Sunday Homily, November 12, 2017, 32nd Ordinary Time
Readings:
Isaiah 25, 6-8, On Mt. Zion the Lord will prepare a banquet. (special)
Psalm 63, My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thessalonians 4, 13-18 , The Lord will come down from heaven.
Matthew 25, 1-13, The kingdom of heaven will be like the 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Along with Claire, Rose, the whole community and I say, "Welcome home. It is so nice to have you here."
Introduction
What we call Chapter 25 of the Matthew gospel is composed of three parables,
the first of which is about a Wedding Banquet, the Father’s gift of salvation. The Bridegroom of this parable is the Lord, Jesus who is coming for his Bride, the Church, those who have welcomed and are living the Good News.
Good Morning, Dearest Tori, Welcome. It is so nice to see you.
The First Reading, [a substitution, Isaiah 25:6-8] is from the Prophet Isaiah. It describes the Wedding Banquet for those who seek to do the will of the Lord; what unites us together is good food, aged wine, and forgiveness.
Our Responsorial Psalm, ‘My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God,’ addresses our yearning for a spiritual banquet with the Lord.
Emma, our Dearest Candle Lighter of The Week, in action.
Our Second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians addresses the mystical body of Christ rising together as one Body, for the Wedding Banquet at the end of time.
Our spiritual gift, of course, is that the Lord comes to us here and now in our banquet of the Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist, the fish and the bread.
Mike, conjuring up his neat little homily touch, namely Emma leading the community in singing, This Little Light of Mine.
The Holy Gospel according to Matthew: the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids.
I say to you that something is terribly wrong in the way we understand this parable: We sense it in the failure of the wise bridesmaids to share some of their oil with the foolish bridesmaids whose lamps were going out. Obviously, there must be an answer to this dilemma, and you will be surprised to find where I found it?
Want to go to Communion? Jan & Bern will help you.
Most of you can remember singing along with the children, as they held up their little paper or cardboard lamps, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine….” You probably don’t recall that its meaning is purposely given in Matthew’s ‘Sermon on the mount.
Here they are, Folks, better than ever (as they say on Mike & Mike, A.M. sports radio).
You are the light of the world….let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” The oil that was brought by the wise bridesmaids for their lamps in this parable, is a metaphor. It represents the good works they have done by loving others as Christ has loved them. When the wise bridesmaids, who are the Light of the World, trim their lamps with oil to go out to meet the Bridegroom, they are of course lighting the way for others as Christ escorts them to the Wedding Banquet.
This Little Light of Mine, will always be special because of you singing it for us, Emma.
The foolish, however, have no oil. Without good works it is impossible for them to trim their lamps, so the wise tell them to go to the marketplace for that’s where they can to do good works by becoming the Light of the World for others, the oil that gives glory to God. It is where they can choose to use their God given talents for the good of all, to be the Light of the World in their encounters with the poor, the lonely, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the sick.