Dear friends in Christ
The Gospel of the Mass this weekend describes a scene which those who heard Jesus would have found very familiar: the transfer of the betrothed from her parents home to her new abode; all conducted in festive mood with an entourage carrying their lamps. The parable concerns a bridegroom who arrives unexpectedly in the middle of the night. The question is whether the escorting bridal party is ready and prepared to meet him.The bridegroom is Christ. He will come again at some future time. The bridesmaids represent mankind. Some are vigilant while others are careless. The time of waiting is a symbol of our life on earth. The arrival of the bridegroom and the wedding celebrations signify the inauguration of the state of eternal joy in the company of Christ. This parable should bring to our minds that definitive moment of death. Following our judgement by God, some souls enter fully into His presence while others find themselves excluded from the wedding feast forever. The Old Testament makes something quite clear: If a tree falls to the north or the south, the place where the tree falls, there it will lie (Eccl.11:3). At the time of death, the state of our soul is fixed for all eternity. So, this Gospel and this time of November are together reminders to be vigilant as we make the pilgrimage towards eternal life. This weekend is also a moment when we remember those who gave their lives for our freedom, as we commemorate the dead of the wars. Everything at this time of the year directs our thoughts towards the Last Things: death, judgement, Heaven, Hell. We owe it to ourselves to live in a state of continued readiness for our encounter with God after death. This is something we could ask our Guardian Angel to remind us of daily, so that we can go forward, like those wise bridesmaids, with lamps brightly burning in joyful hope.
I invite you to the annual Mass for those who have died from our Parish Family in this last year: on Thursday evening at seven o’clock.
May God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale