Reflection for September 1, Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time: Matthew 25:1-13

Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13

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.”

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Reflection:

What is the advantage of being prepared? We are always ready for what may happen during any time of the day.  

Jesus said to his disciples: stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour (Matthew 25:13). Indeed, nobody knows the moment of the Lord’s coming, that’s why it is a must that we are always prepared by following The Lord’s teachings. We must avoid doing things that would make us sin.  

It is very easy to say that we are always prepared for His coming but sometimes it is only lip service without real conviction to do so. We are easily tempted to sin again, to hurt people again, to ignore those who are in need again most especially the poor. And to be egoistic and have that superiority mindset again.   

Many of us are like that, we are only prepared for a short period of time and then we sin again. Why is this so and what must we do to avoid backsliding to our sinful behaviors again? We must have a continuous encounter with Jesus through our attendance at Holy Mass, through our prayers, through reading the Bible. For this is the only way for us to keep ourselves from backsliding into sinfulness again.  Hence, we would always be prepared.  

In the gospel, we read about the ten virgins, five of them were foolish and five were wise. Those who were wise came prepared by bringing along extra flask of oil. So that their lamps would be lighted if ever the bridegroom would arrive late.  

And true enough the bridegroom came in late for the wedding feast. But the five wise virgins had no problem because they had an extra flask of oil for their lamps.   For this reason, the five wise virgins were allowed entry to the wedding feast to witness the ceremony. What happened to the other five who were foolish? They were not allowed entry by the bridegroom. Why? Because they were not prepared.  

Our continuous engagement with sin makes us unprepared for the coming of the Lord. The same continuous engagement with sin will not allow us entry into heaven when our time is up in this world.  – Marino J. Dasmarinas