HOMILY FOR THE THIRTY SECOND SUNDAY OF THE YEAR IN THE ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A

Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Osmond Anike

Readings:

First Reading: Wisdom 6:12-16 – Wisdom is found by those who look for her.

Responsorial Psalm:Psalm 62(63):2-8 – For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.

Second Reading:1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – Do not grieve about those who have died in Jesus.

Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13 – The wise and foolish virgins.

The first reading of today comes from the Book of Wisdom. Wisdom is a recurrent theme among the Jewish people. Very often, wisdom is personified as “Lady Wisdom” in the Jewish wisdom tradition. This is why wisdom is always talked about in the feminine. But this wisdom is also identified with the spirit of God and with the word of God. As a concept and as a word however, wisdom is practically used by everybody almost on daily basis. Some people claim to be wise; some try to pursue wisdom, and others admire or resent those whom they perceive as “wise”. But what, exactly, is wisdom? The answer to this question is supposed to be straightforward. However, there is another concept that people often confuse with the concept of wisdom. This concept is cleverness.

Although wisdom and cleverness tend to coexist in certain instances, the two concepts don’t exactly mean the same thing. Some people equate cleverness with wisdom. But in many cases, the two tend to be exact opposite of each other in such a way that, where one is found, the other is completely absent. Cleverness has, therefore, to be used with qualification when using it against the backdrop of what ordinarily is regarded as wisdom. People could be clever without being wise. For the purposes of logical distinction, I will qualify people with tendencies to this type of cleverness that runs contrary to wisdom as “purely clever people”. Listen to this story to understand my assertion here:

A plane with four occupants – pilot, Mr. Big Brain, a Bishop and a young boy – developed engine problem. The pilot announced that there are only three parachutes available, and that he was escaping with one. The remaining three persons should decide who should crash with the plane. Mr. Big Brain was the first to speak. He enumerated how import he is to humanity as a renowned scientist; that his death meant a total loss to human race. Consequently, he grabbed one parachute and jumped out. Then the Bishop looked at the young boy and said: “Son, I have lived for a very long time on earth. I have achieved whatever should be achieved. But you are still starting life. Take the remaining parachute and jump out. I am prepared to die”. But the boy replied: “There is no need to worry, my Lord. What Mr. Big Brain jumped out with is my umbrella. We still have two parachutes for you and me”.

From this anecdote, we can clearly see exactly how a purely clever person’s action plays out in many instances. There is no atom of wisdom in such actions as, in the end, the person becomes the looser. I came to this conclusion while reflecting on the drama that occurred between the ten virgins in the Gospel. The five virgins that were termed as “foolish virgins” were not really foolish in the ordinary sense of the word. They were clever; or rather, they exhibited the tendencies of purely clever people (in the ways in which we have been qualifying the word cleverness). Let me explain what I mean here:

First of all, it was not the norm to carry a flask of oil along with one’s lighted lamp. What was normal was to fill one’s tank with oil; and that quantity of oil was normally sufficient for the night until one went to sleep. However, in the scenario that played out, the five virgins in question didn’t anticipate the possibility of any eventuality since that night was not a “normal” night but a “wedding night”. This is precisely one of the characteristics of purely clever people – they don’t anticipate; they don’t have a second thought; they don’t make room for any eventualities; they act on the spur of the moment.

Secondly, the five virgins in question didn’t want to inconvenience themselves carrying flasks of oil along the way. This is also another characteristic of a purely clever person: he/she doesn’t want any inconveniences. The very moment one does no longer want any inconvenience in life, one risks making very terrible mistakes.

Thirdly, the five virgins wanted to cheat the others and consequently refused to bring along their own oil because they were sure that others had enough to give them; after all, what are friends for. Here again is the third characteristic of a purely clever person: the person is always out to cheat other people. But in a twist of fate, such people almost always end up cheating themselves as was the case with our five virgins. Here is another story to illustrate:

In an African village, two little children were roasting ripened palm fruits in a camp fire (families did their cooking exclusively on camp fires as there were no electricity and no gas available during that epoch). The two children had six palm fruits to roast, with a gentleman’s understanding that each of them would get three of those fruits. It happened, however, that when one of the children went inside the house to drink water, the other ceased the opportunity to cheat on his friend by stealing two of the palm fruits. However, at that very moment, his friend alighted from inside the house, whereupon the other quickly grabbed two of the palm fruits and put inside his pocket. Unfortunately, in his hurry, he grabbed one palm fruit and one red-hot charcoal (ripened palm fruits are usually red in colour and, when put inside a camp fire, can often confuse with red-hot charcoals). From inside his pocket, the hot charcoal kept burning our little friend until he screamed for help and his antics were busted.

What then is wisdom, and how do we approach it? In a jiffy, wisdom can be described as freedom from anxiety of any sort. The reason wisdom eludes us is because we are always in a state of anxiety. The Book of Wisdom tells us that wisdom is there sitting at our gates. All we have to do is be on alert for her and anxiety will leave us. Unfortunately, in our anxious moments, we tend to take purely clever actions devoid of wisdom. Wisdom tends to grow to the degree in which one is free from anxiety. The very moment one stops worrying, wisdom will, of its own accord, occur.