Watch, be wise, and be ready!
32nd Sunday Year (A), St. Louis Maria de Montfort Pastoral Area, Arab Road, Kubwa, Abuja, 12.11.2023. Homily by Archbishop I. A. Kaigama
Readings: Wis. 6:12-16; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Mt. 25:1-13
Watch, be wise, and be ready!
Dear parishioners of St. Louis Maria de Montfort Pastoral Area, Arab Road, Kubwa, it is good to be with you today. May God keep you all united, doing good works, and may He give you the wisdom to guide you to the next life.
I thank your priest in Charge, Rev. Fr. Maurice Ugema, for the work he is doing here, and I encourage you the parishioners to continue to cooperate with him so that your pastoral area will keep waxing stronger and your faith growing deeper.
The readings today remind us that the time will come when everything comes to an end and we have to give an account of our earthly stewardship before God. It was on Friday, a young, dynamic and a very devout Catholic, Victor Kamai, was buried. I kept asking why couldn’t God have given Victor more time on earth? Victor Kamai was fervent in faith, active in all Church activities, selfless in anything to do with the church and with his neighbours. He had a few days before his death donated blood to another person. Yet God called him. It means that God can call us anytime, anywhere, and anyhow and like the five wise virgins in the gospel today, we must be ready at all times.
Our first reading reminds us that wisdom is to find God and we are invited to esteem wisdom more than wealth, beauty and strength. I watched a recent video on the social media of a ten-year old Ghanaian child who was arguing very “smartly” that there is no God; that all creation can be explained scientifically. I pitied the child and his parents. He must have learnt all that from them or from what they exposed him to. This explains why our theme for the general assembly this year was “marriage and family.” Marriages are breaking down too often and many families are no longer schools of values.
We all want to go to heaven, but the small boy I referred to is convinced that there is no life after death. Wise, inspired, and godly people like St. Paul in today’s second reading, have hope in the resurrection of the dead. Through that assurance which St. Paul gave to the faithful in Thessalonica, we are all reminded that our labours and efforts in this world will not go in vain. Those who remain faithful to God and strive towards keeping His Covenant, God will not abandon them.
In our Gospel passage this Sunday, Jesus used the parable of the ten virgins; five brought extra oil with them so that if the bridegroom were to be delayed, they would still have enough oil for their lamps. Meanwhile, the five foolish virgins did not bring any extra oil, and they ran out of oil after the bridegroom was delayed. This led to their exclusion from the banquet.
We are all reminded that we must be ever vigilant as we shall one day be accountable for everything we do and those which we equally have failed to do. We recall and celebrate very special days in our lives such as our birthdays, wedding anniversaries, priestly ordination days, graduation days, Independence Day and other holidays. But we fail to remember the judgement day. We should make good use of the time and opportunities presented to us and be very prepared to meet Christ when He calls us.
The lamp in the parable is the Word of God. The psalmist says: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my eyes” (Ps. 119:105). The oil stands for faith, good works, personal piety, and devotion. Christ is pictured as the “bridegroom,” the Church is represented as the bride of Christ and the Lord’s return as “marriage feast.” The time of waiting is the period of our lives on earth when we are expected to do good deeds, to be honest in our dealings, and to love and be fair to our neighbours.
As priests, we should be found spiritual and exemplary; as teachers or medical workers you must serve with dedication, as political leaders, you must be honest and inspired by morality even as you do politics, and not to imagine that you can assassinate other people’s character or because you are in power, you can treat others without dignity; as judges, to be guided by conscience when you pronounce judgment, knowing that you too shall stand before God in judgment. As married people, you are to be faithful to your spouses and make the home a “little heaven.”
Our 4th Annual Abuja Archdiocesan General Assembly which concluded yesterday had the theme “Marriage and Family in Contemporary Society”. We noted that marriage is a vocation and the union of a man and a woman open to the gift of children. The family is a nucleus of society and good families can bring about a healthy Church or a healthy society. Those who are called to the marriage vocation should strive to preserve the dignity of marriage and should endeavour to bequeath the faith to their children. Let us remember today in our prayers, orphans, widows, and families that are experiencing crises.
The closed door in the gospel today means that access to Jesus is not automatic. God is a God of surprises. We can never tell how or when He is going to come. Let us be well stocked with the oil of loving service to our brothers and sisters.
May your oil of virtue, manifested in good works and constancy in the faith enable you and all of us to happily meet the Lord when He comes. Amen.
