CẢM NGHIỆM SỐNG LC - REFLECTION - BRENDAN - 32 ND SUNDAY-A
- Details
- Category: 2. Cảm Nghiệm Sống Lời Chúa
-
Mo NguyenFri, Nov 6 at 8:16 PMTHIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
YEAR A
08 NOVEMBER 2020
BE PREPARED!
REFLECTIONS ON THE GOSPEL (Matthew 23: 1-12)
BE PREPARED!
The parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids addresses the situation of the Church as it awaits the return of its Lord (the ‘Bridegroom’). The time of waiting has become very long indeed but the Church still proclaims: ‘Christ will come again’, and lives in that hope and in the sense of accountability that accompanies it. The key thing is to use the time of waiting profitably, so as not to be caught out when the Bridegroom arrives, whether that be at the moment of death or end of time.
The five wise and five foolish bridesmaids depict two possibilities for believers. The oil needed for their lamps represents the good deeds that Jesus commends in the gospel, especially the works of mercy that feature so prominently in the parable of the Great Judgement (Matthew 25: 41-56). The five wise bridesmaids will meet the Bridegroom with their lamps blazing with this ‘oil’. The five foolish ones, on the other hand, represent the kind o believers who cry out, ‘Lord, Lord’ but have no good works to accompany their confession of faith (see Matthew 7: 21).
The parable – and the Gospel as a whole – remind us that the words of dismissal at the Eucharist, ‘Go in peace, glorifying the Lord with your life’, are no perfunctory conclusion to the rite but a programme for living the twin commandments of love of God and love of neighbour. Those who take them to heart have always with them the ‘oil’ required for salvation; they can ‘sleep’ without anxiety about being caught short by the sudden arrival of the Lord.
Bredan Byrne, SJ
stay awake be ready:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFqm1p5tVkU
Hãy tỉnh thức - Lm Thái Nguyên: