8 November 2026 - preppers

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Is it a problem to conclude a parable where everyone fell asleep by summarizing the lesson with a command to stay awake? Not really, since what mattered to Jesus was not that the virgins kept their eyes open until the bridegroom came, but rather that they remained spiritually aware, alert, and awake. Because five of them did this they were ready to meet the bridegroom when he came. The five of them who failed to manifest this spiritual attention where not prepared. The wisdom that aided the five who were prepared was a vision of the bigger picture. They didn't get lost in the moment but saw their whole lives in the context of being ready for the coming of the bridegroom. This wisdom led them to ask what if questions that helped them to take practical steps in the face of possible challenges. It occurred that they might need a surplus of oil just in case. 

The five foolish virgins naively assumed they could make do without any extra. It is as though they hoped that their condition was good enough, while the wise five recognized that the coming of the Lord might require more from them if they were to give him a fitting reception. The wisdom of the five wise virgins allowed them to be prepared even in spite of natural human weakness, whereas natural human weakness become the final straw that prevented the necessary preparation for those who were foolish. The problem wasn't their human weakness in itself. It was their lack of awareness and failure to take it into account that was their undoing. It was as if the foolish virgins didn't realize they were the sort of people who could fall asleep, but believed they could be ready for anything at a moments notice. But the wise virgins knew the limits of their own abilities and so took appropriate precautions to be ready even if weakness overtook them.

The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. 

It has been said that our lamps are our faith and the oil makes that faith visible through good works. Jesus wants to find us faithful at his coming. But perhaps there is a way in which keeping our lamps alight goes even further in making us recognizable to him when he does. If the light is the result of faith working in love then it illumines both our own face and that of our neighbor, revealing the presence of Jesus in us both. Therefore, when we serve the lowest and the least of his brethren, in whom Jesus himself his present, he comes more and more to recognize our face. He takes our gestures as done not only for our neighbors but for him. And so we become unforgettable to him, by virtue of our response to the grace of his call.

When we have wisdom like the wise virgins we can have peace even amidst the hardest times in our lives. We may grieve, but not "like the rest, who have no hope". Instead, we see the big picture recognizing that "God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep".

We are reminded that it isn't really so much that we are chasing this wisdom so much as that it, or she, is chasing us.

because she makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her,
and graciously appears to them in the ways,
and meets them with all solicitude.

Ike Ndolo - Awake, O Sleeper