The parable in today’s gospel lesson is a strange one for three reasons. 1) First, there’s no virtue of sharing in the act of the so-called wise bridesmaids. Isn’t sharing supposed to be caring!? The wise bridesmaids are reluctant to share their flasks of oil with the foolish ones. Their response is straightforward, “Go buy your own.” 2) Here goes the second reason why this parable is strange. What’s up with the bridegroom who wouldn’t open the door to the wedding banquet? Why is he being so narrow-minded that he wouldn’t allow these bridesmaids to be late, saying “I do not know you?” They are late but are at least showing up to join his wedding feast. 3) Lastly, Jesus sums up the lesson of the parable as always keeping awake. Well, in the parable both the foolish bridesmaids and the wise fall asleep and they both wake up at the midnight shout at the same time.
From these three reasons, we might be able to find the core teaching of the parable. 1) Jesus in his parable is talking about something that is not shareable with anyone else. Metaphorically speaking, flasks of oil cannot be shared. 2) The bridegroom’s inability to recognize who the foolish bridesmaids are might be considered that he really cannot see them. They must have something that can show their faces at night so that the bridegroom can see who they are. They have the lamps but there’s no oil for their lamps. 3) Keeping awake is not so much about staying awake all night long until the bridegroom shows up. It’s about preparing flasks of oil for lamps. The most important element of the parable then becomes quite clear. The oil for lamps! In a spiritual sense, Jesus seems to talk about spiritual fuel. Without this oil, no lamps of our beings can be lit. According to the parable, this spiritual flask of oil cannot be shared. It’s something so personal and intimate that one must gain it through one’s own experience. Say, for example, would it be possible for me to lend you my first impression of Niagara Falls? Looking at it from the top as well as going under it on a ferry, my experience with Niagara Falls was quite amazing and humbling. This is something one must undergo. Having one’s own flask of spiritual oil is one’s mystical experience with God where the eternal oneness happens. I’m aware some of us feel God’s presence or a sense of peace and rejuvenation in nature. This spiritual experience is in and of itself your spiritual fuel, and where/whichever means you cultivate your fuel (be it music, reading Scriptures or poetry, connecting with your loved ones, etc.) is where God the bridegroom can see your face. God is hidden until we open up our eyes and show our faces. Our spiritual attentiveness then measures whether we are awake or not. When it is never cultivated or has yet become dull, we are spiritually unprepared and still asleep. Friends, all of us have this spiritual fuel to have our inner lamps lit whether we agree or not. All of us, at least once in life, have experienced a sense of awe, wonder, gratitude, love, and hope springing up from the utmost of our being. What takes place before all these beautiful sensations are the suspension of thoughts and feelings. When we listen to beautiful music or look at a masterful art piece or when we are in great joy, we stop all our brain activities of thinking and feeling. We’re simply focused on one thing only. Meditation or contemplation is just to do that one thing, concentrating on one thing that is non-thinking, non-feeling. Running or cycling can be considered the same though how one achieves this focusedness varies. This illustration of focusing on one thing doesn’t only sound spiritual but in its very nature, it is! Now, I would like us to ask ourselves, “By what means can I start this non-thinking and non-feeling practice?” If being in nature helps, go out there. If praying in a quiet place helps, go pray. If listening to Bach helps, go listen. All these are the means to prepare your flasks of oil. At the same time, you’re not only having your inner lamps lit but also joining God’s feast of Communion. This is the kingdom of God within you. Transform this unprecedented time into the time of taking a long loving look at God who is also taking a long loving look at you. In this mutual seeing, our neighbors may find in us God’s compassionate presence. Amen. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
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