To be ready to meet the Lord

Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

The parable today is a reminder about being ready – five bridesmaids were ready and five were not. The parable ends with the clear message: “so stay awake because you do not know either the day or the hour”.

Today we can listen to this parable and consider its message in relation to our readiness for the moment of our death.

In this month of November, the month of the Holy Souls, it is an appropriate time to reflect upon our readiness for death.

Death comes to all of us, but we do not know the day or the hour. We can have our expectations in terms of our age and general health condition.

We can imagine our life expectancy. This can lead to a certain complacency. None of us know how and when our death may come.

If there seems no immediate prospect of dying then we can find ourselves more living for this world and its attractions.

There is the warning for us to be found in the parable given to us today. The foolish virgins were not ready and the hour came when they did not expect. They were badly caught out.

The question we can ask ourselves today is: are we ready to meet the Lord? Is our house in order?

Here we can ask ourselves some basic questions:

1. Is my personal relationship with God sound? Or have I slipped into a time when I am taking God for granted? What is the current strength of my daily union with God? This can be tested in terms of our commitment to personal prayer.  
2. Have I become more caught up in the demands of life and not really attentive to the quality of my Christian life? Am I attempting to grow in Christian virtue?
3. Have I allowed an area of sin to take control of me?
4. Have I a truly repentant heart, asking for mercy and forgiveness? How long is it since I have been to confession? Thus, is my soul in a good place?
5. Am I seriously seeking a deeper union with God and live genuine Christian discipleship? Do I have a deep desire for heaven?
6. Have I entrusted my life and future into the hands of God and living with a genuine Christian hope?

The Lord uses parables to address what he recognises as the lack of understanding or perception among his listeners.

This parable, we note, is one directed towards his disciples. He sees a danger of complacency among those who are following him in their dedication to their life in God.

We all know how easy it is to become lukewarm in our spiritual life. We identify as Catholic, we attend Mass, but it is possible that the rest of our life is pretty secular.

We take on many of the patterns of thinking and acting that are the same as those around us who have no faith. We are Catholic in name, but our lives are indistinguishable from that of those around us.

We are far from being the salt of the earth and the light of the world that the Lord expects of us.

The Christian life is one of ongoing conversion. It does require an examination of conscience.

And the parable can open up the question of how prepared are we for embracing the path of dying. The dying process is not just a passive one, the slipping away of life.

Dying is, in fact, a journey, a journey from this world to the next. It is a journey we are to undertake with faith and hope. The Christian is to be actively involved, and the Church provides helps and supports.

Again, some simple pointers:

1. Have I spent time quietly considering my eventual death and begun to consider how I will approach it? There are a number of practical considerations which are important – like getting my affairs in order. Even if I am young it is good to have prepared a will.
2. Am I clear in my mind about addressing some of the ethical issues that I could confront, like what is appropriate and what is unnecessary treatment? Am I absolutely decided about not seeking any form of euthanasia?
3. Have I thought about my parting with loved ones? Is there some reconciliation that is needed? Can I find the words to express my love for those close to me and want to express it to them?  
4. Do I want to receive the spiritual supports that the Church offers – like making a good confession, receiving Holy Communion as long as I can, seeking the Anointing of the Sick, wanting to have the spiritual support of prayers around me as I am dying?
5. And it is good to write down any special instructions or desires concerning my funeral – which church, what readings, what particular hymns.

Simply, am I prepared for my dying.

Dying is a spiritual journey and one which we can undertake inspired and guided by our faith.

A very popular Christian hymn, “Abide with Me”, written in 1847 by the Anglican cleric Henry Francis Lyte expresses the attitude and faith of the Christian as death approaches.

Let us listen to its words and hear then as expressing the interior spirit that guides my journey into death:

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

They are words well worth pondering as we seek to be ready when the Lord calls us to Himself.

Archbishop Julian Porteous

Sunday, 12 November 2023