32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Nov.6, 2011 (Wisdom 6:12-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Mt.

25:1-13) Paul wrote First Thessalonians in 51 A.D. After Paul had established the community in Thessalonica some of his early converts had died and he had to explain their deaths. Many had become Christian because they expected the Lord to return in glory quite soon. Since that had not happened and some already had died, this became a real problem. They still lived with the belief that the Lords return was imminent and they were worried (understandably) about what would happen to the dead. Paul reminds them in strong terms that they must remain firmly rooted in hope, so that you may not grieve (at the death of loved ones) like the rest, which means like the unbelievers. Because Christians believe that we will rise with Christ, Paul wants to clarify this central aspect of Christian faith. Using apocalyptic language, Paul does his best to explain how the Lord was going to rescue the dead. Thus we find the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God, and Christ descending from heaven on a cloud to meet the dead. Then the living will be caught up with them and there will be this heavenly reunion in the clouds. It is not a very satisfactory answer but Paul did not have much to work with. Jesus had never spoken about the how of the resurrection. He focused on the that. We wont get any further than Paul or the Gospels on the how, so its not worth trying. We note Paul spoke of those who had fallen asleep rather than of those who had died. This was typical of Christianity which, with the belief in the resurrection, can only regard death as but a sleep. While not denying death happens, saying that we fall asleep softens the blow somewhat and also smoothes the way for belief in resurrection as it developed in the New Testament period. The parable of the ten virgins is found only in Matthews Gospel. The New Revised Standard translation of the Greek word parthenos is simply ten bridesmaids. Parthenos is translated as virgin at the beginning of this Gospel (Mt.1:23) to describe the woman of Isaiah 7:14. Interestingly, Matthew quotes the text of Isaiah as a fulfillment citation, but he never actually calls Mary a parthenos. In Luke 1:27, Luke identifies Mary as parthenos. Matthew implies it but never says it outright. This takes us to the matter of the parable itself in which five of them were wise and five foolish. The wise ones brought enough oil in case the bridegroom (and his bride?) was delayed in arriving. The fools brought no oil. When the arrival is announced, the fools want some of the extra oil that the wise ones had brought along. They refuse. Although some observers think this a rather harsh rejection of

the fools, it can be easily explained. If we were to imagine batteries in a flashlight, the fools request would be like asking the wise ones to share their batteries. A flashlight requires at least two batteries to work and if the wise ones gave away one of their batteries, there would be no light. The wise ones figured better five lamps that actually work than ten that provide no light. The delay of the bridegroom seems to represent the delay of the Lords return at the end. The oil probably means good works which they were supposed to continue doing until the Lord return, whenever that might be. The parable is less about alertness than it is about persistence; that is, doing whats required until the bridegroom returns. Fr. Lawrence Hummer