Parable of the Ten Maidens
”NO! You can’t have any of our lamp oil. Take the long road back into town, find a filling station and buy your own oil. That will make you think twice the next time you take off with lamps almost empty.”
Sometime No is Kinder than Yes
November 6, 2011,
32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
Wisdom
6:12-16 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13
Matthew 25:1-13
First
reading from Wisdom
Wisdom
is resplendent and unfading, and is readily found by those who seek her. And
whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed. She
hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire. Whoever watches
for her at dawn shall not be disappointed, for he shall find her sitting by his
gate. For taking thought of Wisdom is the perfection of prudence, and whoever
for her sake keeps vigil shall quickly be free from care; because She makes her
own rounds, seeking those worthy of her, and graciously appears to them in the
ways, and meets them with all solicitude.
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia,
alleluia.
A reading
from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord.
Then Jesus
said: The kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their
lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were
wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any extra oil with
them, while the wise ones took containers full of oil with their lamps. The
bridegroom, however, was late in coming, so the maidens began to nod and fall
asleep. It was already midnight when the cry rang out, “The bridegroom is
coming! Let’s go out to meet him.' The ten maidens woke up and trimmed their
lamps. The foolish maidens said to the wise ones, “Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.” But the wise maidens answered back, “No, indeed, you
can’t have any of our oil! There just won’t be enough oil for you and us. Go to
the store and buy some for yourselves.” So the foolish maidens went off to buy
some oil, and while they were gone the bridegroom arrived. The five maidens who
were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was closed.
Later the other maidens arrived and cried, “Sir, sir! Let us in!” But the bridegroom answered, ”I really don’t know you.”And Jesus concluded, “Truly,
I say to you, I do not know you. Watch out, then, because you don’t know the
day or the hour.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord
Jesus Christ.
Introduction
A busy week
Today, this first Sunday of November, Daylight Saving Time ended at 2 AM, and
we returned to Standard Time. Today
we set our clocks back: 6 AM becomes 5 AM. It’s lighter now when we get up at 6
AM. With Standard Time 4 PM becomes 3PM, and it’s darker now when we go home
from work or school. It’s that season of the year when the light and darkness
impinge themselves noticeably upon our psyches.
Then this coming Wednesday is the 9th of November. On the 9th of November 1938 (73 years ago), the Nazis, out of some inexplicable fear of Jews, went rampaging throughout all of Germany, and in one night destroyed 7000 Jewish businesses, and burned down 191 synagogues. That day has gone down in history as the ”Krystallnacht,”- ”The Night of the Shattered Glass.” And it marks the beginning of the Jewish Holocaust which in time would consume six million human beings in the crematories of Dachau, Buchenwald, and Auschwitz.
Then this coming Friday, November 11 is Veterans Day, formerly called Armistice Day, commemorating the cessation of hostilities and the signing of an armistice between the Allies of World War I and Germany. The armistice took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918.This year Veterans Day lands on the 11th day of the 11th month in this year of 2011. And that provides a veritable field day for numerologists as they try to find hidden meanings in 11 -11 -11.
Two
energy crises
There are two energy
crises recorded in Scripture. The first is in the Old Testament. In 169 B. C
Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem by erecting an altar to the
Greek god Zeus. The gospels call that “the great desecration “or the
“abomination of desolation.” (Mk 13:14; Mt 24:15) The Temple had to be
rededicated, and the rite took eight long days. But legend has it that there
was only a one-day supply of consecrated fuel for the great temple candelabra
which had to be kept burning throughout the days of rededication. Miraculously
that little supply of oil lasted through the eight long days of dedication. (I
Mc 1:15-16; I Mc 4:36-59)
The
second energy crisis is in the New Testament parable about the ten maidens who were lamp bearers
for a wedding procession. In
that day and culture the wedding ceremony was held in the evening. That’s what
the lamps are all about. The maidens with lamps in hand went ahead to meet the
bridegroom and his party. Then they accompanied him and his entourage to the
bride’s house. But because of all the busyness that goes with weddings, like
bachelor parties and the like, which can easily disrupt the time schedule, the
groom was late in coming, and the maidens began to grow drowsy and fall asleep.
Finally at midnight the cry went out that the groom with his entourage was
approaching, and the maidens woke up and set out to meet him. The wise maidens who
brought flasks of oil with them for their lamps, were ready to go out and greet
the groom and his party. The foolish maidens,
however, ran out of oil, and had an energy crisis on their hands.
Rewriting the parable
In the
parable the wise maidens said to the foolish ones, ”No, indeed, you can’t have any of our oil!
There just won’t be enough oil for you and us.“ That makes some of us ask, “Is this really how
we define a wise person? As someone who takes care of himself?” Some people do
indeed believe in the wisdom of stockpiling. Some believe that if people are in
need, it's their own “darn fault.” When a relatively unchurched man was asked
his opinion about this parable, he said, "Is that really written in the
Bible? Well, it just isn’t right. It needs to be rewritten.”
Immediately after Vatican II it was fashionable to jump aboard the bandwagon of the “social gospel.” The social gospel views the Christian task as not much more than making all poor people rich, and all rich people a little less rich. That’s an impossible task, since Christ has promised that the poor will always be with us. (Mt 26:11) The social gospel never pleased a mystical friend of mine. She felt that it cheated the faithful. She felt that socially active priests were not much more than “clerical Democrats” -- that they were more politicians than spiritual leaders. She believed that Catholics should not be looking for social activists in their priests but for truly spiritual leaders.
In a letter dated
Nov. 8, 1981 (shortly after the parable of the Ten Maidens was read at Sunday
Mass) she seemed to be scolding me - gently and charitably, of course - but
scolding me nevertheless for “rewriting the parable.” Her letter in part read:
I can see you standing there over this Scripture text of the wise and foolish maidens, sighing, moaning, groaning, choking and gagging over it. [She always wrote with a great deal of feeling.] In this great age of social gospel, I am sure you would want to rewrite this parable so that it says YES instead of NO: “Then the five maidens who were running out of oil said to the others, `We have no oil. Our lamps are going out! Please, for God’s sake, give us some of yours.’ And the other maidens immediately responded with full heart saying, `YES, of course, you can have some of our oil! The haves must, indeed, share with the have-nots.’ And the wise maidens shared with the foolish maidens, and together they lived happily ever after.”
The gospel according to Jesus
That’s how the social gospel activist
rewrites the parable. But the gospel
(the Good News) according to Jesus does not
have the wise maidens saying to the foolish ones, “YES, of course, you can
have some of our oil! “ Instead it has them saying, “NO, you can’t have some of
our oil, for there might not be enough for you and us.”
This is a parable about Lady Wisdom. She knows not only when to say YES but also when to say NO. She knows when YES simply absorbs the irresponsibility of others, and enables them to carry on as usual – enables them to run out of oil again. Lady Wisdom knows when to say a difficult NO, especially to those whom we love. She knows there are times when YES does not help but NO does.”NO! You can’t have any of our lamp oil. Take the long road back into town, find a filling station and buy your own oil. That will make you think twice, the next time you take off with lamps almost empty.” Lady Wisdom knows when YES is crueler than NO, and when NO is kinder than YES.
I took my dog to the vet one day. “Way too overweight,” said the vet. “It’s not good for his heart or his legs and for his overall wellbeing.” The vet didn’t realize what an eating machine a Yellow Lab can be. He didn’t appreciate the irresistible power of those innocent and pleading eyes looking up at you. My vet and Lady Wisdom keep reminding me that YES is sometimes crueler than NO, and that NO is sometimes kinder than YES.
When to worry and when to sleep
In another letter dated two days later
(Nov. 10, 1981) my mystic friend, alluding to the constant spiritual turmoil in
her soul, writes, “My lamp is filled with an abundance of oil. Now it would be wise of me to be at peace and
fall asleep.”
That great Lady Wisdom knows when to say YES , and when to say NO. She also knows when to stay awake and worrying, and when to be at peace and fall asleep. With their lamps precariously flickering the five foolish maidens, who brought no oil with them, were foolish to fall asleep. They should have been wide awake, and out looking for a filling station. But the five wise maidens who took care to bring oil with them were right to be at peace and fall asleep.
When we have been mindful and have taken care, when we have been responsible and have done all that we could do, then Lady Wisdom bids us to put worry away and be at peace and fall asleep. There is a wisdom that does not sleep, and there is a wisdom that does sleep. There is a wisdom that worries and a wisdom that puts worry away.
Conclusion
A time for YES and a time for NO
In
the Book of Ecclesiastes Lady Wisdom utters her litany:
There is a season
and time for everything under God’s sun:
A
time for wounding and for healing,
A
time for tearing down and for building up,
A
time for scattering and for gathering,
A
time for finding and for losing,
A
time for keeping silence and for speaking up,
A
time for loving and for hating,
A
time for making war and for making peace."
(Ecclesiastes
3:1-8)
This Sunday Lady Wisdom’ lengthens her litany:
There is a time for YES and a time for NO.
And
there is a time to stay awake and worry,
And
a time to be at peace and fall asleep.
