Homily Ordinary 32A: The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell

Homily for Ordinary Time – 32nd Sunday Year A 2017 

Wisdom 6:12-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

Introduction 

For us who live in the northern hemisphere, our fall season and especially the month of November beautifully coincides with our reflection on the end times. 

• During Fall daylight gets shorter and shorter and darkness descends upon us much sooner, especially after we ended daylight savings time. 
• The trees also begin shedding their leaves and the flowers begin to whittle away and die. 
• And the weather itself becomes colder and has an air of gloom that is not entirely unwelcome, as it is a time to slow down in some sense. 

And so, we could say that nature is confirming what the our liturgical calendar reflects on during these last weeks, that is, the end-times. 

Scripture and Theology 

Today's parable about the ten virgins, for example, reminds us about the end.  This theme is particularly clear from the conclusion Jesus draws when he says: "Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour." 

Granted there are many strange elements in the story, such as the nighttime wedding, the focus on the bridegroom rather than the bride.  Because Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience, they understood the context very well.  For us, let us put those elements aside and instead focus on the main characters of the parable, the bridegroom who comes at an unexpected hour, and the ten virgins or bridesmaids who have to wait for him, holding lamps.  Clearly the bridegroom represents Jesus when he comes again, the ten virgins represent us the disciples, and lamps represent our state of readiness. 

With this parable, Jesus is teaching about the need to be prepared for when he comes.  Like the bridegroom in the parable, the time of his arrival is unknown: it could be today, next year, or centuries from now.  But come he surely will.  In today's second reading St. Paul describes the Lord's return very vividly, saying: "For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven . . ."  And then Paul goes on to describe what will happen when the Lord comes: "and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." 

Paul is speaking about the time of Judgment, not the particular one we receive right after we die, but the Last Judgment. 

• In the Particular Judgment immediately after we die, we are rewarded in accordance with our faith and works.  In parable of Lazarus, for example, as soon as the poor man dies, he is judged and found worthy and so rewarded with a place in the bosom of Abraham in heaven.  The rich mean man, however, is judged and found unworthy and is therefore punished with a place in the fires of hell. 
• The Last Judgment will come much later, when Christ will return and assume kingship of the whole universe.  Jesus describes this judgment in the story of the sheep and goats, when he will separate the sheep, those who were good him to one side and the goats, those who weren't to the other.  This Last Judgment will restore the world to God and reveal to us the ultimate meaning of God's plan (CCC 1040). 

And so, returning to our parable of today, just like the ten virgins did not know when the bridegroom would arrive, we do not know when Jesus will return and so when the Last Judgment will occur.  But we know that the five wise virgins were ready and so were admitted into the wedding banquet, which is heaven; the five foolish ones, were locked out of the wedding banquet, that is, were cast into hell. 

Christian Life 

As a teacher I like to give pop quizzes to my students, because they don't only test the knowledge of my students, but also their readiness.  As a student myself, I learnt, the hard way, that the best way to prepare for pop quizzes is to always be ready, to always be on top of your work, to have our lamps lit. 

What does it mean for Christians to have our lamps lit when the Lord returns? The image of light is often used in the Bible to represent good works. 

• Jesus, for example, instructs his followers to let their light shine before men that seeing their good works, they may give glory to God (Mt. 5:16). 
• And in the parable of the last Judgment the criterion used by the King to decide who goes to the left or right is what good deeds they did to Jesus: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me" (Mt. 25:35). 
• St. Augustine also says that even though all ten were virgins, that is, all ten had abstained from unlawful indulgence of the sensual pleasures, more was need for admission into the wedding feast.  In other words for Christians, simply avoiding evil is not enough to gain admission into the Kingdom; Christians need the light of good works as well. 

If good works are the admission ticket to heaven, there is one more question we must ask: what then is the oil in the lamps that produces this light of good works? 

The oil we need for our lamps comes from God himself.  Our Catechism of the Catholic Church is divided into four main parts; these four parts suggest the four-fold nature of the oil God gives us, to enable us to do good works. 

The first section of the Catechism deals with what we believe, especially in the profession of faith.  God has revealed something about himself, about his will for us, and this is contained in the Scriptures, in the Tradition of the Church and in the authoritative teaching of the Pope and Bishops.  We need this knowledge to know what good works to do; we need this oil to light our lamps. 

The second section of the Catechism deals with what we celebrate, in the liturgy and the sacraments.  The sacraments give us grace, or divine help.  Baptism took away original sin, confirmation gave you the Holy Spirit, and in the Eucharist to celebrate and benefit from the Lord's death and resurrection that won our salvation.  In Matrimony, our bond of love is strengthen and in Ordination we are given the graces to be God's ministers.  In Penance and Anointing of the Sick, we are healed from our sins and from our illness.  Without this oil from God, we cannot light our lamps, we cannot do good works. 

The third section of the Catechism is entitled, "Life in Christ."  This section gives us several to-do lists: the ten commandments, the beatitudes, the virtues, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, all the things we must do, to live in Christ.  Only if we live by these instructions can we oil in our lamps, to do good works. 

The final part of the Catechism deals with prayer.  Prayer provides us with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  That explains why when the five foolish virgins who had no oil returned later and knocked on the door crying: "Lord, Lord, open the door for us," he replied, "Amen, I say to you, I do not know you."  Likewise, unless we have regular conversations with the Lord in prayer, he will not know us.  Prayer is part of the oil we need for our lamps. 

As we approach Christmas, are you thinking of gifts to give your loved ones?  Perhaps you can give them the Catechism in one of its various forms: full, adult or youth, so that in that way you can give them the oil they need to put in their lamps. 

Conclusion 

A saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin puts it best: "In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes."  Of course the difference is that the due date for taxes is well known, the other is not.  May we exercise the same preparation and readiness for the Last Things: death, judgment, heaven and hell, as we do our taxes.  May we fill our lamps with the oil of belief, sacraments, moral life and prayer, so that we shall be found with the light of God, good works in his name.