Today's Gospel (Mt 25:1-13):  Jesus told this parable to his disciples, «This story throws light on what will happen in the kingdom of heaven. Ten bridesmaids went out with their lamps to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were careless while the others were sensible. The careless bridesmaids took their lamps as they were and did not bring extra oil. But those who were sensible, brought with their lamps flasks of oil. As the bridegroom delayed, they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.

»But at midnight, a cry rang out: ‘The bridegroom is here, come out and meet him!’. All the maidens woke up at once and trimmed their lamps. Then the careless ones said to the sensible ones: ‘Give us some oil, for our lamps are going out’. The sensible ones answered: ‘There may not be enough for both you and us. You had better go to those who sell and buy for yourselves’. They were out buying oil when the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him to the wedding feast, and the doors were shut.

»Later the rest of the bridesmaids arrived and called out: ‘Lord, Lord, open to us’. But he answered: ‘Truly, I do not know you’. So, stay awake, for you do not know the day nor the hour».

Today, God's Word invites us to mull over the meaning of life and to ponder about the fact death will reach us all, when we shall be finally called to God's presence; we cannot forget it, not so much out of fear of what will happen afterwards, but to live authentically, as Jesus Christ expects and wants us to.

If God has created us and saved us through His Son Jesus Christ, so that we can attain the eternal happiness for which we were created, why should not we toil as much as we can to make this happiness already available to us hear and now? Why should not we live trying to procure the oil of the good deeds that makes it possible for our light to irradiate? Now, it is the moment to show we love each other, and we are able to forgive and to share. There are so many opportunities for us that we often miss and waste! Whatever we do not do will not be done and, consequently, there will be less light and less happiness in this world. This is the lesson we can learn from the fact the sensible bridesmaids told the careless ones they should better go out and buy some oil for themselves. Hence, the message of the Gospel is a call to our personal responsibility.

The sense of responsibility is also to be noticed with Jesus’ exhortation to watch over one another, to be alert to life, to the people around us, to ourselves. It is a fight against the routine and boredom that can cause the certainty of a way of thinking, of our economic or social comfort, of the recognition we enjoy… And, while we are on the alert, we are also requested to wait and be patient. In a hurried world, marked by immediate results, by the anxiety to have everything under control, by the quest of instantaneous pleasures, to learn how to wait and be patient is a quality that bring us nearer to God, as He has infinite patience with us and is always waiting for our response. Yet, to await does not mean to fold one’s arms, but to make ourselves available to the Kingdom that is coming to us, for the fact it comes earlier or may take longer, will depend on our own way of life. We should never doubt the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, will actually come over to us, but let us not forget either that it is up to us to make him already present in the world.