Sunday - November 08, 2020
For God says: Pray wholeheartedly. . . though you may feel nothing, though you may see nothing . . . for in dryness and in barrenness, in sickness and in weakness, then is your prayer most pleasing to Me.
~~St. Julian of Norwich
November 8, 2020
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 154
Reading 1 WIS 6:12-16
Resplendent and unfading is wisdom,
and she is readily perceived by those who love her,
and found by those who seek her.
She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire;
Whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed,
for he shall find her sitting by his gate.
For taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence,
and whoever for her sake keeps vigil
shall quickly be free from care;
because she makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her,
and graciously appears to them in the ways,
and meets them with all solicitude.
Responsorial Psalm PS 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
R. (2b) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
I will remember you upon my couch,
and through the night-watches I will meditate on you:
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Reading 2 1 THES 4:13-18 OR 4:13-14
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
about those who have fallen asleep,
so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose,
so too will God, through Jesus,
bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive,
who are left until the coming of the Lord,
will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself, with a word of command,
with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God,
will come down from heaven,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
Thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore, console one another with these words.
Alleluia 1 PT 4:14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake and be
ready!
For you do not know
on what day your Lord will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MT 25:1-13
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry,
‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise,
‘Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.’
But the wise ones replied,
'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.
Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’
While they went off to buy it,
the bridegroom came
and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.
Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said,
‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’
But he said in reply,
‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour."
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Trusting God wholeheartedly!
This Sunday's Gospel reading shows us what it means to be truly foolish. We believe in Christ -- good! We pray -- good! We put time into our faith growth and we value opportunities for more faith formation -- very wise! And we say that we trust God -- wonderful!
But what happens when God doesn't answer our prayers fast enough? What if we need Christ's loving embrace or his protection from evil and yet we're suffering with no end in sight? Where is Jesus then?
Usually, God's timing is not ours. We think we have the right idea about how soon God should intervene when we ask for his help. Right now is a good time for it, right? Of course! But perhaps not from God's perspective. (Why do we want to leave God in charge anyway, if he doesn't see things our way, huh?)
When we despair over unanswered prayer, the reality behind it is that we're emotionally unprepared for any timing that's different from what we think it should be. The foolish bridesmaids thought the groom would arrive before their lamps burned out. They thought they understood the situation. Do we?
Furthermore, if God's plans are illogical -- if they don't make sense to us -- we distrust them. And then we get ourselves into the mess of trying to handle things apart from God.
We cannot trust our logic. We cannot trust our perception or our understanding of the situations we're in. The sooner we decide to enjoy the absurdity of being a Christian, the sooner we will find out that God's ways are awesomely much, much better than anything we can imagine!
Today's Prayer
To follow Your ways, Lord, means giving up everything for You. It means leaving behind what dies in this life. It means walking towards the eternal abundance You provided on the cross for me. Give me the strength I need to say "yes", even though it is sometimes difficult. Amen.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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