This coming Sunday is the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. Our gospel is the parable of the Ten Virgins. The gospel reading begins: “Jesus told his disciples this parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven will be like…’” and then goes on to place the parable in the midst of a first century wedding celebration. Both of Matther’s use of a wedding celebration setting are a part of the overarching message about the Kingdom of Heaven. Continue reading
Tag Archives: ten virgins
The Future and Judgment
This coming Sunday is the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Lectionary Cycle A. Our gospel is the parable of the Ten Virgins.
The gospel readings for the 29th through 31st Sundays in Lectionary Cycle A all describe a series of confrontations between Jesus and religious authorities of Jerusalem, namely the scribes and Pharisees. The reading for the 31st Sunday ends with Jesus warning the disciples to not become hypocrites like the scribes and Pharisees (Mt 23:12). It would seem like one more verse would have been a capstone to the warning: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites” (v.13) Continue reading
Taking Stock
Here at the tail end of hurricane season (officially Nov 30th), let me ask you…. How many of you were prepared this past season, stocking up on extra flashlights and batteries? Extra water and food? Something to charge your cell phone? Of course, forecasting is pretty good these days, we always have advanced warning, and there is time to run to the store or borrow from our neighbors. Right? Given the scenes from the days preceding Hurricane Irma, I think that was most people’s strategy. But not all things in life are well forecast. Some rain comes down upon us without notice. Continue reading
Ever ready: allegory
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” Be it parable or allegory, we are limited in dissecting this passage from the gospel. Many commentaries offer insight from wedding customs, but of another culture or age. One commentary I reviewed was assuming 10th century Jewish wedding customs from Spain reflected an unaltered liturgical custom. Possibly.
We know that weddings provided one of the high points in village life, and the question of who was and was not included affected one’s social standing. Our knowledge of Jewish wedding customs at the time is limited, leaving scholars to suggest analogies from other cultures; but it is probably wiser to admit our ignorance. This story mentions only two parties, the bridegroom and the ten girls. The precise role of the latter in the ceremonies is not clear but most scholars assume that Hellenistic-Roman marriage customs also apply in Jewish circles at the time, and thus the young women are servants from the bridegroom’s house, awaiting the return of the bridegroom with his bride after the wedding feast at her house. Possibly. Continue reading
Ever ready: prepared
The young women are described with the Greek term for “virgins” which is meant to indicate unmarried friends or relatives of either the bride or the bridegroom. The story tells us that their role included escorting the bridegroom in a torchlight procession to his house, but that they were not present at whatever part of the ceremonies immediately preceded this procession. The unexpected delay at that point in the proceedings may have been caused by extended bargaining over the financial settlement, or by any number of other causes, deliberate or accidental. It does not matter; all that matters is the delay, and the effect it had on the readiness of the girls when the time for their part in the ceremonies eventually arrived. Continue reading
