Friday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 28th August, 2020. The Memorial of St. Augustine

 Readings: 1Cor. 1:17-25, Ps.33, Matt.25:1-13

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

BE PREPARED FOR YOU KNOW NEITHER THE DAY NOR THE HOUR

Jogging around the national stadium, I observed how footballers, boxers, athletes, also engineers, doctors and farmers, business men and women devote time and energy in rigorous preparation towards achieving their goals. Then I realized that adequate preparation is the secret and foundation of every successful event. But if we can go to this length of rigorous periods of preparation just for things of this passing world, it will be even more demanding when it has to do with preparing for eternal life. 

For if we can devote such time and energy towards our spiritual life which we often neglect, we will be more awake and prepared more than the ten maidens in our Gospel passage today, who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. When the bridegroom delayed in coming their lamps burned out and as they went out to get more oil, they missed out since the door was shut after the bridegroom had passed.

In this parable of the ten maidens Jesus emphasized on the need to be well prepared for the coming of God’s kingdom, warning us not to be like the foolish five maidens who were not well prepared and missed out when the bridegroom came. Thus, Jesus commanded us to stay awake, because we do not know either the day or the hour when the Lord will come. And St. Paul in our first reading tell us to embrace the message of Christ which seems foolish in the eyes of the world but  wisdom and reality of life for those who have faith. Thereby reminding us that God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human.

 Dear friends, our life as Christians demands that we should be alert, we should be prepared at all times and be ready to make sacrifices like the five wise maidens. We should be watchful for we know neither the day nor the hour when the Lord will call us. Hence, we are reminded today that this world is passing away, so we need to stay awake and be ready.

Therefore, we are called to abstain from things that will separate us from our God, as we look into our inner being, our interior life in order to embrace the life of holiness and self-control that will help us to be more prepared. Just like St Augustine whose memorial we celebrate today, for when he realize that true happiness is found in interior living and not on material things we possess, he embraced God and became great instrument in preparing humanity towards the kingdom of God. We too can be another great instrument of preparation in God’s hands, if we make ourselves available. 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, we often failed to listen to your warnings concerning the things of this passing world and the need for to stay awake and be ready for your coming, give us the grace and wisdom to be well prepared to stand before you whenever you call us, may we never be among those You will be told: I do not know you. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.