Homily

In the Gospel story there are ten women who await the arrival of the groom. Five of them are foolish while the other five are wise. Wisdom, according to this story, consists in bringing not only the lamps with their regular supply of oil, but also additional oil as stock. The foolish five are sure of themselves and assume they have thought of everything. But, the bridegroom is delayed well into the night. Obviously, it is easy for the ten bridesmaids to be overcome by sleep. Likewise, it is easy for us to rest on our old habits and certainties; it is easy to be overcome by the sweet slumber of self-love; it is easy to be overwhelmed by the weight of our own selfishness. It is worthy to note that all of them, both the wise and the foolish, fall asleep. This is not where the distinction is to be made; there are no heroes on one side, who stay awake, and cowards on the other, who fall asleep. Everyone, even the best, is overcome by sleep. We are those ten women and we are often closed up in a sleepy and greedy way of living, in which we lack great dreams or ideals. The important thing is not that we are without troubles, burdens, problems or nuisances. Other times, we are distressed mostly by our own things; we worry ourselves and stubbornly defend ourselves. This is the night of a life that is grey, always the same, without gleams of light, without stars; it is the night of egoism that is born from the depth of the hearts of each one of us. How wise or foolish we may be does not matter.
But, in this night, a cry announces the arrival of the groom. What is this cry? It is the cry that rises from the far countries of the poor, it is the cry that comes from the peoples at war; it is the cry of the lonely elders who ask for company, it is the cry of the poor, increasingly numerous and abandoned, it is the cry of the one who is sinking in anguish; it is the cry of the Gospel announced to us, it is the cry of the Sunday preaching. Upon hearing this cry, we awake. But if we do not have extra oil on hand then we find all the excuses for not responding. The extra oil is the practice, even the habit, and the faithfulness in receiving and cherishing the Word of God in our heart. We need to be trained in listening to the Gospel if we want to hear it and understand it in its pressing demands. If our ears are not trained to listen to the Gospel, we will not know how to hear and how to respond to the cries of the poor or live a meaningful life. We live in a time when the dark seems to expand and grow thicker. There is a need for the light to return and shine, for all, small and big, young and old, to light their lamps and illuminate the night of a mean and sad life. Today, we need to have oil on reserve, a reserve of love and generosity so that many may enter the wedding banquet to celebrate.