Saturday, November 18, 2017

THE BACKUP WISDOM



Reflection for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
(Wisdom 6:12-16, 1 Thes 4:13-18, Mt 25:1-13)
1.0.  The Dawn of Wisdom
As we draw closer to the end of the Liturgical year, the readings talk about the end times. Patterning our present lives for a successful ending is wisdom. The first reading describes wisdom as adorned with feminine beauty. She is radiant and unfading, and readily available to those who seek her.
The wise seek Jesus
Intelligence is the ability to interact with the power of our imagination. Imaginative prowess is intelligence. That is why an intelligent person is future-oriented or far-sighted. Wisdom is action! It is the ability to put into action what has been grasped by intelligence. It is practical intelligence. 

However, the first reading personifies wisdom. Now, it has become a practical response to a person. There is a limit our human mind can understand. The far-sight that goes beyond human mind can only be grasped through revelation. The fullness of this divine relation is given in Christ Jesus. Hence, the wisdom that lights up our life even after death is here with us in Christ Jesus. Therefore Jesus is the Incarnate Wisdom. Our intelligence is enriched when we begin to understand Jesus, and we are acknowledged to be wise when we put into action the life of Jesus. 

2.0.     “Behold the Bridegroom!”
Jesus tells us the parable about the wisdom that leads to eternal life. Ten virgins took their lamps to meet the bridegroom, five of them were wise, and five were foolish. By choosing the ten to enter the wedding hall with the bridegroom, the greatest act of charity had been shown them. But their personal commitment and choices are necessary for their realization of the opportunity given them. 

“As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.” Their hopes were stretched! They all got tired of waiting. But the five wise virgins had a backup plan; they took extra flasks of oil with their lamps. This practical step rendered them “wise”, as compared with the foolish ones. The extra oil was a practical demonstration that they did not know the hour the bridegroom would arrive. Now, they had to carry lamp in one hand, and extra flask of oil in another. That means they took extra ‘inconvenience’, which is a demonstration of personal responsibility and commitment to the invitation. Wisdom is not cheap.

Furthermore, the wise virgins were able to carry backup oil because their minds were focused on the coming of the bridegroom. They directed their imaginative gaze at the Bridegroom and his feast, and followed him up with a practical step. Wisdom is selfless. Meditation is the school of wisdom. A wise choice secures an enduring future. Even while we slumber in human weakness or our hopes diminishing, our earlier wise choices would back us up. So, we must guide our thoughts and act for a better tomorrow. 

“But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’” It is from the treasury of our earlier choices can we meet the bridegroom. The wise are revealed in retrospect. However, our present choices can continue to shine if our mind and heart are focused on Jesus. The Incarnate Wisdom is our guide.

3.0.  The Backup Wisdom
“Lord, let us learn the shortness of our lives that we may gain wisdom of heart” (Ps 90:12). St Paul in the second reading talks about the end of life. Knowing that human life will end one day is intelligence. But living so as to continue life after death is wisdom. “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (1Thes 4:14). At the end, the living shall also meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. This means that Jesus is the meeting point of life and death. He is our hope in life, and our life in death! Those who died shall live in Christ Jesus, and we who are alive should die to Jesus (cf. Phil 1:21, Rm 6:8). Therefore, wisdom is to live for Jesus.

It is a wise choice to put Jesus at the centre of our lives. If our present choices are informed by the faith and love we have in Jesus, they would constitute a treasury of wisdom that would guarantee our participation in the heavenly banquet. This is the kind of backup wisdom that would see us through even when our hopes are stretched to the twelfth hour. This backup assures us of a future with the Bridegroom. Thus, abandoning our selfish ways, and following Jesus each day and in every situation we may find ourselves, is wisdom that endures—a backup wisdom that carries us along...

The light of the wise continues to burn. When it dims, they refill from their backup flasks. For this they were recognized as wise. Let your light shine. Those who light up their mind and heart with Jesus will always have the light of their lives shining. Wisdom is radiant and unfading.
_____________________________________
Fr Chinwenwa J. Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
St Francis Catholic Church,
College Road, Ekenwan,
Benin City, Nigeria.
November 12, 2017.