Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Saturday November 5, 2005

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A Happy Ending

Because I am a bit of a romanticist, I prefer a happy ending to any story. Even when reading an historical novel or a documentary that I know beforehand to have a tragic ending, I read it with the hope that somehow divine intervention will change the outcome.

This is no less true whenever I read gospel parables such as that of the five wise and five foolish versions. As with the outcome of the parable of the wedding feast to which everyone was invited but from which the man without the wedding garment was cast out, I resist the rejection of the five foolish maidens and the man without the wedding garment. I still wonder why an all-loving God in this case would not suspend the law of justice for the sake of mercy and let all of them in.

It has been said that every analogy limps and no allegory is perfect. So too every parable has its limits when it comes to explaining the mind of God. What at first appears to place salvation in the category of a game of chance is really about making conscious the connection between our daily decisions and our eternal salvation.

Of course the parable of the ten virgins is not as much about God’s mercy as it is about our foolishness and the need to be prepared. Parables were written to teach us about our responsibility to God not God’s responsibility to us. There are sufficient passages in the Scriptures that amply demonstrate the latter. I have spoken often enough of my arrogant expectation that God be there for us in good times and bad and I have done so without a guilty conscience.

Although as Catholics, we are not alone in our belief in an afterlife, we are in many respects unique about the intimate connection between faith and good works and their impact on salvation.

We differ from our Jewish ancestors and contemporaries Although they do indeed believe in an afterlife conditioned on atonement and in the need for good works, they continue to await the Messiah who will establish the new era.

Our protestant sisters and brothers have a different view of justification and righteousness that is related more to faith than good works. Although the latter are not irrelevant, the accent is on faith. In recent years thanks to successful ecumenical dialogue, we differ only on where to place the accent as it were. Luther viewed baptism as a covering up of our sins and our sinfulness. In a sense, human nature retains it bent on sin. Faith overcomes sin and leads to justification. Of course if faith is strong, then the effect of belief will surely lead to good works. Thus the accent is on faith.

In Catholic theology, baptism is a new birth—a renewal from the inside out, not a cover-up of our sinfulness. We are born again. We receive a new capacity for goodness but we are not absolved from taking some responsibility for our salvation through good works; thus the strong emphasis on justice in Catholic social teaching. The accent is on good works without diminishing the necessity of faith.

The foolish virgins did not take responsibility for their preparedness. They did not see the connection between their preparedness and immanent arrival of the bridegroom.

Were I to have had a say in the order of readings this weekend, I would have proclaimed the Gospel first followed by that marvelous reading from the Book of Wisdom which defines God’s life as wisdom. Notice, gentlemen, God’s wisdom is translated by the feminine word, “Sophia.” The wise person lives in God and places God above every other consideration. Nothing is more important than our life in God.

I would have placed the reading of St. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians last. He was writing to a people concerned about the wellbeing of all who died before Christ’s second coming. In rather dramatic metaphoric language, Paul tells them not to worry. We have no advantage over them or they over us. We will all be reunited in God whenever Christ comes again. If we live in grace, we are in communion with those who went before us and will remain in communion with all who come after us.

In baptism, we were empowered by God and given the capacity to live more fully. “I have come that you may have life and have it in greater abundance.” [John] We have the promise of God’s faithfulness that includes the gift of wisdom and the gifts of the Holy Spirit one of which is perseverance.

We have only to keep our lamps burning like the five “wise” maidens who saw the connection between the invitation and their preparedness.

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