Be Prepared for the Lord’s Coming

11-01-2020Weekly Reflection

It is not unusual that Jesus uses a wedding feast to describe the Kingdom of God. Jewish wedding feasts are a joyous celebration and an occasion to celebrate happiness and life. The parable illustrates that those who accept and patiently await the coming of the Kingdom and respond with repentance and faith will be allowed entry when He finally comes. The foolish virgins stand for the Jewish community, which rejected the invitation of the Lord and were not ready and vigilant for His coming. And the wise virgins are those who accept and keep the commandments, Jews and members of the new Church who hear the Word and do it. The climax of a Jewish marriage tradition is the nocturnal coming of the bridegroom into the paternal house, where the wedding ceremony takes place, followed by a grand wedding feast. The groom picks up the bride in her home, and a procession leads to the house of the groom, the paternal house. The bridesmaids wait for the groom with their lighted lamps and lead the way in a festive mood.

The bridesmaids know their function, to escort the bridegroom to fetch the bride and bring her to the paternal house. The bridesmaids do not know the exact time the bridegroom will arrive. Sometimes the discussion on the dowry for the bride would last till midnight. The length and value of the dowry match the importance and the desirability of the bride.

The unpredictability of the negotiation for the dowry means that the bridesmaid must wait and prepare, for they know not the exact time of the bridegroom’s coming. When he comes, they must be ready to escort the bridegroom and his party along the road that is often dark and sometimes dangerous. Historically, Jewish marriages often happen in the late evening. The bridegroom is often delayed, caused by the difficulty of reaching an agreement on the exact dowry and other demands of the relatives of the bride.

When the wise bridesmaids refuse to share their oil with the foolish ones, the wise virgins are not being selfish but being prudent because they know what the responsibility entails. The bridesmaids try to estimate the amount of oil necessary for the entire length and duration of the procession. Often, there is no time to compensate for what is lacking. It might be too late. There are many things in life we can do only once, and there is no rehearsal. In a sense, we can only do everything just once. “Whatever we do is in God’s eyes a first performance, a rehearsal. The second rehearsal for the same final performance is in God’s eye, a new act. Every act, every performance we can do just once.”

Doing something, working hard is not enough in God’s Kingdom. We must accomplish the task assigned to us well. The foolish virgins can say that they have waited the whole night for the groom, they are very much interested in the wedding but unfortunately failed to estimate correctly the right amount of oil to bring. The main task consists of being the escort of the groom and the bride with their festive lamps or torches. Thus, to come later defeats the purpose of being chosen as a bridesmaid. Because they are no longer needed. A disciple must learn to plan and set all things for the journey, must have what it takes to finish the task, put oil in their lamps, and allow the steadfast growth in their faith. Good intention or wellmeaning is not enough; the fact of the matter and the action must support the purpose and the task. It is so disappointing if somebody lets us down. The groom must be disappointed when only half of the escort bridesmaids could make it. Reliability is one of the finest qualities in life. “Trustful people are pure at heart and moved by the zeal of their trustworthiness.”

A disciple will grow in faith not because they wish to lead the crowd safely in the journey, but because of their love for the bridegroom Christ whose wedding feast they intend to celebrate in faith, hope, and joy.