Sunday the 8th of November 2026 - The Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 6:12-16/ Ps 63(62)/1 Thessalonians 4:13-14/ Matthew 25:1-13

We live in a time that sometimes feels obsessed with health and safety. While some of the rules and the signs that get put up may seem condescending, leaving little room for common sense, there are good intentions behind most of them. These rules and guidelines should be based upon properly considered risk assessments. A risk assessment is a systematic process of identifying potential hazards, evaluating the likelihood and severity of harm they could cause, and implementing practical control measures to prevent injuries or loss. It is about being prepared for any reasonable occurrence even those that might have very little chance of happening. When the call comes we are not starting from zero but are ready to deal with any given situation.

We cannot borrow this kind of readiness, we cannot just face a moment of crisis and ask to borrow some knowledge or training from someone else. Readiness, being prepared, has to be built ahead of time so that we are ready to face the moment when it comes. Our emergency services are well aware of this. They train regularly for the emergencies that they may have to face, even those that might be highly unlikely. When the call comes to the Fire and Rescue Service in the middle of the night the crews might be resting or asleep but they will be on their way in moments fully equipped and ready to meet whatever they face. This is the message of the gospel passage today. Ten young women, a long wait, and a cry at midnight. The question is not who was tired, all ten had fallen asleep, it was who was ready when the call came? The wise and the foolish virgins all fell asleep, sleeping was not the issue. The question this parable presents to us is what was the difference between the five who were welcomed into the wedding feast and the five who heard the awful words, "Truly, I say to you, I do not know you"? That is the question this parable puts to each of us, the answer lies in wisdom, the wisdom described in the first reading.

In the first reading Wisdom is described as radiant and unfading, easily found by those who seek her, even waiting at the gate for them. This is not the wisdom of the world, God's wisdom is completely different. God sees all things in their entirety, He knows the beginning and the end, the outcome of every life and every choice. That is divine wisdom, and that is the wisdom we are called to seek. We cannot fully possess God's wisdom in this life, we live inside the created world, seeing, as Saint Paul said, in a mirror, dimly. The full splendour of God's wisdom will only be ours when we see God as he truly is, face to face, not in this life but in eternal life to come.

Scripture speaks of Wisdom as ‘she.’ Genesis tells us that God created humanity in His image, male and female He created them. The Church teaches that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman, both man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God. It is an unfathomable mystery, and Wisdom invites us into it. Because we are made in that image, because we have received the Holy Spirit through baptism and confirmation, our souls naturally seek God. We prayed it in the words of the psalm, for you my soul is thirsting, O Lord, my God.  God has created us for Him and our hearts will be restless until they rest in God. This is the natural thirst for God that humans have, that can be seen throughout human history, the search for something other, something beyond.

We can begin to quench that thirst, obtaining a glimpse, a foretaste of the Wisdom to come when we kneel before the Blessed Sacrament, and gaze upon the glory of God hidden beneath the appearance of bread. As the psalm says, I have come before you in the sanctuary, to behold your strength and your glory. It is here we satisfy our thirst and we offer praise to God. Returning to the gospel passage, the first Christians expected Jesus to return very soon, but as generation followed generation, that sense of expectation faded. Like the virgins with their lamps, we can get drowsy and tired of waiting. The parable does not condemn the sleeping it is about the failure to prepare. The cry came unexpectedly at midnight, there was no time left to go and buy oil. That is the message, the call to meet Jesus will come, perhaps when we least expect it, when we may not have time to prepare. Grace is the oil that we must have ready, the life of God in the soul, which we receive through prayer and the sacraments. It cannot be borrowed at the last minute, which is why the wise virgins could not share theirs. Each of us must keep our own lamp supplied. This is the wisdom we are called to seek, not knowing everything, but being ready for the one who does.

In November we pray especially for those who have gone before us. Saint Paul spoke tenderly to the grieving Thessalonians, not wanting them to be uninformed about those who have died, and not grieving without hope. It is natural to grieve when someone we love dies, but for the Christian grief is never without hope, it is sorrow over a temporary parting. Jesus died and rose again and God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Our dead are not lost, they are also waiting for the bridegroom.

We might fall asleep, we may become weary, but let us not be caught without oil. Let us spend some time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, or go to the sacrament of reconciliation, filling the lamp in preparation. At Mass Christ, the Bridegroom, comes to us in the Eucharist, a foretaste of the eternal wedding banquet in heaven. Receive him with a thirsting soul and when the midnight cry comes, we will not hear the words "I do not know you." Our lamps will be burning, the door will be open, and the one we have thirsted for will be waiting to welcome us home.

God Bless Brendan