When the oil runs out

Friday in the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle I

1 Thes 4,1-8; Mt 25, 1-13

The powerful imagery of today's parable speaks to our heart. We can imagine the sense of expectation among the ten young women, as they wait in the dark, perhaps some of them dosing off, others chatting quietly as they wait for the bridegroom to arrive. They all would have imagined how they will cheer for the bridegroom once he arrives, how they will greet him with their lamps.

The meaning of the parable so far is obvious. The bridegroom is Jesus whom we wait for with intense expectation.

But what does the oil in the lamp symbolise? St Augustine used to say that the oil in the lamps symbolises love. He sued to say just as man cannot make olive oil but we receive it from olive trees, in the same way, this love cannot be bought but can only be received as a gift. It is in fact a gift from God that we have all received. This gift is to be kept with great care and guarded wisely so that it is not wasted and lost. It is practiced and multiplied in acts of charity towards others.

Sometimes, like the unwise wedding attendants, we get distracted and dose off, we forget all about the love we have received, we let it run out and start wondering where can we get more of this gift when it is too late. This happens when we turn a blind eye to persons in need, when we are stingy with our time for others, when we choose whom to speak to and whom to avoid. What a pity it would be had the attendants thought that they had very little oil left and went to buy some only to realize that they had enough oil in their lamps but now it is too late and the door is closed. Sometimes we think that we cannot love any more than we are already loving. But who said so? We have first received this love from Christ, an infinite love!

Therefore true wisdom demands of us that we make the best of our energy and resources in limited and finite life that we have at our disposal. As one saying goes, "Aspire to inspire before you expire." Our life is not a video game that you can start all over again when it says "Game over." We have only one life and every moment is very precious. We must seize every opportunity to do acts of mercy because after this life, this would not be possible any more.

This oil in our lamps is the love of Christ, the Holy Spirit bestowed upon us. Whoever believes in God will always be sustained by an invincible hope, life a lamp with which to journey through the night beyond death and reach the great feast of life.