Gazing admiringly at Nazareth
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, rightly portrayed as a model of virtue, and which will stay so till the end of times. Thanks to their supreme example of faith and love, families in our times too can, against all odds, aspire to grow in wisdom and divine favour, if only we fulfil God’s precepts and labour honourably.
In the First Reading (Gen 15: 1-6, 21: 1-3), Abraham and Sarah are precursors to the Holy Family of Nazareth. Abraham was tenth in the descent from Noah and like him kept the faith. When directed to leave his native Ur of the Chaldees (near present-day Baghdad) for an unknown land, Canaan, Abraham did so ungrudgingly. God promised to make him the father of His people Israel, and they would multiply like the stars of heaven. But since until a decade later he was still childless, his overaged wife, anxious to accomplish the Abrahamic covenant, permitted her Egyptian slave Hagar to sleep with Abraham, and she bore him a child, Ishmael.[1]
When Ishmael was fourteen, Sarah, who was ninety-nine and her husband a centenarian, gave birth to Isaac. It could only happen by Sarah’s faith, as the Second Reading (Heb 11: 8, 11-12, 17-19) emphasises. Years later, the near-sacrifice of the same Isaac on Mount Moriah would be another highpoint, however paradoxical, of the couple’s faithful obedience to God’s Word. How was Abraham expected to sacrifice his only son who was destined to continue the family line? The Letter to the Hebrews states, very perceptively: “He [Abraham] was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.”
God speaks to us in myriad ways, sometimes in paradoxes, obviously to test our faith. His ways are not our ways; his logic not ours. Yet faith is not blind obedience to random demands from human institutions but a willing surrender to God’s will; it is an interior disposition rooted in the certainty that God who is ever faithful fulfils His promises. Scores of things happen that we fail to make sense of at first; they are not of our making nor to our liking, but there comes a point when everything begins to fall into perspective and we feel at peace. So, if the world mock at us and we feel helpless, let it be; like Chesterton’s Donkey, we ought to keep our secret still.
Today’s Gospel text (Lk 2: 22-40) presents two other wise individuals who lived by faith. To Simeon, the last prophet of the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit had revealed that he would not die before seeing “the consolation of Israel”. So, when he recognised the Messiah on the day of the purification, he sighed: “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace… for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” And likewise, the elderly widow Anna spoke of Him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
The ending of today's text evokes the joy of innocence: “And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon Him.” It was not their will, but God’s will that mattered. Jesus was above all of the Temple’s structures and rites, yet He submitted Himself to the Mosaic law regarding the first-borns. That is a picture of a religious duty properly fulfilled by parents who can thus serve as living examples of faith and integrity to the younger generations. And Like Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna, too, belong to the small remnant of Israel who live their faith in humility and faithfulness to God’s law. In our day and age, alas, we too are a small remnant, aren't we?
May God grant such gratifying experiences to every parent and child in our menacing world so full of uncertainty and turmoil. Isn't it absurd that the awful spectre of war should loom over God’s own country that gave birth to the Prince of Peace? But that is a paradox that can be resolved when we seek the theology of history. God forever upholds His covenant with us if we remember, as Abraham and Sarah did, that He is our God and we fulfil the law. They conceived, achieving what two dudes never will, try as they might!
The remarkable example of the Holy Family of Nazareth has never been more pertinent than today. It speaks not to individual families alone but to the world as a whole; and it speaks not to the domestic church alone but to the Universal Church. Let us realise that, even while pious appeals are issued to families to aspire for holiness, the very institution of the Family, which is the basic unit of society, is on the point of being destroyed by the stroke of a Vatican pen…. But we are not to lose hope, for popular wisdom has it that God writes straight with crooked lines.
[1] Ishmael and his mother Hagar left to chart a future of their own.
Waiting in faithfulness and love
What a joy it is to reach the fourth and last Sunday of Advent! The season is a run-up to the arrival of the Messiah at Christmas and a prefiguring of His Second Coming at an unknown time in the future. It behoves us to wait in hope, and like the poor shepherds on that cold winter night on the hills of Bethlehem, we too will be let in on the divine secret.
The First Reading taken from the Second Book of Samuel (7: 1-5, 8b-11, 16) recalls the time when God had handpicked David from his pastoral calling to become king of Israel. The man after God’s own heart, who was favoured with peace and happiness, now wished to return the favour by upgrading the shelter of the Ark of the Covenant. He opened his heart in this regard to prophet Nathan.
But then, that very night God unfolded His plan to build the royal house of David as a temple to the Living God. It is another matter that subsequent generations were unfaithful; they lost the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple built by David’s son Solomon was destroyed. God renewed his covenant yet again, by sending His Only Son Jesus (as Son of David) to be born in Mary’s womb (the temple or tabernacle) and establish God’s kingdom (not a political one).
Unfortunately, the Jews unfolded their own story of unfaithfulness. They unceremoniously rejected the Messiah. No wonder, the Temple that had been rebuilt was destroyed (70 A.D.) and the Jews dispersed, suffering persecution worldwide. This is in stark contrast to Mary who was faithful. She gave her fiat, convinced that she was part of a Godly plan, and famously said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” That is the highpoint of today’s Gospel text (Lk 1: 26-38).
Let us learn from Mary. Even when we find it difficult to suspend our judgement and wear God’s thinking cap, try we must, for that is when God steps in and unfolds our personal roadmaps. We are called through Baptism and the other Sacraments to have a peek into that mystery. And a fuller understanding of it will come in due time.
That is why, St Paul in the Second Reading (Rom 16: 25-27) gives glory to God for “the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages.” This time around, it stands revealed to the Jews and pagans alike; it is the plan of eternal salvation wrought through His Son Jesus Christ. It is realised through the Cross, against all expectations, and manifested by the proclamation of the Gospel by the Apostles. And likewise, Mary continues to guide the Church by her supreme example of faithfulness.
Waiting for someone is a sign of faithfulness and love. And eventually God rewards humankind with “the gift of God Himself”, as Pope John Paul II says in his encyclical Redemptoris Mater, talking about the Virgin Mary: “The fullness of grace announced by the angel means the gift of God himself.” Hence, until Christmas, which is a few hours away, and until the Lord’s Second Coming, we can do nothing better than chant: “I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.”
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A command called ‘Rejoice!’
Today is Gaudete Sunday. It comes with the good news that we are created by God to rejoice in Him. It’s a command. That’s what Gaudete means: Rejoice!
But then, why are we so often at the end of our tether? And can we afford to rejoice when the world is in a shambles and our personal lives awry? Yes, we can, for Christian joy is not bound to our whims, nor does it depend on how smoothly life is going; it doesn't depend on our bank balance or on how well our house is decorated, at Christmas or other times. Joy comes from accepting God’s will for us and feeling complete and fulfilled in our Christian vocation.
It is also important to note that Christian joy is not about frolicking but thanksgiving; it’s not about praying only when trials and temptations, pain and suffering come our way, but about having the Lord before our eyes at all times. So, feeling miserable is about having failed to rejoice in the Lord in the first place. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the be-all and end-all of our life. Thus, Christian joy is basically a spiritual, not a material, joy; it is an inner joy that spills out into externals, and not the other way round.
In the First Reading (Is 61: 1-2a, 10-11), the Prophet is upbeat about the Lord anointing him to bring good tidings to the afflicted; to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of His vengeance. Above all, the Lord’s promise to have righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations is a cause for joy.
Here, “the year of the Lord’s favour” and “the day of the vengeance of Our Lord” may sound contradictory. It must therefore be clarified that while the former referred to the restoration of God’s people from Babylonian captivity (comparable to the “year of Jubilee” when liberty was proclaimed throughout the land, in Leviticus 25); the “day of the vengeance of Our Lord” refers to the time when God will judge His enemies on the last day. Favour and vengeance will go hand in hand, as God’s mercy and justice always do.
Isaiah's New Testament counterpart, John the Baptist, too, was happy to be anointed by the Lord. Today, St John the Evangelist (Jn 1: 6-8, 19-28) speaks of him as having been sent by God to bear witness to the Light, Jesus Christ. St Mark’s Gospel last Sunday described him as a man clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather girdle around his waist and surviving on locusts and wild honey; and today, we get to know him a little better through St John.
When questioned about his identity, the self-effacing Baptist made it clear that he was not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor even a prophet… “I am the voice crying in the wilderness”, he said, very simply, and quoting Isaiah, exhorted the people to “make straight the way of the Lord.” He clarified that whereas he baptised with water, among them stood One who would baptise them with the Holy Spirit and fire (cf. Lk 3: 16).
From Lk 4: 21 we know that, in the temple, after reading out that marvellous passage from Isaiah, Jesus commented: “This passage of Scripture has come true today, as you have heard it being read”, meaning that He was the long-awaited Messiah whose coming -- filled with the Good News of Salvation -- heralded the “year of the Lord’s favour” in modern times.
It is a pity that, like the Jews of yore, we too sometimes fail to pay attention to the One standing among us; we fail to hear the Good News. Yet, Jesus is invariably in the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the homeless, the sick, and those oppressed for speaking the Truth…. For whatsoever we do to the least of our brethren, we do unto Him!
But let bygones be bygones. Let us resolve to be different from now on. It is never too late to turn a new leaf, make a new start. Let us believe and trust in the Lord always, give Him praise and thanks for all that He means to us. Let us not think of Jesus only when Christmas is round the corner. Rather, let us look forward to Christmas in the perspective of His Second Coming and be ready to receive Him in His glory.
That is why St Paul's advice (Thes 5: 16-24) bears repetition: “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you… hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil.” That will ensure we will be blameless and joyful at the Second Coming.
Joy is a consoling certainty for us whose God is close to us and ever present in our midst. He is Emmanuel, God with us!
Preparing the way of the Lord
‘Prepare the way of the Lord’ is the refrain of today’s three Readings. That is what God said to His people in the Old Testament and the Evangelist repeats in the New. And that is also what God says to all men and women of goodwill today.
The Readings are most apt, for Advent is a time to change ourselves for the better, to renew our aspirations for things from on high, to convert our hearts and minds to God and neighbour. Thus, preparing the way of the Lord always brings joy and fulfilment.
God’s message through the Prophet Isaiah in the First Reading (Is 40: 1-5, 9-11) must have greatly soothed the nerves of his enslaved lot. God promised the Jews liberation from their exile in Babylon and worked out a plan for their return to the land of their ancestors. Obviously, the people’s collaboration was a must if they were to find peace and salvation; and it is equally true today, for us who are enslaved by materialism and godlessness. It calls for renunciation of sin and a radical change of heart on our part, in anticipation of God’s forgiveness and continued love.
That is the Good News of Salvation (or Gospel). Today, St Mark (1: 1-8) points to John the Baptist as that divine messenger sent to “prepare the way of the Lord” and to “make his paths straight” – that is to say, help people adopt a course of behaviour in keeping with the Lord’s commandments. The essential condition is that we repent for our sins and confess them. To restore our relationship with our Divine Master, we have to avail ourselves of the sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist.
What better time to do so than now? Christmas is a reminder of that uncertain time in the future when we will see God face to face. So, Advent is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the commemoration of Christ’s Nativity at Christmas every year and for the return of Christ at the Second Coming. When will this be? It could happen at any time: it could take a second or an eternity.
Meanwhile, let’s realise that Jesus comes into our hearts every single day; so, every single day is a preparation for that moment in our personal and collective lives when the Lord will appear to us in person.
St Peter in the Second Reading (2 Pet 3: 8-14) reminds us that “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” We may think that He is slow to come, but He is not; what we perceive as a delay could well be an extended time for preparation, a bonus to be grateful for. Are we going to make use of it effectively? The Lord does not wish that any of His children should perish but that all should reach repentance.
What matters most is a quiet but earnest spiritual preparation; hence, the refrain: “Prepare the way of the Lord”. Our Lord does not expect us to merely prepare a way for Him, by means of a loud and pompous celebration. It is, unmistakably, a straight and narrow path of patience and prayer.
Watchful and Happy
To be watchful and happy was the priest’s clarion call at a death anniversary Mass I attended yesterday, the last day of the liturgical year. The inspired celebrant referred to the apocalyptic times, as suggested by the day’s Readings, and then spoke with unction about the dispositions proper to the new liturgical season beginning today: Advent. It is a time to be happy, but as in life in general, we ought not to lower our guard, for only watchfulness can ensure true happiness, he said.
Today’s Gospel text (Mk 13: 33-37) echoes that message as Our Lord exhorts us: “Take heed, watch and pray: for you do not know when the time will come.” This is the final part of Jesus’ eschatological discourse, occasioned by a disciple’s praise for the built heritage of Jerusalem. “Look, teacher, what stones and what buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down.” Well, what words and what foretelling! In 70 A.D., the Romans destroyed the city and the Temple.
As an upshot of the parables heard on the last three Sundays, “when the time will come” does not refer as much to the forthcoming Christmas Day as it does to the Parousia or Second Coming. Jesus compares the situation to a man on a journey: when he returns, unannounced, wouldn’t he like to find the doorkeeper on guard rather than asleep? He could arrive in the evening, at midnight, cockcrow or in the morning – the four parts or vigils of the night – 18-21 hours; 21-24 hours; 0-3 hours; 3-6 hours, respectively. Likewise, Our Lord will come at a time least expected of Him; so, “Watch!”
The first Sunday of Advent sees the return of the season’s best-known Prophet: Isaiah. He is no sentimental softie. In the First Reading (Is 63: 16b-17; 64, 1.3b-8), pointing to the Lord’s kindness as a cause for humans to go astray and not fear Him, he urges the Lord's early coming: “O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence.” He compliments those who “wait for Him” and implores Him to not leave people to their iniquities, for “thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art the potter; we are all the work of thy hand.”
Truly, who are we without the Divine Potter? Only dust. Yet, how quickly we forget Him who has made us! We act with arrogance and offend Him night and day, whereas those who fear the Lord beseech Him: “God of Hosts, turn again, we implore; look down from heaven and see. Visit this vine and protect it, the vine your right hand has planted.” (Ps. 79: 15-16)
Finally, St Paul (1 Cor 1: 3-9) thanks God for the spiritual gifts with which He has enriched his mission. However, we know that graces do not come at once; like yeast, they are meant to grow till the glorious revelation of Our Lord Jesus Christ. God who has called us into the fellowship of His Son will sustain us guiltless till the “Day of Our Lord”. And how is the Apostle so sure that this will happen? He first visited his people two millennia ago, just as the prophets had announced, and will keep his promise to visit us again!
Everything happens in His time; all we need to do is keep watch. Simple shepherds once did so in Bethlehem and became harbingers of the Good News. While watchfulness is a laudable Christian attitude, Parousia, however, must never become a cause for fear, anxiety or any morbid curiosity.
Likewise, let us not make externals the focus of Christmas; instead, let us establish our hearts in holiness at the coming of Christ (1 Thes 3: 13). It is not for nothing that, before His departure, Our Lord and Master spoke of vigilance. In vigilance and patient persistence lies the secret of eternal bliss.
Glorious end, splendorous beginning
Today is the thirty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time and last of the liturgical year. Whereas ‘thirty-four’ is just another number, ‘last’ might arouse emotions. Hence, after experiencing a year of highs and lows, or a spectrum of emotions produced by the liturgical seasons, it is time we declared Our Lord Jesus Christ as the king of our minds and hearts. Which could be another way of looking at Christ as Universal King.
To many today it may feel outdated and pointless to think in terms of kingship. That is because those with vested interests have led us to question that old and deep-rooted tradition. It is undeniable, however, that kingship goes back to the Old Testament where God was keen on a godly leader to shepherd His people. The choice of David who was a shepherd in the literal sense brought alive the concept of a later shepherd-king who would be the Messiah. But particularly in our day and age, the idea is not to be confined to the spiritual realm but rather to be contrasted with phoney leadership in the secular realm.
From the First Reading (Ezek 34: 11-12, 15-17) it is amply clear that a true king ought not to be oppressive or tyrannical (as the kings of Israel indeed were, in the days about which Ezekiel writes); on the contrary, a good king ought to be sincerely interested in the welfare of his people, and like a shepherd, zealously guard his flock, of which Psalm 23 is the epitome. The Lord says that He Himself will seek out and rescue His scattered sheep. He will “feed them in justice” and, very importantly, “judge between sheep and sheep, rams and he-goats”.
That feeds into the Gospel idea of the Last Judgement as depicted in the last of the trilogy of parables (Mt 25: 31-46) that Our Lord related before He walked up to Calvary. The Lord announces that “before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will place the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at the left.”
As in the parables read last two Sundays, those who by their acts of love (corporal works of mercy) towards the little ones please the Lord will be rewarded: “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”. On the other hand, judging between sheep and sheep, those who have not proved worthy of God will be cursed “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil”. Strong words that we cannot afford to pass over.
In short, if the unrighteous will go away into eternal punishment and the righteous into eternal life, it befits us to consider whether we are ready for the day of reckoning – whose time we do not know! Are we prepared to set our eyes on Heaven and sacrifice some things on earth? Now is the time and the moment to decide. This Advent, only a profound spiritual preparation will qualify us to receive the Lord God of Hosts at Christmas.
How well the Second Reading (1 Cor 15: 20-26, 28) rewinds to the time when Adam, who brought death to humankind, and races back to when Jesus the New Adam brought us new life! St Paul was talking about the resurrection of the dead, about all that stands depleted and will be vivified by the Son of God. It is not physical death alone but the death of our consciences that is at stake and which only the Lord can heal.
Finally, behold the history of the future: Jesus, after destroying every rule and every authority and power, and having reigned until He put all His enemies under his feet, He will destroy death and deliver the kingdom to God the Father. And then, “when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be everything to everyone”.
Today we are given a foretaste of a glorious end that will herald a splendorous new beginning, through Jesus Christ Our Lord and Universal King.
Good and Faithful Servants
Still on the theme of wisdom, on this penultimate Sunday of the liturgical year, the Church urges us to plough through life with faith and hope in the Lord. Goodness and faithfulness pay dividends.
The First Reading (Prov. 31: 10-13, 19-20, 30-31) sings a paean to the feminine gender. It provides a model of a worthy wife far more precious than jewels! She does all she can for her husband and family. Her worth goes beyond mere beauty and charm, for she is strong, skilful, hardworking, trustworthy, and above all, charitable and God-fearing. A wife, mother and homemaker like that is wisdom personified. She deserves to receive her hard-earned reward and to be praised in public for what she has accomplished.
In a male dominated Israel, women must have welcomed those verses as a breath of fresh air. In our day and age, however, they may be dismissed as a load of hot air. But that is a flawed reading, for the same degree of virtue is expected of man as well. And perhaps the best earthly reward a woman can hope for is a like-minded husband, whose responsibilities the Evangelists and St Paul have carefully delineated. Man and woman thus qualify to work hand in hand to instal the values of the kingdom of heaven here on earth.
Even though Psalm 128: 1-5 dwells upon the blessings in store for the God-fearing, we hasten to point out that fear of the Lord is not a negative feeling but one of reverential respect. It is a life-giving, not a paralysing, awe, which helps us stay on track and not depart from the Lord’s precepts. Such a benevolent fear is a far cry from the useless servant’s neurotic fear, as seen from the Parable of the Talents that makes up today’s Gospel text.
In the said Parable (Mt 25: 14-30), a man going on a journey for an unspecified period of time (symbolic of Jesus, whose Second Coming we await) entrusts his talents to his three servants. Interestingly, a talent was then a denomination of weight (of any precious metal), not a natural aptitude or skill, as we know it now.[1] And how did the threesome look after the traveller’s estate? The two to whom he had assigned five and two talents, respectively, traded intelligently and doubled their number, whereas the servant to whom only one had been delegated miserably failed to even make a start…. Truly, from those who have received much, much is asked for in return, both on earth and in Heaven: a good reason not to quibble about uneven distribution!
When we look at those talents as material wealth, we at once understand that it is natural that we grow them. But then, when we regard them as abilities, be they physical, social or intellectual, with which God has endowed His children: how many cultivate them, let alone be grateful for them? How many are used for the common or greater good, be it in church or civil society, to help usher in the kingdom of God?
To judge whether or not some activity is worthwhile, the Gospel values should be our benchmark. Such an attitude would emphasise sharply the precepts of God’s kingdom. It would also embolden us to share our light and not hide it under a bushel.... Are we, then, good stewards of the spiritual software that God has provided us with? Do we value the Sacraments, cherish the Word of God, follow the Commandments? In other words, are we committed Christians?
We can’t afford to take it easy. Hence, in the Second Reading (1 Thess 5: 1-6), St Paul stresses the importance of vigilance, stating that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” The Day of the Lord is a concept that comes down from the prophetic and apocalyptic visions of the Old Testament. The Apostle proceeds in opposites, letting us see that the more we think there is “peace and security”, the more we are surprised by disasters. Which makes of Jesus our one and only spiritual insurance. So, even if a situation looks bleak, the children of the light will see the thief coming, as long as they remain “alert and sober”.
Eternal vigilance is indeed the price of liberty. When there is no vigilance, individuals, families and associations, press, education and the war against forces of evil stand compromised and the Kingdom jeopardised. And considering that the roll will be called up at the Final Judgement (cf. next Sunday’s Gospel at Mt 25: 31-46), happy are those who, like Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil, can say:
E entre visões de paz, de luz, de glória,
sereno aguardarei no meu jazigo
a justiça de Deus na voz da história!
(And amidst visions of peace, of light and of glory,
Serenely will I await in my tomb
the justice of God in the voice of history!)
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
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[1] For the etymology of the word ‘talent’, see https://www.oed.com/dictionary/talent_n?tl=true
With Joy and Anticipation
Several themes emerge from the Readings of the thirty-second and third last Sunday of the liturgical year: commitment, faithfulness, perseverance, readiness. Since they are all hallmarks of the wise, Wisdom may well be considered the overriding idea.
The First Reading (Wis 6: 12-16) is about divine wisdom. The anonymous author of the deuterocanonical Book of the same name effectively resolves the question of the happiness of the just and the misery of the unjust. Placed as he was in an ambience that prized a materialistic lifestyle, he counters it with a rational basis for a life of faith.
The said author was possibly a Jew based in Alexandria, an Egyptian city that was in the grip of worldly-wise Hellenism. To the Greeks, wisdom was only a means to divine knowledge and contemplation, whereas to our author wisdom was indeed a way of life. He goes on to identify wisdom with the Spirit of God. This is one of the many aspects of our religion that makes it hugely different from the idolatrous ones.
Wisdom is thus a form of divine revelation; it is God acting in the history of the world created by His wisdom. Wisdom has prefigured the love of God and culminated in Jesus Christ, who is therefore called the “Wisdom of God” (cf. 1 Cor 1: 24, 30). It is this Wisdom Incarnate who exhorts us in the Parable of the Ten Virgins: “Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
These words wrap up today’s Matthew-exclusive Gospel story (Mt 25: 1-13) of a sundown wedding ceremony. Traditionally, a bridegroom, his family and friends would walk to the bride’s home for some rites. Thereafter, the bride would walk back with them, in a nuptial procession wending through the streets, to the groom’s home. The attendees carried their own torches, and on arrival, bridesmaids welcomed and assisted the bride.
Interestingly, the parable makes no mention of the bride: maybe because the story begins with the groom’s return journey. Besides, the focus is not on the bride but on the preparedness of the bridesmaids. And at what time the bridal party would arrive at the groom’s house was anybody’s guess; so, it was necessary for the bridesmaids to be in readiness. Sadly, five of them were not; the five haves refused to share, so the have-nots scurried for oil at the last minute. They were locked out and disowned by the groom.
When, where and why did Jesus tell this parable? It is a continuation of a dialogue Jesus was engaged in with his disciples (cf. Mt 24) regarding the end times. He wanted them to know that the ten (number of completion) virgins (all Christians, and symbolising purity) who have the oil (grace) when the groom (Saviour) comes again will be invited to the wedding feast (Kingdom of Heaven). Of course, Jesus is the Bridegroom, and His Bride, the Church (a variation of God as Husband of Israel, in the Old Testament).
As for us in real time, what should we find ourselves doing as and when the world ends? Nothing special; we should be going about our daily life normally. And what about those who have gone before us? In the Second Reading (1 Thes 13-18), St Paul states that we have no reason “to grieve as others do who have no hope.” To show that our ancestors have not died in vain, he says: “The dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so, we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”
However, to be able to comfort one another, we ought to be one in mind and heart! Are all Christians on the same page as regards doctrine? Are the Ten Commandments cherished and practised? Do we think about Heaven, the angels and the saints as a living reality? Do we believe that we ought to know God, love and serve Him? Can we say with the Psalmist, “For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God”? Are sin and grace for real, or inanities?
As we approach the end of yet another liturgical cycle, the Readings of the last three Sundays (12, 19 and 26 November) veer towards the nature of God’s kingdom in the end time, in Matthew 25: the parable of ten virgins (Mt 1-13), the parable of talents (Mt 14-30), and the parable of the last judgment (Mt 31-46), respectively. With this excellent runup to Advent, let us wait with joy and anticipation for the Lord’s coming.
Authentic and Zealous
The Temple of Jerusalem is an important reference point. The one built by Solomon was destroyed in 587 B.C. when the Babylonians torched the city and sent the Judean leaders into exile to Babylon. In 539 B.C. Cyrus, king of Persia, absorbed the Babylonian empire and permitted the Jews to rebuild the temple in their land. On reconstructing the temple in c. 515 B.C., the Jews enjoyed an era of peace but soon became apathetic as regards the divine cult.
Hence, in the First Reading (Mal 11, 22 – 12, 2), Prophet Malachi (the last in the traditional list of minor prophets) censures the people and more so the priests, who were leaders and interpreters of the Scriptures. His discourse begins with an accusation and ends with a sentence: “O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the Lord of Hosts, then I will send the curse upon you.”
No doubt, we could extend this to ourselves, for we all have the priestly vocation; but here Malachi addresses the sacramental priesthood in particular. His words make one stop in one’s tracks; hence, nothing more dare I say except hope and pray that we turn a new leaf.
Whereas Malachi observes that the priests have been teaching wrong doctrine and misguiding the people, in the Gospel (Mt 23: 1-12) Jesus states that the scribes and the Pharisees have been teaching the law but failing to practise it. They who sat on Moses’ seat – as teachers and leaders – had the moral duty to practise the law (“heavy burdens” or duties) that they imposed on their people. Jesus draws a long list of tricky situations involving those erring leaders and ends with a startling principle: “He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Meanwhile, what did Jesus mean by those intriguing words, “father” and “master”? Is there a ban on their use? Jesus only reminds us that none should usurp the authority that belongs to God, our Father, and Himself, our Divine Master.
St Paul in the Second Reading (1 Thes 2: 7-9, 13) states what it takes to be an apostle: self-sacrifice. However, we must realise that we should not exploit the apostle’s gentleness and mercy; on the contrary, the people ought to show authenticity, fairness, reciprocity, sincerity, gratitude.
Our human condition, fragile as it is, does not make life easy, nor does the Word of God easily sink into us and transform us. That is why what happened millennia ago repeats itself. On the other hand, we must not be discouraged but persevere in letting the Word bear fruit in us. Our reference point is no longer the physical Temple of Jerusalem; Jesus teaches us to live as living temples of God, authentic and zealous.
Love: for God’s sake
As we continue reading from the Gospel of St Matthew (22: 34-40), we see how Jesus counters his adversaries. He had just finished silencing the Sadducees on the question of the resurrection of the dead, when he was assailed by the Pharisees. They wanted Him to pronounce on the ‘Great Commandment in the law’. Jesus assigns equal importance to the two commandments known in the Old Testament and focusses on them the entire content of the law. Loving God with our heart, mind and soul is the first and great commandment, He said, and by the second, which is like it, we ought to love our neighbour as ourselves.
But who is our neighbour? From the parable of the Good Samaritan, we learn that our neighbour is essentially a person in need. In our materialistic age, we think of money as the need, but that simply is not the case. Very often, the other yearns for our love, our time, just a little word or a listening ear. It may not even require our physical presence; sometimes a tinkle, a WhatsApp message, a comforting thought from afar, could save the day. We will never know in advance who we are called to serve, when and how. But serve we must; and those that we serve are our neighbour, and service is the expression of our love.
But then again, what is love? Someone has said: “Love is the most beautiful thing to have, hardest thing to earn and most painful thing to lose”; but far from defining, it makes love seem elusive. In 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, some of love’s attributes make it palpable: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Palpable but not defined. That is because love is a many-splendored thing, largely misunderstood and therefore clichéd, especially in our times. Several Catholic thinkers have dwelt upon this inexhaustible topic, and more recently, in his book The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis has distinguished between Affection, Friendship, Eros and Charity, showing how one merges into another, and how one can even become another. More importantly, he underlines that the first three – human loves – can be tainted if not accompanied by the sweetening grace of divine love, Charity. And, as St Ignatius put it: “Love is shown more in deeds than in words.”
We understand love more concretely through the First Reading (Ex 22: 21-27) in which God forbids us to wrong a stranger or oppress him; to afflict a widow or orphan; or to torment a poor man. They are personae miserabiles – people in difficult social, economic and juridical situations. Easing their situation constitutes works of mercy that our Catechism speaks of: “charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbour in his spiritual and bodily necessities.” Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting, forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently are spiritual works of mercy; the corporal include giving alms to the poor, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. (Cf. CCC, 2447)
Christian civilisation traditionally grew up on those sublime teachings and achieved a healthy balance between body and spirit down the ages. But alas, with the overpowering rise of godless modernism, haven’t some people grown weary of the teachings that had once nourished them? The consequence of such degradation has been staring us in the face. And with the recent opening of the gates of Europe to hordes of people (refugees, asylum seekers, migrants), some of whom are avowedly spiritual enemies of Christian civilisation (or what is left of it), shouldn't it be reexamined whether the physical needs of the neighbours are more crucial than the spiritual wellbeing of the household?
St Paul was extremely concerned about the spiritual health of his people. In the Second Reading (1 Thes 1: 5-10), he is all praise for the example that the Thessalonians have set to the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Word of God sounded forth from them like clarion trumpets and their faith went forth everywhere. God was their highest good, from which the good of neighbour flowed. Hence the Apostle is happy to note how they “turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
Would it be wrong to see God’s wrath in terms of environmental disasters and wars? Aren’t we witnessing veiled religious and spiritual wars? Spiritual warfare is a fact of life; we cannot wish it away. So, it would be necessary to reflect on how far enemies of Christianity can be our ‘neighbours’!... Can they be allowed to hack at the very foundations of Christian civilisation… and we foolishly call it ‘love’? We cannot forget our duty to love God above all things, and the neighbour for God’s sake.