32ND SUNDAY HOMILY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A.

32ND SUNDAY HOMILY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A.

THEME:  Searching for God and Living with Wisdom

By: Fr. Luke Ijezie

Wisdom 6:12-16;
Psalm 63:2-8;
2Thessalonians 4:13-18;
Matthew 25:1-13

The readings of this thirty-second Sunday of the liturgical year speak alike on the theme of wisdom. By wisdom, we simply understand the power to make right judgements or right decisions in a given situation. Lack of proper judgement is the cause of many unhappy and disastrous lives. From these readings we can take home a number of points for reflection, as wisdom is got through deep reflection on issues:
1. Wisdom is found by those who love her and seek her. This is the point of the first reading from Wisd 6:12-16. To succeed in life, one must move with diligence, seeking for the right ways in every situation. One must avoid hasty or rash conclusions. In this way, one lives with confidence, no matter the circumstances.
2. Seeking for wisdom is equivalent to seeking for God. This is the point of the responsorial psalm from Psalm 63:2-8. The psalmist recognises that all that the human soul is pining and thirsting for is nothing but all that God represents. Yes, as he say, for God has been my strength; in the shadow of his wings I rejoice. In other words, one’s greatest joy comes from searching for God and finding Him. Only the fool refuses to search for God or to put Him first in all endeavours.

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3. Knowledge of the greatest things God has prepared for us helps us to live with hope and to console those who live with hopelessness. Paul tells the Thessalonians in the second reading from 1Thess 4:13-18 that the departed believers are not lost, and that we who are still alive are not better than them because we shall all share the same promise of a sweet and everlasting life with God. All we need to do is to be always prepared and never give way to discouragements.
4. Being prepared for God is likened in the Gospel text from Matt 25:1-13 to the ten virgins waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom. Five of the maidens are described as wise, because they carry extra oil for their lanterns, while five are qualified as foolish, because they forget to carry extra oils. This is a famous parable of Jesus and teaches a lot on the virtue of preparedness and the vice of presumption. The foolish maidens mirror what we are in situations where we fail to think, to judge and to plan properly. So, in one way or the other, we resemble the foolish maidens. Our failures as individuals, as groups, as Christians, as families and as a nation often emanate from our failures to make good judgements and wise preparations. We often allow frustrations to make us lose our individual or collective sense of reasoning and judgement. In religious matters, even though we know that God is the ultimum bonum ( the highest good), yet out of desperation or momentary frustration, we tend to replace him with lesser goods or even destructive goods.
May God grant us the required wisdom to make correct judgements and so to live coherently and happily!

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