THE OIL FOR OUR LAMPS!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Weekday

by Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.

Matthew 25: 1 - 13
1	"Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
2	Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3	For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;
4	but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
5	As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6	But at midnight there was a cry, `Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.'
7	Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps.
8	And the foolish said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'
9	But the wise replied, `Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.'
10	And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut.
11	Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, `Lord, lord, open to us.'
12	But he replied, `Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.'
13	Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:

A BLESSED FRIDAY TO ALL!!!

My QUIZZES are all announced! No surprise quizzes! The reason is very simple. I want all my students to be PREPARED by reviewing their lessons deligently and will not be caught off-guard unprepared. I want them to have ample time to ask help from their classmates when they find something not clear, or they can come to see me to clarify anything before the day of the quiz will come. Moreover, I announced the quizzes for the students to come to class on time and be able to take the quiz by not being late or absent. I just want all my students to be prepared and ready for them to pass and have an excellent performance. Getting prepared is very important in getting at anything one wants to succeed or in achieving something that requires skills, talents and competence. Being unprepared always bring us into some troubles and problems.

The Gospel today once again highlights the need to be prepared for the coming of the Lord. This kind of preparedness is very crucial and important than how my students prepare for their quizzes. My quizzes are announced, but the coming of the Lord is not. The Gospel yesterday highlighted the idea of being watchful, for the coming of the Lord is like that of a thief unannounced, by presenting to us a parable that compared two kinds of servants (wicked and wise/faithful) of a household. Today, the gospel presents to us a comparison of two kinds of maidens (foolish and wise) waiting for the coming of the bridegroom at night. In these two Gospel readings, the same thread run through each other as to tie them up into having one common theme: being always on the WATCH and being PREPARED to welcome the second coming of the Lord.

The ten maidens might all be equally excited, thrilled and eager to meet the bridegroom in the darkness of the night. They do not know when will be the exact time the bridegroom would come to fetch them. But they are there in the darkness of the night waiting. However, there were five of them who were so foolish that they fail to consider bringing extra oil for their lamps. And so when the arrival of the bridegroom was delayed their oils were all consumed. Instead of securing extra oil to refill their lamps for not being so sure when will the bridegroom would arrived, they rather succumbed to slumber and sleep. When the bridegroom has finally arrived, these five foolish maidens were left in total darkness of heart for they were not there to meet the bridegroom for they were out and too late to secure oil for their dying lamps. And so they were left behind by those who join in and celebrate the wedding feast.

Jesus is challenging us today to see the awful outcome for not being prepared. Marriage is the highest expression of the intimate and mutual self-giving of two persons to each other. It must be a painful and heartbreaking experience for the foolish maidens, after a long wait, being left out by those who will share the joy of the wedding feast. The Kingdom of God can be liken to a wedding feast wherein the mutual commitment and self-giving of persons to each other is celebrated and publicly sealed. By virtue of our Baptism and Confirmation, we celebrate and publicly sealed our commitment and self-giving to Jesus. Once baptized and confirmed, we can not just back out in the middle of the night to retreat and go to the “dealers of spiritual goods” to make concessions about what we need in meeting the Lord. We can not just totally depend unto others to secure “oil” for our “lamps” in welcoming the Lord’s coming. We must always equip ourselves and be prepared all the time by carrying always our “oil” and “lamps” to meet readily the Lord anywhere and anytime. Otherwise, the door will be shut off in front of us even if in a loud voice we cry out loud to the Lord. For the Lord said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Doing the will of the Father then is the oil that will ignite our lamps to keep on burning to eternity.

For your personal comments, you can reach me through this email: sanolorenz@yahoo.com