Veterans Day! Congratulations to the Confirmation candidates! Joining in prayers for the Mass of Remembrance!

  Veterans Day! Congratulations to the Confirmation Candidates! Joining in prayers for the Mass of Remembrance!

First, I would like to Congratulate our First Reconciliation students and parents, who committed last Sunday.

Second, I also would like to Congratulate our second-year Confirmation Candidates who will make their Commitment this Sunday. Let us pray for our children and youth who are preparing for the Sacraments.

Third, yesterday we celebrated Veterans Day. Veterans who served our country. We honor them for their many sacrifices. Let us thank them for their dedication and commitment. Happy Veterans Day!

The month of November is dedicated to praying for our loved ones. We celebrated All Saints Day and All Souls Day. We celebrate Mass of Remembrance this weekend. It is an opportunity to remember all those who have passed from last November to this November, remember them with names, and join their families in prayer.

We are towards the end of the liturgical year and the reading reminds us about being prepared. This weekend all three readings one way or another way talk about wisdom. In the first reading from the Book of Wisdom, wisdom is embodied as a woman. Wisdom - in Greek, Sophia-is personified in feminine terms. Wisdom is a gift from God. It comes to those who are worthy and searching to receive. In the second reading, Paul shares the Christian Wisdom with early Christians in Thessalonians that through death and resurrection, Jesus saves us. His second coming will be soon.

In the Gospel of Matthew (25:1-13) the parable of the wise and the foolish maidens reminds us of the need for watchfulness. The wise virgins appear as embodiments of divine wisdom and models for the Christians, who should eagerly seek out the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

At a wedding, we are familiar with the groom waiting for the bride. It is not that long either. Today, the   parable for our reflection is centered on a Jewish marriage custom. During Jesus' time, once they are engaged, they are considered a couple, but they both live with their parents. The wedding could take place anytime within two weeks. The groom will lead a procession to bring the bride to the wedding. So, the bride had to be in a state of constant alert for a week or two. It is a time of celebration of family and friends. Those days there was not much means to inform. The groom does not inform in advance, he could come any time during this period. When the groom went to the bride’s house to pick her up for the wedding, he would have to negotiate with her relatives the gifts he would give for the privilege of being able to marry her. Sometimes it could drag on for a time. There is a lot happening during this time. The bridegroom will send a man before him along the street shouting, “Behold, the bridegroom is coming.” All of the sudden, the bridesmaids have to come out to meet the bridegroom. In this parable, we know five of the ten virgins didn’t have enough oil to go out and meet them.

Matthew 25:10 says, “While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked.” We read in the book of Revelation 19:9, “Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These words are true; they come from God.” In the parable, the wise one had extra oil, and they were prepared so that they could enter for the wedding feast.

The question for us is, how can we be ready? Matthew 7: 24, we read, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Our lamp is Christian faith and good deeds are the oil for the lamp, being prepared to receive the bridegroom, Jesus. James 2:17 reads, “So also faith of itself if it does not have works, is dead.”