THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A
Matthew 25:1-13

Commentary of Fr. Fernando Armellini

A good Sunday for everyone.

The parable of the ten virgins, five foolish and five wise, presented to us in today’s Gospel passage, I think it is the most difficult of the parables told by Jesus. We are surprised by inconsistencies and difficulties present in the story that make it difficult to understand the meaning. The wise ones give a bad impression because they refuse to share the oil with their friends; then the foolish ones are invited to go to the market at midnight to buy oil. What market is open at midnight? Then these five who have no oil in reserve they do not go straight into the banquet hall with their lamps that are still lit; and when the bridegroom comes late, he does not find the wife, but finds the five virgins.

It is very strange that the wife does not appear in the passage. It is said that, in the tradition of the time of Jesus, the friends went to receive the bridegroom with dances and with lighted torches. We know little or nothing about the way weddings were celebrated in the time of Jesus, but one thing is certain, that this custom did not exist. Then another difficulty: when the five that had no oil in reserve, return from the market, the bridegroom speaks strong words to them. The parable will conclude with an invitation to be watchful because we do not know the day or the hour when the bridegroom will arrive, but even the wise ones have not been vigilant, they too have fallen asleep. The difficulties are many in this story.

We start by asking ourselves a question that introduces us to the message of the passage. The question is this: What coming of the bridegroom is Jesus referring to? It is important to remember that there are two comings of the bridegroom. The first coming—because we know that the bridegroom is Jesus—is his coming into this world. The people of Israel were attentive, they knew that the messiah had to arrive and the people were prepared by the prophets, who were waiting for his coming. It is the first coming of the bridegroom and it is a coming that continues to this day because in the gospel he is present, there we meet Jesus.

When we hear a passage from the gospel it is he who speaks to us, and when we listen to the gospel we see his person. Then there is a second coming, when he will come at the end of time, at the end of this world. Jesus is always present today and wants to enter the life of each one of us, but in the end, it will be the second coming when he comes to introduce us to the wedding feast we are talking about, at the conclusion of the whole history.

In Revelation we have the famous passage from chapter 19: “Let us  rejoice  and be  glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready. She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment.” (The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones.)” This scene is wonderful: the wife meets the bridegroom for the wedding feast.

Regarding the present parable, we ask ourselves: To what coming of the bridegroom is he referring to—the first coming or the second coming? To both. The ten girls represent all those who waited so long for the first coming … and we are in this context of waiting for the bridegroom at the first coming, but then there will be a second coming and the reception of the bridegroom in the second coming will depend on how we receive him at his first coming.

Let’s listen to the first scene of the parable:

“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.”

The parable begins with the staging of ten girls preparing to receive their bridegroom. They light their lamps and go out to find him. Who are they, who do they represent? Numerical symbolism tells us. There are ten, the number 10 in the bible indicates something complete, perfection, totality. Then they divide into two groups of five; again, we are faced with a numerical symbolism, the number 5 indicates Israel. In addition, in the bible the appellation ‘virgin’ is often referred to Israel and, therefore, to the identity of these girls. They are Israel, the wife of the Lord who is waiting to meet her bridegroom.

This is the reason why in the whole parable the wife does not appear, because the wife is these ten virgins that indicate Israel. It is the magnificent symbolism that was introduced by the prophets: the relationship between the Lord and Israel is that of the bridegroom with the wife. The prophet Isaiah in chapter 54 presents what the Lord says to his wife: “Though the mountains fall away and the hills be shaken, my love shall never fall away from you (Is 54:10). And Hosea: “I will betroth you to me forever: I will betroth you to me with justice and with judgment, with loyalty and with compassion (Hos 2:21); and you will be faithful to me because the bridegroom comes only to take the wife, to introduce her to the joy of the wedding banquet.

And who is the bridegroom who comes to meet Israel? Jesus is the bridegroom. The Lord came in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Let us remember that he also presents himself as the bridegroom. The Pharisees who ask why do you teach your disciples not to fast while we fast … and he answers: How can wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?

This is the first coming of the bridegroom. How was he received? The parable says it and the story confirms what has happened. A part of Israel was wise. Those with a pure heart, open to the truth and to the designs of God. In this Israel we can put the names of these wise people: Mary, Joseph, we remember the old Simeon, the prophetess Anna who represent Israel who knew how to recognize her bridegroom. Simeon takes him in his arms. Then the apostles, the women who followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, the first Christian community that was made up of Jews. And then there was a foolish and twisted part of Israel that included: Annas, Caiaphas, the high priests, the scribes, the Pharisees who opposed, rejected the bridegroom. Therefore, the first and most immediate meaning of the parable is the welcome that Israel reserved for the bridegroom when he came. Some were wise, but another part of Israel was foolish. This is about the first coming of the bridegroom; then we will talk about a second coming.

The first coming continues in history and the wife that gives continuity to Israel is the Christian community that Paul presents as the virgin wife. In the second letter to the Corinthians, in chapter 11, he says to this community of his: “I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor 11:2). Paul uses the image of the bridegroom’s friend who does not take the wife, but rather gives her to the bridegroom, who is Christ. And in this community, that is the spouse of the Lord – who awaits the coming of the bridegroom at all times, there are five wise virgins and five foolish virgins.

Let’s not think of two different groups, someone who is totally wise and someone who is totally foolish. NO. The coming of the bridegroom, which occurs when we hear the gospel, is to take us to the new world, to the kingdom of God with joy. We can be wise and receive him, and we can be foolish and reject him. Therefore, within each one of us is the wise virgin and the foolish virgin. It is important to note that when we are foolish, we reject Christ or reject his gospel, there our lives are at stake.

Jesus already said it at the end of the discourse on the mountain with another narration where a wise man and a foolish man are presented, similar to this parable. The wise man, when he has to build a house, builds it on a solid foundation, on rock. This house is nothing more than the image of our whole life; if you build it on the word of God it lasts; instead, the fool builds it on sand. When the judgment of God comes, that house, that life that was not built on the gospel falls apart, there is nothing left.

Let’s continue identifying the meaning of the other images that appear in this parable. The 10 virgins have lamps lit and what distinguishes the two groups is only a small detail. The fact that the prudent carry with them in addition to the lamp also the oil to feed the light of these lamps, while the foolish have forgotten to carry the oil with them. This is the small detail where the difference between the two groups is.

What does the lamp in hand represent? The lamp is clearly the light that guides your steps in life; it is the lamp of faith: Psalm 119 says: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path” (Ps 119:105). He who has the lamp of faith knows the path to choose because he has a goal, a destination to reach. Whoever does not have this light is lost in the darkness of the world. But even those who have received this lamp of faith must be very careful because this light can go out and even disappear, and then you can’t walk in the dark anymore because you don’t know where to go.

When Matthew writes this parable, he was facing a situation in his communities very similar to ours because there was the first initial enthusiasm, everyone followed the Lord, they were baptized, they had lit the lamp of their faith, but then tiredness, monotony, disappointment seized them; also, because they expected the world to change immediately  with the light of the gospel. The first doubts began to arise with discouragement and even many desertions, as exactly what is happening with us today. The light of the lamp of faith begins to be extinguished in many people.

Then the meaning of the oil becomes very clear; it is the oil that feeds the light of the lamp of faith. You have to be very careful because if there is not a vessel that continuously adds oil the lamp fades and goes out. The parable says ‘in flasks of oil’ that is the constant food for this light. It is the food of the word of God; if this food is missing there may still be some devotional practice in the church, some religious rites, but if the nourishment of the word of God is lacking be aware that the lamp of faith goes out and disappears.

And what happens when darkness comes? They became drowsy and fell asleep, both the foolish virgins and the wise virgins. Let’s think about the apostles: The gospel tells us that during the transfiguration they fell asleep, in Gethsemane they fell asleep, and what happens when you sleep? What do we do when we sleep? We dream. Instead of cultivating God’s designs we go after our dreams that are fantasies, they are not reality. So, the importance of taking into account if after these moments in which we all fall asleep, if we do not have the oil that feeds the lamp of faith, we run the risk of everything going out.

Now let’s hear what happens when the bridegroom arrives:

“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.’”

“At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom!” What does this reference to midnight mean? Does it serve as a reminder of the end of the world, when the bridegroom will come for the last time to lead humanity to the eternal wedding banquet? No, the parable goes on to tell what happens today when the bridegroom arrives the first time. This is our story.

Midnight is a reference is to chapter 18 of the Book of Wisdom, where the sacred author, in poetic form, narrates the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt; and the text of the Book of Wisdom says: “For when peaceful stillness encompassed everything and the night in its swift course was half spent, Your all-powerful word from heaven’s royal throne leapt into the doomed land” (Wis 18,14-15).

In the parable, the night refers to the coming of the bridegroom to free humankind of all her bondages, of all the nights she’s wrapped up: these are the nights of violence, the nights of injustice, the nights of hatred, resentment, remorse. They are the nights created by our sin, from our selfishness; and the bridegroom comes to get us and take us to a whole new world. And what is important is to welcome his coming because he comes only to free us and take us to a banquet.

We are in a dark condition and if we allow ourselves to be enveloped in this darkness of the world it is an uninhabitable situation. He comes to set us free; this is the reference to this night of liberation. And there is a cry, a cry of joy from those who are more prepared, more attentive, more sensitive to the voice of the bridegroom who is coming; it is the voice of the gospel. It is the gospel that when received frees us from all our bondage. These are the prophets who know how to recognize this voice and they recognize the voice of the Spirit present in each one of us, which is the voice of the son of God who wants us free from the slavery of sin. Hence the importance of recognizing this voice and welcoming the arriving bridegroom.

And now there is an allusion to the lamp that is about to run out and needs to be fed. Today there is such a need for a voice that shouts in the Church that this lamp of faith in many is fading because there is no food. The food is the Word of God. And all must have this food for themselves because it cannot be replaced by the faith of another.

It is a reminder for Christians today: be careful because if you do not feed continuously with the resource of the word of God—that’s where you have to buy the oil that feeds the light— if you do not have this food you will perish in the darkness of your life story. And now the bridegroom finally appears.

Let’s listen:

“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.”

The final scene of the parable is dramatic because Jesus uses the language of the preachers of his time; harsh language made of strong images because he wants to shake consciences, he wants to remember the seriousness of the choices we make in our lives.

It is the sincere invitation to consider that is at a certain point our story ends in this world and that is the moment of the second meeting with the bridegroom, the final meeting and the outcome of this meeting depends on how we welcomed the bridegroom on his first arrival into our lives when he came to meet us with his gospel. It is the invitation to ask ourselves if you were wise, if you welcomed him when he came to free you to introduce you to the kingdom of God, in the joy of the banquet or you preferred the madness of this world. Pay attention because your only life is at stake, there is no other chance. At the end of your life the dice are played.

A famous Italian actor said that the good Lord should give us two lives: one to rehearse and the other to enter the scene. It’s not possible; life is only one and it is very serious because it has eternal consequences. When the foolish ones arrive, they find the door closed. It’s a strong image. They come with the oil to feed that lamp of faith that should have been lit for life; instead they let it go out and now they have oil, but it no longer works. The oil of God’s Word that should nurture faith only serves during this life.

It is beautiful what Peter says in his second letter addressing the first Christians: “You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Pe 1:19). What is that wonderful bright morning star? It is Christ and when this radiant morning star appears, then there is no need anymore of the lamp of the Word of God.

That word works in this world. The foolish ones realize in the end that it was in this life that they had to feed the lamp of their faith. And this pressing call is addressed to all people, of course, but here it is explicitly addressed to Christians, to the baptized who run the risk of letting this lamp that should have guided their steps, go out. Why do we say they are Christians? Because they call him ‘Lord’ and only Christians speak to Jesus with this term ‘Lord’. They are, therefore, the deluded, they believed that an initial choice of Christ was enough for them, they didn’t take into account that this lamp had to be powered.

To these Christians Jesus says “I don’t know you.” Why does he say ‘I don’t know you’? Because they don’t look like him; they do not resemble the Son of God, they are unrecognizable as Christians. They lived without the light of the gospel lamp, they don’t look like Jesus, they don’t reproduce the face of the Son of God. “He doesn’t know them.” The parable does not say that they are excluded from paradise …

God doesn’t kick anyone out of his house! Here is showing us to the consequences of a crazy decision that we can make, that is, reject the gospel. He comes into our life to introduce us into the kingdom of God, to free us, to make us happy, to take us to a new world. If we are foolish, we reject his coming; we prefer the old world, the one in which everyone thinks of themselves, of their own interest. If we prefer the old world, if we do not allow ourselves to be carried away to the new world, we are left out of the banquet. We build our lives according to the madness of the world and in the end, we are forced to say ‘I was wrong, my life was a failure.’

Hence the conclusion of Jesus, the conclusion of this parable when he says: “Be attentive, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Not when the end of our life comes. NO. TODAY. You do not know the day or the time when I arrive, with my gospel to present to you the true life of the children of God. Therefore, be alert when you hear that cry from a prophet: “The bridegroom is coming.” In that moment, open your mind, open your heart to receive him.

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.

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