Are you wise or foolish?

Today’s Gospel reminds me of our dependence upon propane to heat our house during the winter.  Several times in the last few years we have been very low on propane during the middle of winter.  Of course, we called our supplier and asked them to deliver propane.  But, they are always very busy at that time of the year.  So, we turned the temperature down in the house and prayed that they would come before we ran out. 

Now, my concern about being low on propane and maybe having to live in a cold house isn’t nearly as much of a problem as being a virgin at the wedding feast without any oil.  These virgins are locked out of the wedding feast for all eternity.   And, as Jesus says at the end of the parable, we don’t know either the day or the hour.  So we must be ever vigilant with our lamps always full. 

It’s interesting to me that there are five foolish virgins and five wise virgins.  So, five of these virgins, the wise ones, are taken into heaven and the other five, the foolish ones, are thrown into hell.  Does this mean that about half of the believers will make the cut and eventually reach heaven, while the other half will be condemned to hell?  I cannot answer this question.  All of us can only pray and work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

And then we look at the first reading from the letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians which tells us: “This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality”.  Then St Paul continues: “for the Lord is an avenger in all these things as we told you before and solemnly affirmed.”  

The Navarre bible commentary for this reading tells us that in St Paul’s time the word immorality had come to refer to any kind of sexual practice outside marriage or not in accordance with the aims of marriage.  Using this definition for immorality, there seems to be an excess of immorality in our culture today and a shortage of holiness. 

If you were to ask Catholics, how many people would reach heaven and how many would be condemned to hell, I expect that most would say that only a very few people would be condemned to hell.  They would cite God’s mercy and suggest that a merciful God wouldn’t condemn lots of people to an eternity in hell.  For me, it is interesting that Jesus had five wise and five foolish virgins in this parable.  It makes me think that this may be a toss-up for many of us.  I know it sure makes me want to work harder when I think that the odds may be 50/50 or less.  And by the time we know where our eternal future lies, we cannot do anything about it and we cannot come back here to warn our family and friends.  As Jesus says, we must “stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Lord, you tell us this parable because you love us.  You want us to know how to enter into your grace now and for all eternity.  Please pour that same love into our hearts, so each of us will be creative and courageous in spreading your good news.  With the love of your heart, Lord, inflame our hearts.