Oil for the Long Night

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Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Wisdom 6:12–20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14; Matthew 25:1–13

Jesus tells a parable about ten young women waiting for the bridegroom.

Five are wise.

Five are foolish.

All of them have lamps.

All of them are waiting.

All of them fall asleep.

The difference is this:

some have oil, and some do not.

The bridegroom is delayed.

That is the heart of the parable.

Waiting is easy when the time is short.

Waiting becomes difficult when the night grows long.

The first Christians waited for the return of the Lord.

Saint Paul speaks about those who will still be alive when the Lord comes.

They believed Christ would come soon.

But years passed.

Then centuries passed.

Now almost two thousand years have passed.

And still we say at Mass:

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

But do we really wait for Him?

Or have we become used to His delay?

This is the danger.

When the Lord seems delayed, faith can become tired.

Prayer can become routine.

Sunday Mass can become habit.

The Gospel can become background noise.

We may still carry the lamp, but have no oil.

The lamp is the outward form.

The oil is the inner life.

A Christian name is a lamp.

Baptism is a lamp.

Going to church is a lamp.

Knowing prayers is a lamp.

But the oil is different.

The oil is a living relationship with God.

The oil is faith nourished day by day.

The oil is love that keeps burning when no one is watching.

The oil is hope that does not die in the long night.

And this oil cannot be borrowed at the last minute.

That is one of the hardest lessons of the parable.

The foolish young women say:

“Give us some of your oil.”

But the wise ones cannot give it.

Not because they are selfish.

But because some things cannot be borrowed.

You cannot borrow another person’s prayer.

You cannot borrow another person’s trust.

You cannot borrow another person’s love for Christ.

You cannot borrow a life that you have not lived.

A relationship with God cannot be bought in a hurry when the door is already closing.

This is not meant to frighten us.

It is meant to wake us up.

The Lord is not slow because He has forgotten us.

He is patient.

He gives us time.

Time to repent.

Time to grow.

Time to fill our lamps.

Time to become ready.

Wisdom is found by those who seek her.

She comes to those who desire her.

Faith also grows when we seek, when we pray, when we listen, when we return after falling.

The night may be long.

There will be trials.

There will be suffering.

There will be moments when God seems far away.

But the Bridegroom will come.

Christ will come.

And those who have waited for Him with burning hearts will enter the wedding feast.

So today we can ask:

Is there oil in my lamp?

Is my faith only outward, or is it alive within?

Am I ready for the long night?

The Lord will come.

Let us not wait empty.

Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Mark

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New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Mark

Scripture Attribution

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