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“Stay Awake. For you do not know the day or the hour.”
In the month of November, we always remember the dead.
We begin with All Saints Day and then All Souls Day.
Then we have the Novena of All Souls which we do for nine days.
Tradition is in the month of November
as we have always remembered those who have died the last year.
November is also the end of the liturgical year
and all the readings start to remind us of the end times.
The readings from today do the same thing.
It seems particularly apt for us at St. Simon Parish,
when Maria Allo, who would normally be a lector here at this mass,
passed away on Thursday very suddenly.
And then you know, a long-time parishioner,
Ed Daley is dying of pancreatic cancer
and is now at home and actively dying.
Several other parishioners have died just this week
and several more are in the hospital.
And it seems like, wow, it all just comes in.
It seems that these readings today are certainly that last line about
us never knowing the hour or the day the Lord will call us;
it is true and clear today.
We do not know when our last day will come.
What are we to do with all of this?
How are we meant to live our lives
in light of this in a meaningful way
and not be petrified or be overly anxious about our life?
The readings give us some hints as to how to do this.
The book of wisdom reminds us to be faithful to the Lord.
Desire wisdom, which comes from God.
We receive wisdom by being open to God's wisdom in our prayer life.
Wisdom cannot be taught.
It can only be learned.
If you do not have desire for wisdom,
there is no amount of me passing on anecdotes or stories
that will ever get it through to you
if you are not interested in hearing and internalizing it.
The first thing we need to do is to seek it.
We need to want it. And that is the whole thing.
We need to want it.
We need to seek God and a relationship with God.
Primarily we start by being people,
men and women, and boys and girls of prayer.
Being willing to sit and to listen
and to be prepared for the Lord directing our lives.
Ultimately in the end, that is how we are called to live;
according to what God has planned.
So, what are we to do?
Prayer is one part but we have to be careful.
And this is where the second the gospel comes in,
it is not just about being a person who “believes in Jesus”
because that is not enough.
It is not enough to just believe in Jesus.
We have to “follow Jesus.”
There are lots of believers in Jesus in this world.
There are lots and lots of those.
There are just not a lot of followers.
They do not follow what he did.
They are not real disciples of Jesus.
Jesus is talking to his disciples and he is giving them this parable.
He actually gives them three parables.
He is at the end; he knows he is going to die, right?
He knows he is going up to Jerusalem.
He gives them three parables about the end times.
This one and the next one are about the three stewards;
we will hear about that soon.
Each one is given a different amount of money.
And then the last one is about the separation of the sheep from the goats.
Today is about these wise and foolish virgins.
Seems a little cryptic in a sense.
Seems like the wise virgins are selfish.
They do not share the oil. Why not?
How hard would have been to share a little oil so they all could go in.
Then they are all inside, but so be it. Right?
They did not.
They are all believers in Jesus.
They were all trying to do the right thing for the bridegroom, right?
But only five want to follow;
they had put enough into it to follow.
That is the distinction between followers and believers.
What does that mean for us?
It means that for us that we have to practice our faith.
We have to work it out.
We have to go from here where we believe in Jesus,
and we have to go out there
and follow Jesus in everything we say and do.
For everyone it is going to be slightly different.
What the Lord is asking of each of us is going to be slightly different
depending on our statue and life.
For example if you have young children,
the Lord is going to be asking you to go all in with your children,
to be present with your children,
to parent your children, to be there for them,
to help them to grow and give them all that you can give them.
You are pouring your life out to your children.
And so, you should, that is the cornerstone of your vocation right now.
For those of you who have children who have moved out of the house
and you have extra time,
it is time you poured your life out
to somebody else and not just yourself.
It is like, oh, great.
Now the kids are gone.
It is just about me.
And let's take vacation after vacation, after vacation.
Yeah, that is great.
You take a vacation, but now it is also the time
to pour out your life in serving others
who you did not have the time
when your kids were younger to do.
And then if you are still older
and you even have more time
but you do not have as much energy
and you do not have as much strength to do things,
you are called to do whatever you can do.
You are called to pray for others to,
to maybe make phone calls,
to reach out in whatever limited way that you can do.
But none of us get the option to sit back and say,
I just believe I am saved because just of my belief.
And that is true. You are saved.
But to become a disciple, to get the full rewards of eternal life,
we have to be active in our faith.
We have to be engaged in our faith.
We have to live our faith.
And that has to come with a certain amount of joy.
We cannot just do it begrudgingly.
We have to be joyful when we do it.
I think that about Maria and Ed
as they lived their lives as faithful people,
pouring their lives away, giving their lives away.
So in a sense, they were ready.
They were the wise virgins.
Not that any of us ever want to be “ready to go,”
but if we live our lives actively following the Lord
and believing, then we will be more than ready for the Lord.
So we are believers, yes,
but we are called to be believers and followers,
to be the wise virgins who are ready
for whatever the day or the hour the Lord calls us.
“Stay Awake. For you do not know the day or the hour.”
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