Today’s readings: Wisdom 6, 12-16; 1 Thes. 4, 13-18; Mat. 25, 1-13.
In his Confessions, St Augustine tells the tale of his search for God, which at the beginning was not truly a search for God. His journey began with love of wisdom and it patiently followed the difficult path leading eventually to the discovery of God. Energising our souls is what we basically need in our personal journeys in order that we may truly reach out to God.
This is what today’s reading from Wisdom and what the parable of the 10 bridesmaids are about. We may be searching for God in our daily toil, but to be touched by God demands first the groundwork of a deeper love of the truth and a grounding in the authentic life.
It is not enough to have a lamp, says Jesus in the gospel. You need oil. It is not enough to say you believe and that you have faith, just because you are a Christian or because you still seek to hold on to traditions. You need the oil that energises the soul and keeps you going.
Before we speak of God in our life, we do well to examine whether we have a desire for God. That desire for God in itself gives us more stability as human beings and it makes our quest for deeper faith more human and down to earth. In the transmission of the faith to present-day society, we need first to connect with the most intimate desires that inhabit the human heart.
The Book of Wisdom today speaks of wisdom as if it was personified, very attractive, bright, “found by those who look for her, quick to anticipate those who desire her”. We live in a world of spiritual confusion, and truth is difficult to grasp. Our problem is how to navigate through the jungle of spiritual choices, how not to wait in vain and foolishly as the five bridesmaids of the gospel parable who had their lamps but not the oil to keep them on.
As Russell Reno, professor of Theology at Creighton and convert from the Episcopal Church writes, “wherever we are – dabbling in New Age spirituality or cultivating a despairing scientific materialism – we may become acutely aware of what we are not finding, but we lack the capacity to get up and start walking in the right direction”.
As we near the end of another liturgical year which symbolically encapsulates our life’s journey, it is not coincidental that the theme is wisdom. There is so much we may wish to achieve or change in life but which never materialises. It is wisdom that keeps us going and provides the power to continue to face life whatever the outcome.
The parable of the 10 bridesmaids shows how it is wisdom that prompts us on the spur of the moment what to do next, when we need to take action or decide. It also confirms the bitter truth that we only become aware that wisdom is lacking when it is too late.
In our emergencies we may ask for help and find it. But we cannot ask for wisdom. You either have it or you don’t. The gospel goes even deeper to show us that faith without wisdom is no faith at all, it’s like a lamp without oil.
In this sense today’s gospel is a wake-up call for us all to review our ways of doing things and ask whether at the end of the day the problem is really as we see it superficially, namely as lack of faith, or much deeper.
Basically we lack wisdom. We lament so much about the ineffectiveness of the faith we profess and we celebrate. Yet we may be failing to grasp that wisdom and faith go together, and that it is wisdom that gives us the insight and the foresight to read sharply what ultimately can save the world.
Something that was common to the 10 bridesmaids of the gospel, the wise and the foolish alike, was the weariness that made them all doze off as the bridegroom’s arrival was delayed. Faith alone won’t spare us from becoming weary, from doubting, from giving up. It is wisdom that ultimately makes the big difference. It is wisdom that prepares us remotely to do the sane and sensible thing at the right time.