The first reading from the Book of Wisdom personifies wisdom, as Lady Wisdom, who is to be found by all who seek her. Through divine wisdom God communicates to mankind the meaning of life and living. What we need most in life is wisdom; when we have found God we become truly wise since He guides our every step. True wisdom in a person is that quality that shows that one is truly in contact with God, and that He is, in a large measure, acting in one’s life. Wisdom can be said to be the inner light, given by God, which, is given only to those who thirst for it, seek it, love it and carefully nurture it when received.
The Parable of the Cave
Three wise men were encouraged to find what had been called the Cave of wisdom and life. They made careful preparations for what would be a challenging and arduous journey. When they reached the place of the cave, they noted a guard at the entrance. They were not permitted to enter the cave until they had spoken to the guard. He had only one question for them, and he demanded that they answer only after talking it over with one another. He assured them that they would have a guide to lead them through the regions of the cave. His question was a simple one, “How far into the Cave of wisdom and life do you wish to go?” The three travelers took counsel together and returned to the guard. Their response was, “Oh, not very far. We just want to go far enough into the cave so that we can say that we have been there.” The reaction of the guard manifested none of his great disappointment as he summoned someone to lead the three seekers a short distance into the cave, and then watched them set out again after a very short time, set out to make the journey back into their own land.Paula Ripple in ‘Walking with Loneliness’
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells a parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins to remind us that we should be awake and prepared for the coming of the Lord, because we do not know at what hour he will come. The virgins stand for people who are waiting for the coming of the Lord. To be wise is to be ready and prepared for any eventuality, for what might happen. Jewish wedding ceremonies were celebrated at night. The girls who formed the procession accompanied the groom to the house of the girl’s father. No time was set. Those who were prepared were welcomed, while the unprepared were left out. Their fault wasn't to sleep but to be unprovided for their part in the torchlight procession. Missing the feast meant losing the kingdom. The virgins typify mankind in search of purpose. Some lack resolution, others are preoccupied with the distractions and trivialities while some stay focused on their ultimate purpose.
The kingdom of heaven is like…
God comes to us in spite of ourselves!
A woman was at work when she received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with fever. She left her work and stopped by the pharmacy to pick up some medication for her daughter. On returning to her car she found that she had locked her keys in the car. She was in a hurry to get home to her sick daughter. She found a coat hanger there. Then she looked at the hanger and said, “I don’t know how to use this.” So she bowed her head and asked the Lord to send some help. A man got out of his car and asked her if he could help. “Please can you use this hanger to unlock my car?” she said. He said, “Sure.” He walked over to the car and in less than one minute, the car was opened. She hugged the man and through tears, she said, “Thank you so much! You are a very nice man.” The man replied, “Lady, I am not a nice man. I just got out of prison today. I was in prison for car theft and have only been out for about an hour.” The woman hugged the man again and with sobbing tears cried aloud, “Oh, Thank you God! You even sent me a professional!” –While we are all sinners, the Lord sees the good within us and keeps coming, knocking at the door of our hearts, encouraging us to come closer to him.
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells a parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins to remind us that we should be awake and prepared for the coming of the Lord, because we do not know at what hour he will come. The virgins stand for people who are waiting for the coming of the Lord. To be wise is to be ready and prepared for any eventuality, for what might happen. Jewish wedding ceremonies were celebrated at night. The girls who formed the procession accompanied the groom to the house of the girl’s father. No time was set. Those who were prepared were welcomed, while the unprepared were left out. Their fault wasn't to sleep but to be unprovided for their part in the torchlight procession. Missing the feast meant losing the kingdom. The virgins typify mankind in search of purpose. Some lack resolution, others are preoccupied with the distractions and trivialities while some stay focused on their ultimate purpose.
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Fr. Tony Kadavil:
1) Forgetting the parachute: In April, 1988 the evening news reported the sad story of a photographer who was also a skydiver. He had jumped from a plane along with several other skydivers and filmed the group as they individually dove out of the plane and opened their parachutes. As the video was being shown of each member of the crew jumping out and then pulling their rip chord so that their parachute opened to the wind, the final skydiver opened his chute and then the picture went out of control. The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death, having jumped out of the plane without a parachute. It wasn’t until he reached for the ripcord that he realized he was in free fall, taking pictures without a parachute. Tragically he was unprepared for the jump. It did not matter how many times he had done it before or what skill he had. By forgetting the parachute, he made a foolish and deadly mistake. Nothing could save him, because his Faith was in a parachute which he had never taken the trouble to buckle on. It is a story not unlike the parable which Jesus tells about the foolish bridesmaids forgetting to bring something very important and necessary.
2) "What's your purpose in life, Bob?" Josh McDowell tells about an executive "head-hunter" (recruiter) who goes out and hires corporation executives for large firms. This recruiter once told McDowell that when he gets an executive that he's trying to hire for someone else, he likes to disarm him. "I offer him a drink," said the recruiter, "take my coat off, then my vest, undo my tie, throw up my feet and talk about baseball, football, family, whatever, until he's all relaxed. Then, when I think I've got him relaxed, I lean over, look him square in the eye and say, ‘What's your purpose in life?' It's amazing," said the recruiter, "how top executives fall apart at that question." Then he told about interviewing one fellow recently. He had him all disarmed, had his feet up on his desk, talking about football. Then the recruiter leaned over and said, "What's your purpose in life, Bob?" And the executive who was being recruited said, without blinking an eye, "To go to Heaven and take as many people with me as I can." "For the first time in my career," said the recruiter, "I was speechless." [Stories For the Heart, compiled by Alice Gray (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Books, 1996), p. 112.] No wonder -- he had encountered someone who was really prepared! In today’s Gospel parable of the ten virgins Jesus warns us to be ever prepared to meet God our Creator at the end of our lives to give an account of how we have lived.
3) “Be prepared” and “Don’t run out of gas.”: One thing that all Scouts, young and old, never forget is the Boy Scout Motto: "Be prepared." If you’ve ever set up a tent and didn’t tie your lines securely, you know what happens when the wind and rain hits! A tent collapse in the middle of the night is a rude awakening! Or, if you get a brand-new pair of hiking boots and don’t properly break them in, then go on a ten-mile hike, it’s pretty painful! You might forget bug-spray during mosquito season. Or if you bring a flashlight on a campout, but not extra batteries; that can make it somewhat challenging finding the latrine in the middle of the night! We sometimes learn the hard way to anticipate our needs. We need to plan ahead, before it’s too late. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark! Through the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus warns us to be ever prepared for the end of our lives. How many of you have ever run out of gas? In most audiences, this would be nearly everyone. I cannot verify these statistics, so I caution you that they may be flawed. It would appear that every year at least a half million people call for help because they have run out of gas. Besides flat tires, dead batteries, and misplaced keys, running out of gas ranks right up there in the reasons why people call for roadside service. One might understand this happening a generation ago, when gas gauges were not entirely accurate, and when all the warning lights of our day were non-existent. But now we have warning messages that our fuel is running low (giving us perhaps an hour more of driving), and then additional, progressively urgent warnings indicating just how many estimated miles of driving we have left. One must say that most people who run out of fuel are “without excuse.”
4. A tour group was riding in an elevator to the top of the Empire State Building. At about the 102nd floor, a woman asked the tour guide, “If the cables on this elevator break, do we go up or down?” The tour guide answered, “Well, that depends on how you are living.”
5. A Sunday school teacher was testing the children in her class one morning to see if they understood the concept of "getting to Heaven." She said, "If I sold my house and my car, held a big garage sale and gave all my money to the Church, would that get me into Heaven?"
"NO!" the children answered.
"If I cleaned the Church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into Heaven?"
Again, the answer was, "NO!"
"Well, then, if I was kind to animals, gave candy to children and loved my husband, would that get me into Heaven?"
Again, they all answered, "NO!"
“Well," the teacher continued, “how do I get into Heaven?"
A five-year-old boy shouted out, "YOU GOTTA BE DEAD."
6. When Bishop Philip Brooks, author of “O, Little Town of Bethlehem,” was seriously ill, he requested that none of his friends come to see him. But when an acquaintance of his named Robert Ingersoll, the famous anti-Christian propagandist, came to see him, Brooks allowed him to enter his room. Ingersoll said, “I appreciate this very much, especially when you aren’t letting any of your close friends see you.” Bishop Brooks responded, “Oh, I’m confident of seeing them in the next world, but this may be my last chance to see you.”
7. Bush’s comments a few years ago about her husband? She said, “George always says he’s delighted to come to these press dinners. Baloney. He’s usually in bed by now. I’m not kidding. I said to him the other day, ‘George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you’re going to have to stay up later.’ I am married to the president of the United States, and here’s our typical evening: Nine o’clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I’m watching “Desperate Housewives” on television. One day in February 2003, with America on the verge of a war with Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell was reminded that, notwithstanding the stress, President George W. Bush was in bed by 10 o’clock every night and slept like a baby. “I sleep like a baby, too,” Powell replied. “Every two hours I wake up screaming!” Ronald Reagan insisted on taking a nap every afternoon. Even so, he was so sleepy that he nearly overslept his own presidential inauguration. On one occasion, he did in fact drop off at an awkward moment ... in an audience with Pope St. John Paul II.
23- Additional anecdotes:
1) “At last I've met a man more stupid than myself." There is an old legend about a man who had a rather stupid servant. The master often got exasperated with his servant. One day in a fit of frustration he said to the servant, "You've got to be the stupidest man I've ever met. Look, I want you to take this staff and carry it with you. And if you ever meet a man stupider than you are, give him the staff." So the servant carried the staff. Often out in the marketplace he'd meet some pretty stupid people. But he was never sure they were worse off than he. Years passed with the servant carrying his staff. Then one day, he came back to the castle and was ushered into the bedroom of his master. His master was quite sick. In the course of their conversation, the master said, "I'm going on a long journey." The servant said, "When do you plan to be back?" The master said, "This is a journey from which I'll not return." The servant said, "Sir, have you made all the necessary preparations?" The master said, "No, I have not." The servant said, "Could you have made preparations?" The master said, "Yes, I guess I've had my life to make them, but I've been busy about other things." The servant said "Master, you're going on a journey from which you'll never return, you could've prepared for it, and you just didn't?" The master said, "Yes, I guess that's right." The servant took the staff he'd carried so long and said, "Master take this with you. At last I've met a man more stupid than myself." Telling us the parable of the 10 virgins Jesus warns us to be ever prepared to meet him as our judge on the day of our death.
2) “I'll tell you what's more important; it's the will to prepare.” In 1976, Indiana University's basketball team was undefeated throughout the regular season and captured the NCAA National Championship. Controversial and colorful coach Bobby Knight led them to that championship. Shortly afterwards, Coach Knight was interviewed on the television show 60 Minutes. The commentator asked him, "Why is it, Bobby, that your basketball teams at Indiana are always so successful? Is it the will to succeed?" "The will to succeed is important," replied Bobby Knight, "but I'll tell you what's more important; it's the will to prepare. It's the will to go out there every day, training and building those muscles and sharpening those skills!" [John R. Noe, Peak Performance Principles for High Achievers (New York: Berkley Books, 1984).] No wonder Bobby Knight has been so successful as a coach!
3) "Don't fool yourself.” Another famous coach believed the same thing. "Hurry Up" Yost was the football coach at the University of Michigan. A player once assured Coach Yost that their team was sure to win on Saturday because the players had "the will to win." "Hurry Up" Yost answered: "Don't fool yourself. The will to win is not worth a plugged nickel unless you have the will to prepare." That is true. Whether we are talking about sports, or education, or science, or business, or any worthwhile endeavor in life, success goes to the person who has the will to prepare!
4) “Keep your lamps lighted and your fork in hand.” There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. As she was getting her things in order, she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the funeral Mass, what Scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. Everything was in order and as the pastor was preparing to leave, the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her. "There’s one more thing," she said excitedly. "What’s that?" asked the pastor. "This is very important," the young woman continued. "I want my body to be buried with a fork in my right hand." The pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say. "That surprises you, doesn’t it?" the young woman asked. "Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request," said the pastor. The young woman explained. "My grandmother once told me this story, and that’s where I got the idea. I have, also, always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending Church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ’Keep your fork!’ It was my favorite part of the meal because I knew that something better was coming, like chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance! So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, "What’s with the fork?" Then I want you to tell them: "Keep your fork--the best is yet to come."
5) Can you “sleep when the wind blows”? A young man applied for a job as a farm hand. When asked for his qualifications, he said, "I can sleep when the wind blows." This puzzled the farmer, but he liked the young man and hired him. A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all were secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace. The farm implements had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn had been properly locked. Everything was fine. Even the animals were calm. It was then that the farmer grasped the meaning of the young man’s words, "I can sleep when the wind blows." Because the farm hand had performed his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm when it broke. Consequently, when the wind blew, he had no fear. He was able to sleep in peace. In the parable that is our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus is talking about exactly the same thing, being able to sleep when the winds blows, in other words, being prepared.
6) Victory goes to those who are prepared. Graham Greene once observed: "There is always one moment when the door opens and lets the future in." Will you be ready when your time comes? Robert Runcie was. During a battle in WWII, a British tank was hit. The crew, except for the co-driver, scrambled out. The turret on the tank was stuck in such a position that it could not be opened, pinning the co-driver inside. Under heavy fire, a soldier jumped out of his own tank, ran to turn the turret, and dragged the copilot out. That soldier, Robert Runcie, was ready to do what was needed in WWII. He was also ready to do what was needed when he became Archbishop of Canterbury many years later. Victory goes to those who are prepared. Preparation and character go hand in hand. One more thing needs to be said. It is amazing that many of us who are prepared for life fail to prepare for eternity. We get our degrees in school. We position ourselves for the right jobs. We set our goals ten years in advance. We know where we want to retire. Each year we sock away the limit in our IRAs. And we totally disregard the most important reality of all our relationship with God – until it's too late and we are unprepared.
7) "Eight Steps Toward a More Satisfying Life." In a recent TIME magazine sidebar, there were "Eight Steps Toward a More Satisfying Life." Here are the Eight Steps: 1. Count your blessings. 2. Practice acts of kindness. 3. Savor life's joys. 4. Thank a mentor. 5. Learn to forgive. 6. Invest time and energy in friends and family. 7. Take care of your body. 8. Develop strategies for coping with stress and hardship. (TIME, 17 (January 2005), A8-A9.] This morning when we reflect on the parable of the ten virgins, we add one more step, a 9th Step to the strategy: Be prepared. Be prepared to step off life's planned paths, and trust the Spirit. After all, the Spirit can appear in many guises, disguises, and surprises. (Rev. Leonard Sweet)
8) “You are given three minutes to get into the boat.” There's a true story that comes from the sinking of the Titanic. A frightened woman found her place in a lifeboat that was about to be lowered into the raging North Atlantic. She suddenly thought of something she needed, so she asked permission to return to her stateroom before they cast off. She was granted three minutes, or they would leave without her. She ran across the deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle. She raced through the gambling room with all the money that had rolled to one side, ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and quickly pushed a side her diamond rings and expensive bracelets and necklaces as she reached to the shelf above her bed and grabbed three small oranges. She quickly found her way back to the lifeboat and got in. Now that seems incredible because thirty minutes earlier she would not have chosen a crate of oranges over the smallest diamond. But death had boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless. Worthless things had become priceless. And in that moment, she preferred three small oranges to a crate of diamonds. There are events in life, which have the power to transform the way we look at the world. Jesus' parable about the ten virgins offers one of these types of events, for the parable is about the Second Coming of Christ.
9) Unprepared. Forgetful. Irresponsible: These are the ten best things to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk: #10. "They told me at the blood bank this might happen." #9. "This is just a 15-minute power-nap like they raved about in that time management course you sent me to." #8. "Whew! Guess I left the top off the White-Out. You probably got here just in time!" #7. "I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm." #6. "I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance." #5. "I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Are you discriminating against people who practice Yoga?" #4. "Darn! Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem." #3. "The coffee machine is broken . . . " #2. "Someone must've put decaf in the wrong pot . . . " And the #1 best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk . . . " . . . in His name. Amen." Jesus tells a parable in today’s Gospel about ten young women--bridesmaids— five of whom forgot their specific responsibility in a wedding celebration.
10) Lighted candle race: The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. Some of our schools used to have its imitation in the form of a 50-meter race for girls in the primary schools with lighted candles. Let us run all the way of our life with the flame of our torches still lit for God.
11) Spiritual Intelligence: Scientists are working feverishly on AI—Artificial Intelligence. But Jesus' parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids tells us more about what we might call "Spiritual Intelligence” than about mere high IQ. Researchers are advancing NEW ideas of what intelligence is, how it should be measured, and which values should be invoked in considerations of the human intellect. Harvard University professor Howard Gardner points out that psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman has achieved worldwide success with his 1995 book “Emotional Intelligence." Contending that this new concept (sometimes nicknamed EQ) may matter as much as or more than IQ, Goleman draws attention to such pivotal human abilities as controlling one's emotional reactions and 'reading' the signals of others. Psychiatrist Robert Coles, author of The Moral Intelligence of Children, argues that we should prize character over intellect, and work to cultivate human beings with a strong sense of right and wrong. Others are pushing leadership intelligence (LQ), executive intelligence (EQ) and even financial intelligence! A quick cruise through cyberspace reveals numerous types of intelligences, including Visual-spatial intelligence, Verbal-linguistic intelligence, Musical-Rhythmic intelligence, Logical-mathematical intelligence, Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, Interpersonal intelligence, Intrapersonal intelligence etc. Finally, the research these days is in AI -- Artificial Intelligence -- an area in which researchers have created conversational computer programs that imitate psychotherapists, and programs called "chatterbots" that simulate paranoid-schizophrenics, that chat on the Internet and that control Webcams. (For details, confer www.scbe.on.ca/mit/mi.htm). Today we hear the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids, a story told by Jesus to illustrate the character of the Kingdom of God, and to describe what constitutes Spiritual Intelligence. In this passage, we encounter a tale that is nothing less than a test of spiritual IQ, a cutting-edge research project that measures spiritual wisdom.
12) Unprepared Mayflower Pilgrims: One of the most cherished events in our history was the landing of the Mayflower on these shores. One hundred and two Pilgrims stepped from their storm-tossed little ship with unsteady legs and huge relief. It would be difficult to imagine a group of people more ill-suited to a life in the wilderness, according to Bill Bryson in his book, Made in America. These Pilgrims packed as if they had misunderstood the purpose of the trip. They found room for sundials and candle-snuffers, a drum, a trumpet, and a complete history of the country of Turkey. One man named William Mullins packed 126 pairs of shoes and thirteen pairs of boots. Yet the Pilgrims failed to bring a single cow or horse, plow or fishing line. Among the professions represented on the Mayflower’s manifest were two tailors, a printer, several merchants, a silk worker, a shopkeeper, and a hatter--not exactly the most appropriate occupations when one thinks of surviving in a hostile environment. With the uncertain exception of their captain, Miles Standish, probably none in the party had ever tried to bring down a wild animal. Hunting in seventeenth-century Europe was a sport reserved for the aristocracy. Even those who labeled themselves farmers generally had scant practical knowledge of husbandry, since "farmer" in the 1600s, and for some time afterward, signified an owner of land rather than one who worked it. These Pilgrims were, in short, dangerously unprepared for the rigors ahead, and they demonstrated their incompetence in the most dramatic possible way: by dying in droves. Six expired in the first two weeks, eight the next month, seventeen more in February, a further thirteen in March. By April, when the Mayflower set sail back to England, just fifty-four people, nearly half of them children, were left to begin the long work of turning this tenuous toehold into a self-sustaining colony. [(New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1994), pp. 2-3.] What are we thinking of when we spend our lives accumulating funds for old age, but ignore the spiritual side of our lives so that old age will be worth living?
13) His name was Alexander Graham Bell. In early 1874 an inventor named Elisha Gray transmitted a few musical notes over a telegraph wire. He thought to himself, "If I can send music, perhaps I could send the human voice." The New York Times reported predictions of a "talking telegraph" and the public began to grow eager for it. Just one-year later Gray believed he had the answer. Tin-can like voice chambers connected by a wire in a liquid that could turn vibrations into signals is what came into his mind. But inexplicably, he did not put his idea on paper for two months. After finally making a sketch, he waited four more days before he went to the patent office. When he arrived, Mr. Gray was told that just two hours earlier a school-teacher had come through that same door with his own sketch and had already applied for the patent. His name was Alexander Graham Bell. When you compared the sketches, the voice chambers, the wire, and the liquid everything was identical. The reason we know the name Alexander Graham Bell and until today, never heard the name Elisha Gray is simply because one man seized the opportunity when he could. The other one waited until it was too late That’s what happened to the five foolish virgins in today’s Gospel story. . (Rev. James Merritt).
14) "If the end of the world came.” A mother wrote to Catholic Digest saying that one day when she was heading up the stairs with a basket containing the last load of folded clothes, herding her three little ones in front of her for bedtime, her eldest child, Peggy, who was then in kindergarten, picked that moment to begin one of those questions that seem to intrigue all children at some time. "Mommy," she asked, "If it were the end of the world, and everyone was getting ready to die..." The mother stopped, shifted the basket on her hip, and said an ultra-quick prayer for wisdom to answer this question. "Yes?" The mother prodded her daughter. The little girl finished her theological inquiry: "If the end of the world came, would you have to take your library books back?" That young lady did not want any unfinished business in her life.
15) End-time or Beginning-time? On September 14, 2005, an Australian Jesuit colleague and friend, Paddy Meagher, bade farewell to India after more than four decades of dedicated service here. He was suffering from melanoma (skin cancer) that had struck suddenly and spread over his face leaving lumps likely to affect his brain and throat. Bravely enduring his pain, he said, “I know I’ll die soon and I’m prepared. Nonetheless, I’ll continue reading and writing until death comes!” Paddy died on January 5, 2006. For wise virgins like these, there is always oil in their lamps. And for many of the victims of earthquakes who call God Abba or Allah, what we see as end-time is more likely to be a beginning-time for the eternal wedding feast.
(Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
16) Timing: General Douglas MacArthur’s autobiography, Reminiscences, is full of World War II stories. One such story is about Capt. Thomas G. Lanphier, a pilot of the 339th Fighter Squadron who “Became the unsung hero of an extraordinary exploit” on April 18, 1943. The Japanese code had been broken, and our Intelligence learned exactly where and when Admiral Yamamoto was going to fly in to one of the Solomon Islands. Yamamoto was the commander-in-chief of the Japanese combined Fleet. So eighteen P-38s were sent from Guadalcanal, 400 miles away to attack Yamamoto. At the exact hour of rendezvous, Yamamoto’s squadron appeared and were met by our waiting planes. Sixteen P-38s went after his Zero escorts, while Tom Lanphier and another pilot were assigned to attack the two bombers carrying Yamamoto and his staff. Yamamoto’s pilot used every artifice to escape, but eventually Lanphier’s gunfire hit his bomber causing it to explode and crash. Washington lauded Lanphier’s feat as one of the most significant strikes of the war but labeled it top secret and forbade its publication until 1945 when Tom was awarded the Navy Cross. Timing, alertness and readiness were key factors in this air strike, which proved to be a turning point in the war. These same themes are found in today’s readings, but for different reasons. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
17) How will he find us? Nineteen hundred years ago, the volcano Mt Vesuvius erupted in Italy. When the eruption ended, the city of Pompeii lay buried under 18 feet of volcanic ash. The city remained that way until modern times, when archaeologists excavated it. What they found amazed everyone. There were carbonized loaves of bread, fruit still retaining its flavor, and olives still swimming in their oil. But there were even more amazing discoveries. The volcanic ash had frozen people in the exact position they had occupied when the disaster struck. The bodies of the people decayed. As they did, they left behind hollow cavities in the hardened ash. By pouring liquid plaster into these cavities, archaeologists were able to make casts of the victims. Some of the casts evoke an emotional response. For example, one is that of a young mother hugging her child tightly in her arms. Another is that of a Roman sentry still at his post, standing erect fully armed. He had remained calm and faithful to his duty to the end. A third that of a man standing upright with a sword in his hand. His foot is resting on a pile of gold and silver. Scattered about him are five bodies, probably would-be looters he had killed. The plaster casts illustrate in a dramatic way the two themes of today’s readings. The first theme is that of the suddenness with which the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus will take place. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
18) Eternal preparedness: From time immemorial, people have resorted to stories, especially fables, to teach some moral points for our instruction. In the West, Aesop’s Fables were famous. One such fable from this collection, which every child reads, is “The Hare and the Tortoise’. Once upon a time a hare and a tortoise decided to run a race. The hare, which by nature was swifter, was not only snobbish, but also very presumptuous. Both started the race at the same time. The hare ran fast and in the midway, turned back to see how its competitor was progressing – the tortoise was way behind. Meanwhile, the hare thought of taking a nap before the tortoise caught up with it in the race. The tortoise was working up slowly but steadily towards its goal. When the tortoise reached the finishing line, suddenly the hare woke up and tried to finish the race, but it was too late. The tortoise had won the race. —The moral of the story is “You snooze, you lose!” In other words, “Constant preparedness is the key to successes.” This is not only true in the mundane life, but also true in the spiritual sphere. In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches that eternal preparedness is the price of salvation. Every disciple of Jesus must be ever prepared to meet the Lord—whenever He may come. (John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
19) “Let us trim our lamps and fill them with charity in silence.” When Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and author died in 1968, he left behind a literary legacy which has continued to feed the spiritual hungers and prod the social and political consciences of believer to this day. Merton’s death, by accidental electrocution, while attending a conference of Buddhist and Catholic monks in Bangkok, Thailand, was unexpected and untimely. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that Merton was prepared, like the wise virgins in today’s Gospel, to meet the Lord. In one of his best-known books, No Man Is An Island, the holy monk wrote: “We must learn during our lifetime to trim our lamps and fill them with charity in silence. . . if the spirit that kept the flame of physical life burning in our bodies took care to nourish itself with the oil that is found only in the silence of God’s charity, then when the body dies, the spirit itself goes on burning with the same oil, its own flame. But if the spirit has burned all along with the base oils of passion or egoism, or pride, then when death comes, the flame of the spirit goes out with the light of the body because there is no more oil in the lamp.”(Patricia Datchuck Sánchez).
20) This guy got the job! Several years ago, a Fortune 500 company advertised in the New York Times to fill a vacancy in its sales force. They received an application unlike any other. This particular job-seeker wrote: "I am at present selling furniture at the address listed below. You may judge my ability as a salesman if you will stop in to see me at any time, pretending that you are interested in buying furniture. When you come in, you can identify me by my red hair. I will have no way of identifying you. Such salesmanship as I exhibit during your visit, therefore, will be no more than my usual workday efforts and not a special attempt to impress a prospective employer." From among more than 1500 applicants, this guy got the job! So how do you keep plenty of oil in your lamp?
21) “Don’t forget nothing!” I spent 25 years in the Army; do you know the difference between the Army and the Boy Scouts? The Scouts have adult leadership! When I was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, I was assigned to a battalion that had 24 hours to be alerted and arrive at any location ready to fight. We were called a Rapid Deployment Force. We would conduct random EDREs—Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercises. We’d get a call, usually in the middle of the night (at 0-dark-thirty), and we’d have to scramble to get on our uniforms and equipment, our weapons, dispatch our vehicles, and be ready to roll! We were in a constant state of readiness. I kept my duffle bag and chaplain kit ready to grab-and-go at all times. When I was called on to deploy to Desert Storm, I had 5 days to get from Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to Fort Knox, Kentucky (where I was issued desert gear) to Saudi Arabia. And I did it! The US Army Rangers also have a motto, like the Scouts. Theirs is simply: “Don’t forget nothing!” (Rev. Robert Leroe). L/17
22) Staying Awake: In his autobiography, Report to Greco, Nikos Kazantzakis recounts a conversation he once had with an old monk. Kazantzakis, a young man at the time, was visiting a monastery and was very taken by a famed ascetic, Father Makarios, who lived there. But a series of visits with the old monk left him with some ambivalent feelings as well. The monk’s austere lifestyle stirred a certain religious romanticism in Kazantzakis, but it repelled him too; he wanted the romanticism, but in a more-palatable way. Here’s their conversation as Kazantzakis records it: Yours is a hard life, Father. I too want to be saved. Is there no other way? More agreeable? asked the ascetic, smiling compassionately. More human, Father. One, only one. What is that? Ascent. To climb a series of steps. From the full stomach to hunger, from the slaked throat to thirst, from joy to suffering. God sits at the summit of hunger, thirst, and suffering; the devil sits at the summit of the comfortable life. Choose. I am still young. The world is nice. I have time to choose. Reaching out, the old monk touched my knee and said: Wake up, my child. Wake up before death wakes you up. I shuddered and said: I am still young. Death loves the young, the old man replied. The inferno loves the young. Life is like a lighted candle, easily extinguished. Take care—wake up! Wake up! Wake up before death wakes you up. In a less dramatic expression that’s a virtual leitmotif in the Gospels. (Fr. Ron Rolheiser).
23) Preferring three oranges to a crate of diamonds: There's a true story that comes from the sinking of the Titanic. A frightened woman found her place in a lifeboat that was about to be lowered into the raging North Atlantic. She suddenly thought of something she needed, so she asked permission to return to her stateroom before they cast off. She was granted three minutes or they would leave without her. She ran across the deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle. She raced through the gambling room with all the money that had rolled to one side, ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and quickly pushed a side her diamond rings and expensive bracelets and necklaces as she reached to the shelf above her bed and grabbed three small oranges. She quickly found her way back to the lifeboat and got in. Now that seems incredible because thirty minutes earlier she would not have chosen a crate of oranges over the smallest diamond. But death had boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless. Worthless things had become priceless. And in that moment she preferred three small oranges to a crate of diamonds. (Sermons.com).
****From The Sermons.com
There's a true story that comes from the sinking of the Titanic. A frightened woman found her place in a lifeboat that was about to be lowered into the raging North Atlantic. She suddenly thought of something she needed, so she asked permission to return to her stateroom before they cast off. She was granted three minutes or they would leave without her.
She ran across the deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle. She raced through the gambling room with all the money that had rolled to one side, ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and quickly pushed a side her diamond rings and expensive bracelets and necklaces as she reached to the shelf above her bed and grabbed three small oranges. She quickly found her way back to the lifeboat and got in.
Now that seems incredible because thirty minutes earlier she would not have chosen a crate of oranges over the smallest diamond. But death had boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless. Worthless things had become priceless. And in that moment she preferred three small oranges to a crate of diamonds.
There are events in life, which have the power to transform the way we look at the world. Jesus' parable about the ten virgins offers one of these types of events, for the parable is about the Second Coming of Christ. But Jesus doesn't come right out and say this. Rather, he lets the story describe it for him. The woman on the sinking Titanic understood, in the light of her current circumstances, that she must make preparations for living on a lifeboat. Diamonds would not suffice, only the precious resources of an orange were good enough. Likewise, in this world where Christ may return at any moment, the parable warns, we must be ready....
Some literature students at the University of Chicago once asked Ernest Hemingway what hidden meanings were in his stories. He merely shrugged and said he didn't know of any and that they could make of his stories whatever they wanted.
