In two weekends, we will celebrate the end our Church’s liturgical year, entering Advent in our preparation for Christmas, the coming of the baby Jesus into the world. Where has the time gone? How can we be quickly approaching the holiday season and the end of 2023? As we near the end of the liturgical year, we always have readings on the importance of being prepared. In the Early Church, Christians thought that Jesus' second coming would be fast approaching, that they would see his second coming in glory in their lifetime, so being prepared was of utmost importance. When this did not happen, even by the time the Gospels were written, they began to wonder. However, this does not mean that we should put aside these warning of being prepared. We may not see Jesus’ second coming in our own lifetime, but we are called to be prepared for the end of our own days here on earth. We do not know when that will happen, when we take our last breath on earth. Our readings today help us ask ourselves this question: Are we ready? And how can we be ready?
Our Gospel states that the five foolish maidens did not see the need to bring sufficient oil for their lamps, but five wise maidens came prepared. Our reading from the book of Wisdom gives us some good insight into what motivates us to be ready and prepared. So, what exactly is wisdom? We can begin by saying that wisdom and book knowledge are not the same thing. I think of how I spent a lot learning Spanish, including studying Spanish out of books and doing things like conjugating verbs, but that did not replace learning Spanish in real life situations as a missionary. In fact, when I taught Spanish up in Greenville for four years, my challenge with my students was not speaking Spanish, but rather finding a way to adequately explain the grammar and the nuts and bolts of the language to them. Book learning is important, but then we have to find a way to apply what we learn in the real situations that face us in life.
Tradition has it that the Book of Wisdom was written by King Solomon, who was very admired in ancient Israel for his wisdom. However, most biblical scholars today believe that the Book of Wisdom was not written by Solomon, but probably written originally in Greek in the great ancient center of learning in Alexandria, Egypt a couple of centuries before Christ’s birth. Today’s reading tells us that wisdom is received by all who love her, that she is found by all who seek her. The author of the book of Wisdom tells us that if we watch for wisdom at dawn, she will be waiting for us at the gate. Indeed, we human beings yearn for wisdom in the same way we yearn for a connection with the divine in our lives. We are yearning, striving, and aching for such a connection with God and with wisdom. Likewise, wisdom and God are searching for us.
A wise person would not wait for some undefined time in the future to forge a relationship with Jesus. Some who claim to be Christians put other things first in their lives in front of their faith. They take a risk, just like the foolish virgins take a risk in the Gospel. Taking such a risk can have dire consequences, for sure. The truly wise person builds his life on Jesus and his Gospel, on Jesus as the truth and the life, not just for the future, but in the here and now.
So, if we are saying that wisdom goes beyond book knowledge and what we perceive intellectually, we can see wisdom as a resonance, as an understanding of God’s teachings, laws, and values. Wisdom is all about being able to integrate God and his teachings into daily life. While book learning and knowledge are important in our development as human beings and in our spiritual quest, they are not everything. God can reach out to us, wisdom can connect with us, in diverse and eclectic ways: through music, art, poetry, literature, and nature; through prayer, contemplation, and even silence. Meeting Wisdom at the gates means that we are to find ways to gain this understanding, this experience, this integration of God into our spirituality and into our lives. In all of our ministerial situations, we are called to approach our faith in our everyday reality, not just in the abstract. We have tried to start programs like Drinks and Doctrine and our Young at Heart luncheons in order to approach our faith in a practical way and in a situation of fellowship and faith sharing. It is just not about the doctrine and dogma of our faith, but rather the wisdom we have learned along the way on our journey.
Connecting with the divine wisdom, connecting with God, is not always easy and comfortable. In our search of wisdom, we will have great joys and great struggles. All of this is an essential part of our journey. All of this will help us be like the wise maidens, to be prepared and to be ready to meet the Lord when he comes.
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