By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
November 8, 2020: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary time
Wisdom 6: 12-16; 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18; Matthew 25: 1-13
Seek and you shall be found! No there is no mistake here…neither grammatical nor biblical. Seek and you shall find, said Jesus once. Here the Word this Sunday tells us… seek, and you shall be found! Just dwell a while on those words, and you shall understand, how true they are! The first reading has a lovely explanation to it.
Wisdom comes; it is not earned. Knowledge can be gathered, not wisdom. Information can be collected, not wisdom.
Wisdom, is what you do with the knowledge you have and the information you collect. Wisdom, is the next step, the step that follows knowing. I know the earth is being destroyed by greed – that is knowledge; but what do I do about it? I know the humanity is being demolished at its core – that is knowledge; but what do I do about it? I know I am giving less and less space for God in my life – that is knowledge; but what do I do about it? Wisdom, is what is born out of knowledge, after knowledge, beyond knowledge. Wisdom is an insight; wisdom is a gift… wisdom comes! But do you think it would come, without you wishing for it, longing for it, looking for it and seeking it?
Wisdom is God’s gift – it is the presence of the Spirit of the Lord, it is the revelation of God, it is the Word of the Lord…that comes, illumines and lets us understand what we know and what we do not know! Wisdom is that capacity to live our daily life, with the knowledge we have, however limited it be, living every moment with meaning and purpose! Oh, what a gift that is… to live with meaning and purpose! That is what the Lord offers us today as a gift… to seek that Wisdom which will help us live our life with meaning and purpose. St. Paul in the second reading and Jesus’ parable in the Gospel give us clue, as to what it means to live with meaning and purpose… whether we are alive, or dead, we stay with the Lord forever, says St. Paul.
Wisdom of life is to know, what really matters in life. The wealth? The positions we hold? The power we have over others? The secrets we keep from others? The so-called status and name that we earn among others? If only we think a bit harder, we know these finally do not matter. But that is knowledge; what do I do about it? Yes, we are back with that question. That is what we need to ask ourselves…what do I do about it? I need to seek to be with the Lord, to stay with the Lord, never leave the side of the Lord, even as I engage in my daily duties and chores. That is wisdom – that ability to combine the necessities of daily life and the things that finally matter. Jesus had it so clearly in his mind and he imparted the same to us – to live your daily life, but never to lose sight of the ultimate things that matter – the Lord and our life with the Lord. Therefore, we need to seek… seek that wisdom!
Wisdom has to be sought, if it has to come! Wisdom comes, to those who seek! That is why we said… seek, and you shall be found. Seek wisdom, wisdom will find you. Seek the Lord, the Lord will find you! We cannot find the Lord. We cannot arrive at the Lord! The Lord will find us …but we need to seek. Just like the Bridegroom would arrive, but the maids had to be ready! They cannot go find the bridegroom, the bridegroom will find them…but they have to seek, to be found.
What does it mean to seek wisdom… to seek the Lord! It means, as Jesus instructs us today, with three key words: awake, await, alert.
AWAKE. That is the first disposition asked of us. Be awake… if those so-called foolish maids were awake, they could have at least thought of their oil shortage a little earlier, not at the nick of time. That is what we need to be – awake, awake to our life, awake to our surroundings, awake to our attitudes, awake to our priorities, awake to our life style, awake to our value systems, awake to our daily choices…if we sleep over them, we will catch ourselves unawares when the crisis comes. Remember when this pandemic began far away from our place, how we took it so much for fun and laughed at it. And even when it came, how we were lighting lamps to it and clapping hands to shoo it – the heights of slumber, and we are paying for it.
Being awake is not being agitated! At times we think, being awake is to get agitated, tensed and worked up with every simple thing around. No…being awake is not being agitated…instead it is being aware, being aware of what is happening, what is developing, what is brewing…so that when time comes I am prepared to face it.
AWAIT. That is the second disposition required of us. To await… to wait on the Lord. We do not have explanations for everything the very moment they happen. We do not understand them. We are at a loss… how many people lost their dear ones these days, just from nowhere! How many families have gone through the economic struggles and psychological break downs! Why? Why, is the question that comes upper most in our minds. But a better question, a more faith-filled question, a more hope-filled question would be – What? What does the Lord want to communicate? What does the Lord want to do? What is this event communicating to me? That ‘what’, will come… it will come from the only place that can provide me an adequate response on that – from the Lord. I need to await.
Awaiting is not being asleep! I wait… in the meanwhile…I go to sleep! That was the mistake the maids made…being asleep. Being asleep is losing time, not acting on something that I can, postponing something that I could do it now, letting go of a golden moment and rushing at the peak hour! Awaiting is not inaction, awaiting is being prepared for the right moment of encounter…but for that I have to be awake too!
ALERT. That is the third disposition demanded of us. Being alert…is to observer everything. The so-called foolish maids, could have been alert to see that the wise maid had an extra vial with them, then they would have been alerted. Or the so-called wise maids, could have alerted the other five, to better get something to back themselves up! They cared nothing… just for that they should have been left out of the palace (alright! that is a different discourse for another time). But being alert is to know the signs of the times, to understand what is happening, to connect the dots and be prudent – it is not only about things out there. It is about me too! Yes, looking into myself, knowing what is happening deep within me, understanding the signs of my mind, my spirit, my heart…that I may be alert to the changes and to the situation I am driving myself into…so when it comes, I know, I am prepared, I am awake and I am waiting!
Being alert is not being anxious! In the name of being alert, if I get anxious, I ruin every day of my life. There have been some these days who have closed themselves up in their personal rooms, not getting out even to meet those who are there, even their family members – out of fear of infection. They might have saved themselves from the virus, but have given themselves up to depression and stress! Anxiety, can kill us alive. Being alert is being actively and wisely involved in everything around me, with a keep observation and prudent precaution, that I may live the moment, without ruining the future.
Awake, Await, and Alert…are the key words we are given today by the Word for our spiritual lives… to seek the Lord, to seek the light of the Lord, to seek with thirst and longing… and we shall be found! The Lord shall come and dwell with us!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He is currently pursuing his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him.