Holy and Great Tuesday – Are you wise or foolish?

On Holy and Great Tuesday, the Church calls our minds to the parable of the Ten Virgins, half are wise while the other half are foolish. We are challenged by the Church to contemplate with which group of virgins that we can relate? BOTH the wise and foolish were waiting attentively for God. BOTH the wise and the foolish were sitting in the darkness, a dangerous and frightening place, anticipating greeting the Bridegroom. Only the wise, though, were prepared to greet Him, while the foolish did not fully anticipate what was needed for them to be prepared. They didn’t have enough oil for the lamps, and while they went to buy more oil, the Bridegroom came and they missed Him. They were locked out of the banquet, never to be allowed in.

The Bridegroom is Christ, and the banquet is Heaven. We are the virgins waiting for Christ in the dark and dangerous world. Are you prepared to greet Him, or have you left matters undone? Are there sins for which you have not repented or confessed? Are there relationships in which you are not “on speaking terms”? Are there matters of your soul for which you are waiting for “some unknown future moment” when you have more time to address them? Are you “living life now” because you have plenty of time later when you get older to prepare to die? THESE matters represent the oil for your candles. When you leave matters undone, for later attention, you will find yourself “without oil” when Christ returns. You will be left out simply because you left for later that which you should have done NOW.

Holy Week is about preparing your soul to encounter God. He is returning someday, “as a thief in the night” and we do not know when to expect Him. At that moment, it will immediately be too late to attend to any unfinished matters for your soul. At that moment, you will either be welcomed into the Banquet or be locked out for ever.

The ancient Church took this issue seriously, and truly believed Jesus would return while they were still alive.  We, on the other hand I fear, have become lazy in our waiting since He hasn’t returned in some 2000 years. However, this might be the year He returns. This might be the year the Bridegroom comes to claim His Bridge, the Church. OR.....this might be year you go to Him. Why risk not being ready? Why risk being one of the foolish virgins, locked out of the Banquet. No wonder they are known as foolish...