Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith. For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
For upright is the word of the Lord, and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full.
The Lord brings to nought the plans of nations; he foils the designs of peoples. But the plan of the Lord stands forever; the design of his heart, through all generations.
“Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.”
Fr. Joan Ant. MATEO i García (Tremp, Lleida, Spain)Today, Friday, 21st week in ordinary time, the Lord, in the Gospel, reminds us of the convenience of staying always awake and ready to meet him. Whether at midnight, or at any other moment, a cry can ring out at our door to invite us to come out and meet our Lord. Death never makes appointments. In fact, “you know neither the day nor the hour” (Mt 25:13).
To be on the alert does not mean to live with fear and anguish. It means to live our life as sons of God, our life of faith, hope and charity, in a responsible way. The Lord is continuously waiting for our response of faith and love, constant and patient, amid the chores and preoccupations that weave our life.
And this response can only be given by us; you and I. Nobody else can give it in our place. This is what it means —the denial of the sensible maidens to the careless ones— to share their oil for the lamps that were going out: “Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves” (Mt 25:9). Our response before God is, therefore, personal and not transferable.
Let us not wait for a “tomorrow” —that may never come— to trim up the lamp of our love for the Spouse. Carpe diem! We must live every second of our life with all the passion a Christian must feel for his Lord. It is a well-known saying but we might as well refresh our memory: “Live each day of your life as if it were the first day of your existence, as if it were the only day we have, as if it were the last day of our life.” A realistic call we have to carry out for a necessary and reasonable conversion.
Let God give us the grace of his mercy that we may not have to hear in the supreme hour: “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you” (Mt 25:12), that is, “you have had no relation whatsoever with me.” Let us treat the Lord in this life in such a way that we may become his acquaintances and friends in our time and in eternity.
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“You have a task, my soul, a great task if you so desire. Scrutinize yourself seriously, your being, your destiny; where you come from and where you must rest; seek to know whether it is life that you are living or if it is something more. You have a task, my soul, so purify your life” (St Gregory Nazianzus)
“It is not enough for the Christian to wait, he must “act”» (Benedict XVI)
“Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with him takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social. From the very beginning of the Church there have been men and women who have renounced the great good of marriage to follow the Lamb wherever he goes… to meet the Bridegroom who is coming…” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1618)
