THE PARABLE OF THE MEAN PEOPLE

Reflections for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Wisdom 6:12-16, 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 & Matthew 25:1-13)

“Why are you all so mean?”, the five ‘foolish’ Virgins could have well asked those at the wedding party. Let us begin with the bridegroom. Firstly, he was late! All the Ten Virgins, on the contrary, were there on time to meet with him. If only he had arrived on time, the Five ‘foolish’ Virgins would have not run out of oil in the first place. Further, it is also understandable why they did not run to the merchants well in advance to buy more oil for “they all became drowsy and fell asleep”. If at all, one should be blamed for the whole predicament, it should be the bridegroom! However, he neither cares to apologise nor explain his delay. What does he do instead? He closes the door behind him while the five are still out and when they plead with him to open the door for them, he replies rather rudely, “I do not know you”. How mean!

And then, there are the five ‘wise’ virgins, equally impolite and insensitive. When they are asked, “Give us some of your oil”, they reply, “No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves”. The so-called ‘wise’ virgins categorically refuse to share their oil reserves with those in dire need. Imagine the plight of the other five: disrespected by their fellow bridesmaids and the bridegroom for no apparent fault of theirs, they had to run out at midnight in search of oil and when they returned with lighted lamps, they were simply refused entry! How mean could people get, that too at a wedding party, of all places! To make matters worse, for 2000 years, they have had to carry the unfortunate tag of the ‘Five Foolish Virgins’. How do we explain this baffling demeanour of the parable’s mean people?

To enter into the meaning of the parable, we need to set aside our 21st-century understanding of weddings, bridesmaids, electric lamps, etc. and place the Gospel in its original context. The Gospel forms part of the last of the five Matthean discourses (Sermon on the Mount, Mission, Parables, Church, and Final Judgment) and is centred on Jesus’ teaching about his Second Coming. The point of the parable, therefore, is to teach us about the nature of God’s kingdom and our responsibilities to prepare for the end times. Why did the five run out of oil? Was it just an unfortunate oversight or maybe a symptom of a more serious problem? The Five ‘foolish’ Virgins did not feel the need for extra oil probably because they hoped the bridegroom would arrive at a time and hour that they were prepared for. They had enough oil to keep their lamps burning until the time they ‘expected’ him to come.

In other words, they were only prepared for what they thought would be the time of the bridegroom. The Five ‘wise’ Virgins, on the other hand, were prepared to welcome the bridegroom in his time! The call, “Behold the bridegroom, go out to meet him" is, therefore, a call to quit our ‘selves’ and our estimations of the time, place, and manner of the bridegroom’s arrival. It is a call to be prepared to welcome him in his time and not ours! For, as the Gospel rightly affirms, we “know neither the day nor the hour”. Being ready to welcome the Lord in his time and hour, then, requires us to keep our lamps lit with the oil of prayer, holiness, the Holy Spirit, and love. It requires us to free ourselves completely from our ‘selves’ so we can be readily available to him. As the first reading insists, “whoever for her sake keeps vigil shall quickly be free from care”. Discipleship involves a radical openness to God’s time and His ways.

The 51st poem of Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali (1913) echoes this call when he writes:

THE NIGHT darkened. Our day's works had been done. We thought that the last guest had arrived for the night and the doors in the village were all shut. Only some said, The king was to come. We laughed and said 'No, it cannot be!' It seemed there were knocks at the door and we said it was nothing but the wind. We put out the lamps and lay down to sleep. Only some said. It is the messenger!' We laughed and said 'No, it must be the wind!' There came a sound in the dead of the night We sleepily thought it was the distant thunder. The earth shook, the wails rocked, and it troubled us in our sleep. Only some said, it was the sound of wheels. We said in a drowsy murmur, 'No, it must be the rumbling of clouds!'

The night was still dark when the drum sounded. The voice came 'Wake up! delay not!' We pressed our hands on our hearts and shuddered with fear. Some said, 'Lo, there is the king's flag!' We stood up on our feet and cried 'There is no time for delay!' The king has come-but where are lights, where are wreaths? Where is the throne to seat him? Oh, shame. Oh utter shame! Where is the hall, the decorations? Some one has said, 'Vain is this cry! Greet him with empty hands, lead him into thy rooms all bare!' Open the doors, let the conch-shells be sounded! In the depth of the night has come the king of our dark, dreary house. The thunder roars in the sky. The darkness shudders with lightning. Bring out thy tattered piece of mat and spread it in the courtyard. With the storm has come of a sudden our king of the fearful night.

So, here is the message of the parable of the mean people: “Open your lives radically to God’s surprising time and ways”!