
without oil with the seven deadly sins, we could say they were
suffering from the first and seventh deadly sins. Sloth or laziness,
the seventh deadly sins, has its opposite, diligence. Those
bridesmaids need to overcome their laziness and be diligent. That is
easy to see but perhaps their problem is the first of the seven
deadly sins—pride. Maybe they were proud and only concerned about
themselves. Or maybe they were messed up interiorly in some way but
because they were proud, they projected a good image to cover it up,
and in that sense, they were leading a double life until it was
found out. Or maybe in their pride their problem was
self-righteousness. If pride is their problem, they need to grow in
humility to get better.
The world at this time is suffering from an
epidemic of pride. It’s an epidemic because there seems to be a
widespread ack of acknowledgment that we are creatures of God,
destined for eternal life with God, that we will not be happy unless
we put God first. We could say that all the problems in our world
are due to this epidemic of pride, not putting God first. That is
why pride is the first of the seven deadly sins. In some way, all
other problems originate with it.
The Psalm today after our first reading
expresses the sentiments of someone who has humility, who has
overcome pride, who knows our place in the world before God.
O God, you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a
dry, weary land without water.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.
For your love is better than
life,
my lips will speak your praise. (Ps 63)
It is a really beautiful psalm
expressing who we are before God, that we all have a longing for
God, that there is an ache in the heart of each one of us for God.
If people don’t realize that the ache in their heart is longing for
God, they might try to satisfy it in all sorts of ways that will
never bring happiness. We have problems in our world because people
are trying to satisfy the ache of longing for God in inappropriate
ways. The only way to satisfy the ache in our heart is to give time
to God, to put God first, to give God his due which then leads us to
love our neighbor.
When we have the humility to give God his
rightful place in our lives, then we have oil in our lamps ready to
answer God’s call whenever that may be.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2026
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Thirty-Second Sunday Year A
Oil for our lamps in readiness for the Lord 2023
Do you take the Lord as your God? I do 2020
Related Homilies: Stay awake, praying at all times
A priest’s near death experience