A Cycle – 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 23

Mt. 25:1-13

After His baptism and forty days in the desert, Jesus’s first words were “…the kingdom of God is at hand.”  He began proclaiming that kingdom by preaching, teaching, and healing. Jesus came to reveal the Father to us and that began by his first encounter with Simon, Andrew, James, and John.  They had fished all night without catching anything.  Jesus tells them to go back out to the deep water and cast their nets.    These were men accustomed to having nights when they caught nothing, nights when the catch was barely enough to make it worthwhile and times when the catch was better than they expected. 

 If you think about it their lives mirror the normal Christian life.  But what it does not mirror is the trying of something different, even though it does not make sense. We know their story and we know how it ended that day and the total change it made in their lives. 

Jesus constantly challenged those He encountered to do something different.  Did you ever noticed how Jesus used stories and parables to challenge the listeners to pause and think.  Jesus challenged long adhered to beliefs about God and how we respond to God.   Some of the stories seem clear and direct like today’s but not even this one is that clear because every story was designed to point to a deeper reality.  The prodigal son parable is a good example as it challenges laws about sin and punishment.      

The story of the ten virgins challenges us today to come to grips with one reality and that is we must never become complacent and believe we only must do the minimum.  We must cast our nets into the deep even if it does not make sense.  We need to give to God what is God’s and that is our – heart, our mind, our strength, and our soul.  

If you would just pay attention to the interaction of Jesus and the Pharisees, you would understand more is required of us than just following the laws.  If obedience to the law is all we need to then the Pharisees would have been praised by Jesus instead of chastised.  If obedience to the law was all that was necessary then the parable of the prodigal son or the story of the woman caught in adultery, or the story of the woman at the well does not make sense.

God desires our hearts, so how do we give God our hearts? How do we stop mechanically following rituals and begin to do something different? How do we deepen our relationship with God?  How can we get past dependence on the law to define our holiness? 

To experience the Kingdom of God we must do something that is beyond our comfort level and do something that demands trust in God.  It is no wonder we rely on obedience to the law because the laws are clear and definite.  The laws do not require trust, only obedience. Mindless obedience is not what God desires.    

The scriptures show us what is possible if we just respond to the invitation of Jesus.  The scriptures give us story after story of people changed by an encounter with Jesus Christ. Some were seeking Him, and others were sought by Jesus.  He continues to invite us to open our hearts to His presence.  How can begin this journey to respond?  We need to do what all the virgins did and that is to be eager encounter Him.      

God reveals Himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ who told us “…you see me you see the Father.” He also reveals himself to us in the scriptures.  We certainly encounter Jesus in the Eucharist, but we can also encounter Him in our prayers and our worship.  If we seek Him, we will find Him. It is then we will discover something else God longs to do for us – heal our wounds and change our lives. He wants us to experience Him dancing with joy over us as a groom does on His wedding day with His bride. 

That is why we are here; we long for what He is offering us.  But we are missing the point. The task is not just to acknowledge He is Lord. There is more required of us.  What do we do while we are waiting for him to flood us with His presence? To bring us wholeness, healing, transformation of our minds and hearts so that we too become disciples and experience our moment of feeling God’s love. 

Those who carried a flask of oil were prepared for more than was normal or routine. God desires a trust that requires us to believe in something that seems impossible.   God wants us to experience the more that He desires to lavish upon us.  God wants us to feel His presence, to experience the embrace of forgiveness, to feel His love being poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. 

For that to happen we must be willing to spend whatever time it takes to encounter Him.  We need to have personal prayer including time to listen. We need to do something more than to just show up on Sunday.  We cannot be complacent. Enroll in the various spiritual growth opportunities offered by Basil’s.  Men’s and women’s ministry events, CRHP, Alpha, Forgiveness Retreat, Bible Studies, Life Teen, Praise and Worship, Evening Prayers.  Then when we come here on Sunday with your flasks full of oil, we will worship and give thanks for all God has done for us.