Sunday Meditation: Knowing the Hour

A note.  This was last Sunday’s Gospel reading.  I’m still a week behind but I should have this Sunday’s shortly.

 

For the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (31^st was passed over for All Saints Day) we see Christ in the midst of the End of Times Discourse.  In this and the next two Sundays, Jesus will recite three parables, one for each Sunday from chapter 25 from the Gospel of Matthew.  Today, the first of the parables, is the Parable of the Ten Virgins.

You know the parable.  Ten virgins with lamps are waiting for the Bridegroom to come.  Apparently there was a Jewish custom for maidens to light the way of the bridegroom’s entrance to his wedding feast.  Five virgins had oil for their lamps and five did not.  The five that had not asked for some from those who did, and they were turned down.  They had to go off to buy it for themselves.  In the meantime, the Bridegroom arrived and the five with oil lit the way.  When the other five arrived, they were shut out of the feast.

As with most parables, there are twists in the story that are paradoxical.  For one, how can the kingdom of heaven be like ten virgins?  It’s like saying my house is like a squad of baseball players.  It’s a category mistake.  And why don’t the wise virgins share their oil with the other five?  Isn’t sharing an act of kindness?  Three years ago when this reading came up, I embedded a video from Dr. Brant Pitre explaining the paradoxes.  You can find that here.

Those paradoxes make sense in parable’s symbolism.  The ten virgins stand for the preparation and waiting which are like the kingdom of heaven.  The oil that is asked to be shared can symbolize a number of things: faith, hope charity, or the Holy Spirit within you.  You can’t share any of those three.  You either have them or don’t.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Gospel:

 

Jesus told his disciples this parable:

"The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins

who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,

brought no oil with them,

but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.

Since the bridegroom was long delayed,

they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight, there was a cry,

'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'

Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.

The foolish ones said to the wise,

'Give us some of your oil,

for our lamps are going out.'

But the wise ones replied,

'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.

Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'

While they went off to buy it,

the bridegroom came

and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.

Then the door was locked.

Afterwards the other virgins came and said,

'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'

But he said in reply,

'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'

Therefore, stay awake,

for you know neither the day nor the hour."

~Mt: 25:1-13

 

 

For the exegetical homily, I will return to Fr. Tim Peters.  Father Tim does provide great exegetical homilies, but they do run long.  I can only excerpt a few passages here, but it’s worthy of a complete listen.

 

Fr. Tim:

And this is the reason why the wise virgins cannot give their oil to the foolish ones. And look at what they say. For our lamps are going out.  And the wise replied, "Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you.  Go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves." So you you're going to have to get this yourself. That's the idea.  The parable is trying to underline certain concepts of faith and when it when it comes to faith and especially the virtues of faith. I cannot give my righteous works to other people. I cannot give my faith to other people. I cannot give my repentant heart to other people. They have to repent of their sins. They have to believe in the Gospel and they have to make a decision to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. And essentially that's what's going on. There's certain things I cannot give. Repentance, faith, belief in the Gospel, and a true disposition to serve Christ. Each of us has to make that choice. And we have to ask God for those gifts. And so they send them away.

 

And when they went away to buy, you know, while they were gone, it says the bridegroom came. Okay? And the idea is very simple.  They weren't ready for the return of the bridegroom. They went away to seek what they did not have. And those who were ready went in. So the parable [is] not focusing on generosity.  [The] parable is focusing on being ready every day for Jesus to return. So they went in with him to the marriage feast. They went in with him to the great celebration that we will celebrate when Christ comes again. This great celebration is known as the marriage supper of the lamb. And it says the door was shut. In other words the situation was permanent. After the bridegroom came, the situation could not be changed. And this parable is trying to underline something beautiful about the faith that one that we always need to be ready for Jesus to come again. And we need to live the faith with that disposition and with that and if we have that disposition, it will change the way that we see the world. It will change the way that we treat others. But when Christ comes again, there will be a separation that will be permanent between the righteous and the unrighteous, the just and the unjust, faithful and the unfaithful. And what our Lord is saying in this parable is so profound. He's saying that some people just are not ready for him to return.  They're living with a lukewarm faith. They haven't really made a commitment to follow him. Their faith is a once- in a- faith, but it's not a true committed faith. They're not truly repented of their sins, and they haven't changed their lives.

 

So it says afterwards the other maidens came also saying Lord open to us. These are the maidens or virgins who weren't ready.  And he replied, “truly I say to you, I do not know you.”  And so something profound is being underlined here at the end of the parable. The bridegroom is saying to those who were not prepared, he's saying, "I don't know who you are." And this is telling us something about the faith that we live. Our faith is a true knowing of Jesus. This is what it means to be a Catholic Christian. That we live out the faith in all fullness.  Knowing the Lord, loving the Lord, and serving the Lord. That's what our faith is. A true knowing of Christ, a true loving of Christ, a true serving of Christ. And here's our Lord saying, "I don't know who you are.  You weren't living the faith in all fullness." And this is so profound. We have to ask ourselves this question.  Am I authentically living the faith in a way which is a true authentic expression of knowing Jesus.  And this is something to truly contemplate every day. The concept of knowing Christ, it comes up again in Matthew's Gospel and I want to say also chapter 13. But it's underlined a few times in Matthew's Gospel that a living faith that knows Jesus. And that's the emphasis of the parable here. The ones who are ready, the ones who have the oil, they know Christ. And so our Lord says, "Watch therefore." We live our faith in vigilance.  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day or the hour. And there's a humble vigilance that we must have where we humbly walk with Christ every day, serving him, waiting for him to return and knowing that, you know, he might come, he might come a thousand years from now, he might come tomorrow, but I'm waiting for him to return today. That's the way I'm living the faith every single day of my life. So, let's talk about why this

 

The concept of “knowing” Jesus is very profound.  The word “knowing” is used in the Old Testament as in a sexual knowing.  It has that sort of intimacy.  While it’s not used in that way here, the connotation extends to about as intimate a knowing as possible.

 

I’m going to turn to someone new for the pastoral sermon, Tanya Rybarczyk from U.S. Catholic Magazine, Sunday Reflection.

 

Tanya Rybarczyk:

As a young person, this passage was easily one of my least favorite in scripture. First, the notion of all these virgins hanging around in the dark waiting for the bridegroom annoyed me.  In my mind, I pictured them in their flowing, blinged out party dresses, all silk and crepe, having to fall asleep on the dank and dirty ground while they waited for his arrival.  And finally, his grand entrance. I pictured it on a white horse, more fairy tale than scripture, but still a superstar with all his adoring virgin fans.  And all this fussing over the oil, I couldn't help but wonder, why did every virgin have to have their own lamp?  Wasn't there enough light for them all to see by? And why couldn't those with oil share? Isn't that the Christlike virtue we all learn in kindergarten?  And why, for heaven's sake, did the virgins, who forgot their oil, need to be punished so severely?  The door shut forever on the entrance to the feast into heaven because of one forgetful moment. One little error. I remember being appalled and not a bit frightened. The questions that spun in my mind were these. Was getting into heaven so hard that one error could banish me forever from Christ's presence?

 

Thankfully, today I see the story quite differently. I see it solidly as one of anticipation and hope and love and the responsibility we owe that love.  In the framing of today's parable, Jesus is referring to early Palestinian Jewish marriage customs, which tell us that the waiting maidens are likely young family members of the bridegroom. In other words, they know him. They may have grown up with him. They have a relationship with him.  Furthermore, a delay in his arrival is to be expected because the final marriage contract needs to be negotiated before the celebration can take place.  The maidens who love the bridegroom dearly, the wise ones are excited enough in their anticipation of this event prepare.  Their focus is on their love for him and the celebration, the party that will commence upon his arrival.  The foolish virgins on the other hand and notice the word is foolish not forgetful. They don't bother to prepare.  They like the wise also know the groom but their focus is not on him or what is an important day for him. The celebration these maidens know will be coming isn't enough of a priority to pull them away from their foolish pursuits and to prepare themselves.  The foolish virgin's love for him is not the same as that of the wise.

 

Keeping vigil in today's gospel doesn't require perfection or strenuous will or ignoring bodily needs like rest or courting burnout.  It does require shining the light in the darkness, lighting the way for Christ symbolized in the bridegroom.  And in this today's parable echoes a theme we hear throughout our scriptures.  Upon his arrival, the wise maidens rise and trim the wicks of their lamps, removing the dark char of the wicks so their flames can burn bright and clear.  In this light, Christ sees them. He recognizes their faces, knows who they are in the halo of this light.  What does your lamp look like these days? Is it full of oil or running a bit low? And if low, what needs attention to keep it not only from burning out, but burning bright?  Are there steps you can take to fill that reservoir? rest, prayer, service, community.

 

I really enjoyed this.  This was excellent from beginning to end, a little jewel of a sermon!

 

 

Sunday Meditation: “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

 

This lovely hymn is appropriate for today’s message, “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.”

 

 

 

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,

In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,

Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,

Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.

 

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,

Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;

Thy justice like mountains high soaring above

Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

 

To all life Thou givest, to both great and small;

In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;

We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,

And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.

 

Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light

Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;

All praise we would render, O help us to see:

’Tis only the splendour of light hideth Thee,

 

We are wise only as we reflect God’s wisdom.

Sunday Meditation: When the Saints Go Marching In

A note.  This was last Sunday’s Gospel reading.  I’m still a week behind but I should have this Sunday’s shortly.

 

This year the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time was superseded by the Solemnity of All Saints because November 1^st fell on a Sunday.  The Gospel reading for All Saints Day are the Beatitudes because it is the saints that live out the Beatitudes to the fullest. 

The Beatitudes are blessings.  Each Beatitude describes a state such as being “poor in spirit.”  Jesus goes on to say what blessing you will acquire because of being in that state.  In the case of being “poor in spirit,’ the blessing given to you is the kingdom of God.  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

It is observed that Jesus perfectly embodies the Beatitudes.  But it can also be observed that Jesus shining through the saints enlightens their blessed state, the state of the beatific.  When we humble sinners are made saints in heaven—perhaps having the need to be purged prior—and are allowed to gaze upon the Beatific vision, then we will perfectly exhibit the Beatitudes ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Gospel:

 

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,

and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.

He began to teach them, saying:

 

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the land.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the clean of heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you

and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.

Rejoice and be glad,

for your reward will be great in heaven."

~Mt: 5:1-12

 

 

 

For the exegetical homily, I will return to Archbishop Edward Wiesenberger of Detroit.

 

Archbishop Wiesenberger:

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it happens infrequently, but when All Saints Day, a Holy Day of Obligation, falls on a Sunday, it becomes the celebration for the Sunday. And so instead of this weekend's Mass being the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Universal Church will be celebrating All Saints Day, with the Gospel text being that one we know so well, the Beatitudes. And so, let's look at both the Gospel, and also the reason for celebrating "All Saints." 

 

First, the Gospel. It's from Matthew, who, as I've often said, was writing primarily for Jewish converts to Christianity. And so, his gospel is filled with Old Testament images revealing Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, the fulfillment of all of the prophecies and hopes. Recall, too, that one of the most critical, pivotal moments in  Jewish history was when Moses went up the mountain to commune with God, and then came down from the mountain and brought back with him the Law. The Law. A great gift from God. Especially seen in that gift of the Ten Commandments. A gift that was indeed good. God doesn't give bad things. It revealed only to the Jewish people, God's chosen ones, what He desired from them at that moment in time. It revealed to them what would please God. Move forward in time to Jesus, then going up the mountain, communing with His Heavenly Father, and then coming down the mountain with the Beatitudes described as the "new law." This one, the law of love. Jesus is revealed by Matthew as the new and greater Moses. The one who, in the Beatitudes, reveals what truly and completely fulfills God's will.  What pleases God for all time. And what pleases our God is actually the reversal, the turning upside down of the secular world's sinful values. What pleases God and creates saints are those who work for peace, replacing the "might-makes-right" or glorification of violence we see in our world today. What pleases God is the humble and the poor, not so much the arrogant, or those who believe in the security of their wealth or power. What pleases God is the merciful, not those creative enough to exact vengeance.  What pleases God is the meek, those hungering for righteousness, the pure of heart, and those persecuted for their commitment to Him. Yes, these are both the signs of saints, as well as the attributes that cooperate with God's grace to create saints.

 

That's the Beatitudes, our Gospel for the day. But turning our thoughts to "why All Saints," I would note I'm influenced by the writing of Fr. Roy Donner, a very fine homilist, author, and priest of the Sacramento diocese.  He notes that Easter is clearly the greatest feast of the Church's liturgical year. We know that it's the day of the Lord's resurrection, His victory over sin and death. He then notes that the celebration of All Saints could be called a little Easter because it's the day we anticipate our own resurrection and celebrate our own victory over sin and death. And we hope to arrive at that great day having spent our lives as the great saints did; making them holy as our God is holy.  It began for each of them as it has for us.  Baptism washing our robes and making them white sin the blood of the lamb. Baptism washes away Original Sin, along with any personal sins. It opens the door to salvation. But it's not an act of magic. Rather, it's the essential foundational step upon which we then spend our lives building a relationship with God. Building upon baptism around the age of reason, we begin being fed with the Body and Blood of Christ from the Table of the Lord, the altar of Sacrifice. The fathers of the Second Vatican Council referred to the Eucharist as the "Source and Summit" of our Christian life. It's the Eucharist that strengthens us and, with our cooperation, further fashions us into the saint God created each of us to be. The final sacrament that initiates us into full and complete relationship with the Father is the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Those seven gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and reverential fear of God. Those seven gifts are attributes only Jesus enjoys in their fullness. But He shares them with us uniquely in Confirmation, even if in a host of lesser, but still miraculously important ways by grace.

 

Brothers and sisters, with this background, these three Sacraments of Initiation build that very relationship with God. They help to bring to completion the works of salvation begun on that first Easter in Jesus himself. They help us to be poor in spirit. They help us to be empathetic toward those who grieve. They empower us to be meek and unassuming in our relationships, to be pure in our motives, to be peacemakers through reconciliation, and to be courageous in defending our Lord's teachings and values in the face of persecution.

 

We become saints as we are transformed into the state of blessedness, into the Beatitudes.

For the pastoral sermon, we go not to a priest’s homily but to a video from Catholic Saints and Feasts.

 

Catholic Saints & Feasts:

November 1st, All Saints.  Heaven is populated with holy people known to God alone.  Martyrs were so revered in the early church that their places and dates of death were sanctified by the candles, prayers, and votive offerings of the faithful, grateful for their witness.  So many were the martyrs, though, that by the early 4th century, it became impossible to solemnize each individually on the church's crowded calendar. There thus arose over centuries and in different ways in different regions the custom of commemorating the memory of all the holy ones on one specific day of the year. By the early 8th century, the feast of all saints was celebrated in Rome on November 1st. The feast was extended to the entire church in the next century.

 

The church defines a saint as a soul enjoying the beatific vision in heaven. So besides the famous saints found on the universal calendar and the lesser known saints not on that calendar, there are still many more souls in heaven not officially recognized as saints at all. These are the saints we celebrate in a particular way today.  The Solemnity of all Saints commemorates all those holy men, women, children, martyrs, confessors, and unknown others who lived lives of such holiness that upon death, they either entered directly into God's presence in heaven or duly purified their soul of every imperfection in purgatory before then advancing into his presence.  All star saints such as St. Augustine and St. Francis of Assisi stand shoulder to shoulder in heaven with forgotten grandmas, quiet uncles and unknown martyrs.  These unrecognized but holy souls did not convert entire tribes, found religious communities, or have their bones crushed by the jaws of lions in the arena. Maybe they just kept their mouth shut when they had just the right words to humiliate a family member.

 

It is difficult to be a saint!  But with God’s grace, may we all reach that blessed state.

 

Sunday Meditation: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven."

 

Let’s go with what all accounts are from a saintly man, Louis Armstrong, playing and singing, “When The Saints Go Marching In.”

 

O, when the saints go marching in,

O, when the saints go marching in.

Lord, I want to be in that number

when the saints go marching in.

 

Man, you have to have God’s grace shining through you to play like that.  May we all be in that number! 

Photo Essay: St. Mary of Providence

I was invited to the annual meeting for the Eastern Province of the Lay Dominicans which doubled as a retreat.  It spanned from Thursday evening and concluded Sunday morning after Mass of the last weekend in October, Sunday being November 1^st, All Sou’s Day.  The meeting/retreat was held at St. Mary of Providence in Elverson, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles west of Philadelphia.  It was a beautiful fall weekend with perfect though unusually warm weather.

St. Mary of Providence is a facility centered around the Langoma Mansion, the former mansion of the Potts family and now run by the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence.  The mansion was built in the 1890s by Joseph D. Potts, who died before it was completed in 1897 but taken over by his son William and his family.  The Daughters of St. Mary of Providence took possession in 1948.  You can read its history. 

This was an honest to true, real life mansion!  Other than some museum that might have once been a mansion, I had never been in one, let alone slept in one.  According to the website it says it has 76 rooms.  It had an East Wing and a West Wing connected by family rooms.  Each wing had a spiral staircase which must have gone up three or four floors.  Each area had an abundance of fireplaces. 

I am going to share a large number of photos I took while there.

Let’s start with the outside of the mansion.

Inside between the two wings on the ground floor is the Dining Room.

If you don’t get the scope of the room from the picture, that’s three long dinner tables with ten places each with a chandelier above each table and plenty of room after the tables to fit more tables.  You can see one of the fireplaces in that picture.  The second identical fireplace is by the first table.  Here is a close up.

In between the two fireplaces is the entrance to the solarium.

We held a number of our informal discussions in the solarium.

Each wing had an identical spiral staircase.  Here are pictures of the west wing’s.

I can imagine Scarlett O'Hara of Gone with the Wind coming down those stairs!

I did not see what the regular bedrooms were like but I was told some had four or five beds in a room.  I for one was given a servant’s bedroom, a very humble and spare room.

I felt quite at home in the little room, and the simplicity of it did good for my humility.  Outside my window was the chicken coop, and I got to hear some roosters crow in the morning.  Here are the chickens from my window.  That little structure is part of the coop.

I was quite fascinated with the chickens, and so I went down and took some pictures of the coop.

Breakfast included eggs of various sizes and colors, and I suspect they were fresh from the flock.

Off to the side of the chicken coop was what I thought a strange structure, a round, stone tower.

I asked Sister Brenda, one of the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence who runs the facility, what the tower was used for.  She said the bells are now located inside, and we did get bell chimes at various hours of the day.  She said at one time it served as a water tower to provide water pressure for the facilities.  It would rank as the most beautiful water tower I have ever seen.  Here is the tower at sunset.

My time there was just perfect autumn days at the height of fall colors.  Here are some gorgeous pictures of the grounds.

Goodness.  Some of those are breathtaking.  Could heaven be this beautiful?

The grounds were filled with all sorts of Catholic statues for devotion.  From my other bedroom window, I could see a statue of St. Joseph.  

The first picture was snapped from my bedroom, the second outside where I had a better angle.

There was the Good Shepherd.

Behind the statues of the Good Shepherd were the Stations of the Cross.

And inside the little stone hut nearby was the Resurrection.

I couldn’t see the light switch, so I snapped the photo in the dark.

Elsewhere there was a set of statues for Fatima.

And a display for Lourdes.

Finally, there was a display for the rosary with a plaque for each of the twenty mysteries similar to those for the Stations of the Cross.  Unfortunately night had settled and it was so dark I only took a picture of Our Lady of the Rosary which stood in the center.

It was not my last night when I took that picture, so I figured I would return the next day with better light for the mysteries.  Unfortunately I never got the chance.

But I was blessed to have the chance to spend three days there.  I certainly recommend you do if you can.

These were a lot of pictures for one post.  I hope you enjoyed them.