Awaiting the Bridegroom

The Magnificat asks, “Why do the five wise virgins not share their oil with the five foolish ones? Because it is something that simply cannot be shared. The oil is our personal virtue. “The wise maidens represent all those who possess the ensemble of virtues which characterize a complete Christian life. The burning oil lamps which they carry…symbolically portray Christian wisdom…This Christian wisdom empowers all those who embrace prudence and the other moral virtues to fulfill the requirements of an integral and holy life’ (R. Cessario). “

This gospel reading used to bother me because I didn’t understand why the virgins who were prepared wouldn’t share their oil; it would have been the Christian thing to do. But I realize now that there are things that cannot be shared.  While we are one body in Christ, we must individually develop a relationship with Christ. Our faith is a gift from God and wisdom is the highest gift of the Holy Spirit because it is the perfection of faith. Through wisdom, we come to value properly those things that we believe through faith. The other gifts of the Holy Spirit; understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord; empower us to live a holy life. As His sons and daughters, we take on an identity with Christ and these gifts help us to share in the life and nature of God.

And while we have been given these gift; we need to cherish them. We need to grow in each of these virtues. We are sinners and we need to acknowledge that each day and remind ourselves that we are nothing without God. When things are going well it is easy to think that it is of our own doing and then God often takes a back seat in our lives. We don’t take the time to pray and allow God to speak to us. We don’t question our motives or discern what God wants of us. We want to enjoy the ride and put our blinders on to those in need. We will worry about those things later.

Each and every day we need to live our lives as Christ lived his. We need to love and serve one another as he did. We need to refresh our souls through prayer and the Eucharist. We need to frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation. A priest once asked during his homily, “If this was your last day on earth, what would you do?” He gave us a few minutes to think about it and then he asked how many of us had "going to confession" on that list? It was nothing I had ever thought about when I’ve been asked that question or pondered it on my own. But since then, I have made it a practice to go to Confession once or twice a month. It is another way for me to grow in my relationship with God and to be prepared for His coming.