November 8, 2020
“Radiant and unmistakable is wisdom. those who seek it find it.”
My soul is thirsty for you, Lord, my God.
Jesus Christ, Word of the Father, tells us today:
“Watch because you don’t know the day or the time.”
Readings
First Reading
Reading the Book of Wisdom 6, 12-16
Radiant and unmistakable is wisdom, easily seen by those who love it and those who seek it.
It is ahead to manifest itself to those who desire it.
Whoever gets up early for her doesn’t get tired, because he finds her sitting at his door.
Meditating on it is consummated prudence and the one who watches over it is soon free of worries.
For she herself goes back and forth looking for those who are worthy of her; He approaches them benignly along the paths and meets them in every thought.
Psalm
Exit 62, 2abc. 2d-4. 5-6. 7-8
R/. My soul is thirsty for you, Lord, my God.
Oh, God, you are my God, for you an early morning, my soul is thirsty for you;
my flesh is craving you, like dry, exhausted land, no water. R/.
How I looked at you in the sanctuary seeing your strength and your glory!
Your grace is worth more than life, my lips will praise you. R/.
All my life I will bless you and raise my hands invoking you.
I’ll get satious as of enjundia and butter, and my lips will praise you jubilantly. R/.
On the bed I remember you and watching medito in you,
because you were my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing with joy. R/.
Second Reading
Reading St Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians 4, 13-18
We don’t want you to ignore, brethren, the fate of the deceased so that they do not grieve like those who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and was resurrected, so will God take with him, through Jesus, those who have died.
Here is what we say to them supported by the word of the Lord:
we who remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have died; For the Lord himself, in the voice of the archangel and to the sound of the divine trumpet, shall come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall be resurrected in the first place; then we who live, those of us who remain, will be carried with them among clouds to meet the Lord, by the air.
And so we will always be with the Lord.
So comfort each other with these words.
Gospel
Reading the Holy Gospel according to Matthew 25, 1-13
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples this parable:
“The kingdom of heaven will look like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the husband.
Five of them were foolish and five were prudent.
Fools, when taking the lamps, were not provided with oil; instead, the prudent took oil alcuzas with the lamps.
The husband was slow, everyone got sleepy and fell asleep.
At midnight a voice was heard:
“What comes the husband, come out to meet him!”
Then all those virgins awoke and set about preparing their lamps.
And the fools said to the wise ones:
“Give us your oil, let the lamps go out.”
But the prudent ones replied:
“Just in case there isn’t enough for you and us, you’d better go to the store and buy it for them.”
As they went to buy it, the husband arrived, and the ones who were prepared walked in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door closed.
Later came also the other virgins, saying:
“Lord, sir, open us up.”
But he replied:
“I really tell them I don’t know them.”
Therefore, watch, for they do not know the day or the time”.
Comment
When we learn the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we are taught that Wisdom is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the first, and perhaps the most important. Today’s first reading presents us with wisdom almost personified, not as something but as someone, almost identified with God himself, easy to see and find for those who sincerely seek it and love it; What’s more, she herself seeks out those who are worthy of her and makes them wise, frees them from worries, approaches them benignly, and meets them in every thought, deep in their hearts.
This text of Wisdom speaks to us in capital letters, of the power of God to penetrate our thoughts without diminishing our freedom, without manipulating our intelligence; of his inner action in each of us when we are docile to his Spirit, of his silent presence deep in our hearts, in the depths of our being, beyond what we can think or reason, of what we perceive, of what we feel.
That deep thought of St. Augustine comes to mind: “Late I loved you, beauty so old and so new, late I loved you! And you see that thou were within me and I were out, and on the outside I sought thee; and deformed as it was, I was throwing about these beautiful things that you created. You were with me, but I wasn’t with you. I was held away from you by those things that, if they weren’t in you, wouldn’t be. You called and cried, and you broke my deafness: you shone and shone, and you escaped my blindness; you breathed your perfume and breathed, and I sigh for you; I liked you, and I feel hungry and thirsty; You touched me and I opened up in your peace.”
The Wisdom we are told about today is not divine omniscience but the gift of god involved in it to those who seek Him, listen to Him, call Him, pray to Him, consider Him. On one occasion, after inviting his disciples to ask, seek, and call. Jesus said to them, “How God, who is a good Father, will not give his Spirit to those who ask Him!” How poor is our prayer when we only ask God for things! He wants to give us his own being, his Spirit to enlighten our lives, his Wisdom to strengthen our hesitant and hesitant spirits. Let us ask him for his Wisdom, his Holy Spirit.
The Wisdom of God is light in darkness. From God we see life, we see ourselves in a new way. From the light of God, we meet with the depths of our being, we recognize ourselves in Him. Sometimes it happens to us that, listening to His Word, or in a moment of prayer, He makes us see and understand the meaning and meaning of people, situations, problems, sufferings in our lives seemingly incomprehensible. More than that, it convinces us of the necessary and redeeming courage of what we find useless and rejectable. Let us ask him for his Wisdom, his Holy Spirit.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus offers us a parable full of symbols, one of them the light in the darkness of the night. Also symbols are the ten virgins, their lamps, the oil. In addition to the symbols we find tasks, attitudes, and an imperative with which Jesus concludes the parable: “See because they do not know the day or the hour”.
Pope Francis said, with regard to this text: “The lamp is the symbol of faith that illuminates our lives, while oil is the symbol of charity that nourishes and makes the light of faith fruitful and believable. The condition for being ready for the encounter with the Lord is not only faith, but a Christian life rich in love and charity for one’s neighbour.”
The wisdom and prudence of the first five virgins is intimately linked to the Wisdom that comes from God. To be awake is not to keep one’s eyes open, with fear and unease, but to be attentive to God with peace and serenity, to be prepared by fulfilling the task He has entrusted to us in His Church. We will be prepared if we nourish the light of faith with the oil of love for others. Because God is love, there can be no authentic faith in those who do not truly love. Conversely, we can say that authentic faith in the living and true God manifested in Jesus Christ leads us to understand life as an unreserved giving ourselves, as a love as God loves us, even enemies.
Whoever lives like this, does not grieve like those who have no hope, is not afraid of death, or anything, or anyone. Whoever lives in love is prepared, does not care about the day or time, because at every moment of his life he is attentive to what God asks of him, ready to fulfill the will of the Father. If we live like this, at the last moment we will be recognized by Jesus, for he will see his footprints in our own flesh; we will have been reflections of his dedication, living images of his merciful love for all.
Each of us is a project of God that leaps into eternal life. We are citizens of heaven, our lives will not end with death. With St Augustine we can also say today: “You made us, Lord, for you, and our hearts are restless until it rests in you.”
Prayer
Oh God, you’re my God, for you to grow up.
For you, who call me back to existence, for you, that you animate my life and wake it up. For you, you open my heart to the light and call it to be attentive, watchful.
For you, who want me present, unified, all whole and in harmony.
I thirst for you, your love and loyalty. I thirst for you, your peace and forgiveness.
I thirst for you, your purity and joy. I thirst for you, your strength and kindness.
My flesh is craving you, like dry, exhausted land, no water.
My whole being opens to your grace waiting for the morning dew.
My whole life tends to you waiting for your life without end.
My heart, within me, is glad to see your strength and your glory in me.
You give me reason to exist, your life is the meaning of my existence.
Your loyalty is worth more than life, your friendship more than all triumphs.
I want to get out of your presence. I want to fill myself with your Holy Spirit.
I want to feel at the fullness of your grace.
I remember you on the bed. You’re awake on my night.
When I wake up in the silence of the night, my heart discovers that you live in it.
In the shadow of your wings I sing with joy. My breath is attached to you.
Your love sustains me.
My heart rejoices with you, my God, because my life belongs to you.
My heart rejoices with you, my God, because your life belongs to me.
O God, for you I am always awake, for you I stand, awake, for you early morning whenever darkness is done in my life, for you I always begin, even if I feel tired.
Oh God, you are my God: a living God!
(Pray on foot barefoot, 46)
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