Good
evening/morning.
I
think a single word can sum up all three of our readings this evening/morning,
and that word is WISDOM. Wisdom. Our
first reading, in fact, is from the Old Testament Book of Wisdom.
But
what is wisdom? Intelligent, smart,
right? I don’t think so. A little story might help.
There
were two little boys, ages3 and 5.
Whenever the boys’ uncle would come to visit he liked to play a little
game with the 3 year old. So he’d pull
out two coins – a nickel and a dime, and he’d ask the little guy to pick one,
whichever one you pick you get to keep.
Naturally, the 3-year old picked the bigger one, the nickel. And this went on over a number of years,
every time the uncle came to visit, with the younger one picking the bigger
coin every time, until now the two boys are like 8 and 10.
The
uncle comes by, and as he usually does, he pulls out the two coins, and as he
usually does, the now 8-year old still picks the nickel. A few minutes later, with the uncle out of
the room, the older brother says, “you dummy – why do you always pick the
nickel when you know the dime’s worth twice as much.”
“I’m
no dummy,” says the younger brother.
“Unc has been giving me nickels for five years, and as soon as I pick
that dime, he’s gonna stop playing the game!”
Sisters
and brothers – that is wisdom.
It’s
far greater than smarts, or intelligence.
Wisdom
involves being able to see ahead, into the future. To understand what is going to happen. What happens if I keep going down a certain
road, if I don’t change direction?
And
wisdom involves having priorities right.
Knowing what’s important, and what’s not. What’s more valuable, and what’s less.
This
world, which thinks it’s so smart, doesn’t have its priorities straight,
doesn’t understand what’s more valuable.
And so it is, so often, with us.
We’re attracted to the immediate, the pleasurable, the shiny object, and
will so often choose that over the eternal, what will bring us eternal joy.
This
Gospel is about this sort of wisdom, isn’t it?
In Our Blessed Lord’s parable we see the five foolish virgins, and the
five wise virgins. The fools had made no
preparation for the coming of the bridegroom, while the wise were always ready.
And
that’s the simple but powerful message of all these readings, isn’t it – we
will live in a life beyond this one, and if we’re wise, we’ll wind up in the
right place.
We’ll
be prepared. Unlike this foolish world,
we will be prepared.
What
does it mean to be prepared?
First,
it means that we are careful to always be in a state of grace, free of serious
sin on our consciences. How? By our obedience when faced with those
decisions – to give in to temptations or reject them and stay faithful to the Lord.
And
for those times when we are weak, when we fail, and we are all sinners, we are
all weak and all fail, well we have a place, we have a Sacrament! - to repent and be reunited, reconciled to the
Lord, who always stands ready to welcome us back with open arms and a loving
smile. The Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Use it often!
Second,
it means that we must forgive. How can
we expect the Lord to forgive us if we hold tight the offenses others have done
against us? Too many of us grow old with
life-long grievances, unwilling or too hard-hearted to let it go, to let it be
healed. Too many of us take such
grievances to our graves, never giving the forgiveness we are counting on from
the Lord!
Third,
to be wise and prepared means we must use our time wisely – to love as He
did. We are only given so many years, so
many days, so many hours, so many breaths.
And we have no idea how many we’re given. So it’s high time we examine how we’re using
that time – is it the way He wants us to use it? Is it the way He’s calling me, calling you,
to use our precious days and hours?
Are
we giving of ourselves in loving service, or hoarding our time, talent and
treasure to ourselves?
Fourth
and finally, are we spreading His Word, His Kingdom. Sisters and brothers, you and I are IT – you
and I are THE disciples He chose to bring His Word, His kingdom to Greece, New
York, right here, right now. Are we
doing that? It’s a big job, a big
responsibility, and we might think He’s a fool to choose us, weak, sinful and
afraid as we are. But He’s no fool, and
He gives us all the help, all the grace we need.
We
don’t have much time. So we’d better get
at it, huh?
Real
wisdom can be summed up, I think, in the simple words of the psalmist – “make
me know the shortness of my life.” Wise
people know, yes often from painful experience, that life is short, life is
fragile. We saw that so tragically and
vividly in a little Baptist Church in South Texas just six/seven days ago.
But
the truly wise know that this life is not the end. The truly wise are always
ready, always hoping, always looking for the coming of the Kingdom, the coming
of the bridegroom, who is of course Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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