Awaiting the Lord

 Reflection on Today's Readings, 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A, November 8th, 2020

Texts: Wis. 6:12-16; Ps. 63:2-8; 1Thess. 4:13-18; Matt. 25:1-13

Every Christian lives to await the Lord. This kind of life involves two parties: one who is waiting and the other is one who is awaited. What binds them together is longing; both parties long for each other. We await the Lord because he longs for us. Some of us today are not sure of the Lord's longing. Jesus Christ, our Lord, is the wisdom of God. Today's first reading reminds us that Jesus Christ always longs for us. It says, "Wisdom is the radiant and unfaiding, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her." This longing is reciprocal; he longs for us first. He longs for us that we might long for him. He longs for us for our own. However, we long for him not for his own sake, but for our own good. We are to long for him as it is expressed in today's psalm: "O God, you are my God; at dawn I seek you; for you my soul is thirsting. For you my flesh is pining, like a dry, weary land without water." 

The psalmist shows us what it means to long for God. It begins by talking of longing for God at dawn, continues with blessing and praising God all the life, and end with remembering God on the bed and throughout the night; whether we are awake or sleep we are for the Lord. We are awake for God and we also sleep for God. This reinforces the words of St. Paul: "For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring'" (Act 17:28). This means when we long for God we will spend our whole life for him. If we truly long for God, we will live our lives in praise of his name, we will choose him over and above life. The psalm says, "Your loving mercy is better than life, my lips will speak your praise. I will bless you all my life". If we truly long for God, he will always be on our minds. God, on his own part, never forget us because he is ever faithful; he longs for us as if that is the only thing he has to do.

The second reading reminds us that not only the living who await the Lord, the dead also do. Hence, the reading takes further the message of the psalm: whether awake or asleep we are for the Lord. The dead in Jesus Christ only fall asleep; they sleep to wake up when the Lord comes. This hope of resurrection is anchored on the resurrection of our Lord himself. St. Paul says, "For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep." Jesus did not die and rise for himself; he died and rose for us. If we are not raised, then his resurrection is in vain. That he rose for us gives us a firm hope and good reason to await our resurrection at his coming.

The gospel reading reminds us that the Lord may not come at our own time but at the time set by God and it is unknown to us. Hence, we are not to grow weary in our hope or lose our faith in him or found wanting in charity. The light of hope, faith and charity must be burning brightly. The five wise virgins kept their hope, faith and love alive, while the five foolish Virgins had grown weary in hope, lost their faith and found wanting in the works of charity. It was too late for them to make amends at the coming of the Lord. Now it is our time, let us make amends and right our wrongs.

Lord our God, as we await your coming in glory, grant that we may be found keeping our hope, faith and love alive. Amen.

Rev. Fr. Andrew Olowomuke