Fr. Jeff’s Weekly Homily

November 6, 2005

READING 1: Wisdom 6: 12-16
For taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence.

READING 2: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

GOSPEL: Matthew 25: 1-13
Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight , there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ 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. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour."

Our first graders study faith every day. It is one of the reasons for our Catholic schools. Recently, one of the teachers put these questions before the children: “If I am the smartest person in this whole school and get the best grades, would that get me into heaven?” The children agreed being the smartest would not get you into heaven. “If I could climb buildings like Spider Man, would that get me into heaven?” Again, the children agreed: “NO!”. Well, the teacher asked, “Then how do I get into heaven?” One of the boys spoke up clearly: “You gotta be dead!”

The parable today reminds us that short term thinking is our enemy. Life on this good earth is all about preparation, providence and endurance.

It is no secret that I go to football games; but do you know why the priest likes to go to football games? I want to be where there are conversions! Football requires not one, but endless conversions. We have three, sometimes four, opportunities to make that first down conversion. The opposing forces do everything they can to prevent the conversions and each first down is hard won. Each first down conversion is indeed something to celebrate, for it is a new beginning born of planning, determination and hard work. But the first down conversion is by no means the end of the job; it is in reality only the beginning. Players face the fact that when their struggle to convert is finally successful, they are back to where they started, needing further conversions in order to advance.

Each conversion advances them further down field toward their goal, bringing them that much closer to victory.

This life is not all there is. It takes preparation, planning and endurance to win the game of life. The players need coaching, team leadership, a play book, and a strategy for success to win the conversion. The enemy is doing everything they can to exploit our weaknesses, wear us down and thwart our progress. Only a fool would go through life unprepared for what we know will eventually happen. Knowing that, we add discipline to o ur lives. We study the inspired Word of God, our play Book. We eat the food that will keep us strong and help us endure, as Jesus said, your ancestors ate bread and were hungry again, I am the bread of life, whoever eats this bread will live forever and whoever does not has no life in them (John 6:51-58).

My friends, Jesus spoke of the ten women, five wise and five foolish. Five understood that the first down was a victory worthy of celebration but not the whole game. Every victory in this life is worthy of celebration, but we are merely advancing on our way to our goal. The ultimate victory goes to the one who has staying power that is endurance, sometimes into the second overtime. So do not give out or up. If you suffered a loss, do not lose heart. We have the play book for this life; we have the best coach who ever lived, Jesus Christ; we have the quarterbacks of our Church and our 2,000 year tradition of successful seasons; and we have the fuel for endurance in this bread of life we receive, his body and blood. We have the plan, we have the preparation, we have the endurance to win our eternal life. So:

Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift.
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift;
Shun not the struggle!
Face it!
‘tis God’s gift:
Be strong! Be Strong! Be the Good News!

Fr. Jeff McGowan
Queen of Peace Catholic Community
Gainesville, Florida