Hi everyone, and welcome to Weekly Homilies with Father Mark Suslenko, Pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. We are part of the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. I'm Carol Vassar, parish director of communications, and this is Episode 38 of Season 6 for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary time: Nov. 12, 2023. Our Gospel reading is from Matthew, Chapter 25, verses 1-13.
Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’
While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
“O Lord, Where is Your Will Found?,” by Father Mark S. Suslenko, Pastor, SS. Isidore and Maria Parish, Glastonbury, Connecticut
When we hear the word wisdom, most of us may begin to think of individuals in our lives that have a heightened sense of common sense. Those people we go to if we're trying to work through a problem or encountering some difficulties and need some good, solid, practical advice.
Wisdom figures, in this sense, are very important to us as human beings. But a biblical sense of wisdom really is not that at all. Biblical wisdom is really the pursuit of God's perspective on things. It really is found when we begin to shift our focus a bit and see things from God's point of view, and discover the jewels that are unfolded as a result of that.
To pursue wisdom in the biblical sense means that I consciously choose to change my vision from a perspective that I bring to one that God does. And in doing so, it requires that we do a certain amount of waiting and prepare ourselves to then be surprised by God as God reveals himself to us, sometimes in the least expected of ways.
When we shift our focus from ourselves to God, how we see the universe, how we see ourselves, and even how we solve problems begins to change. But this can only be done through a very fervent habit of prayer in which we literally learn how to step aside from ourselves and see things through God's eyes.
Doing so will certainly properly orientate us and bring us to a very different place than our own limited sight often can. If we look only through our own eyes, we often see only what we want to see. and not the bigger picture of things. So, an exercise this week that we can do would be as life unfolds for us, as it will, and we encounter the events of our lives as they come to be, to, in our moments of prayer, change how we look at things from our own perspective to God's and ask that very powerful question:
Where, Lord, is your will to be found? What are you trying to show me as I encounter this moment of my existence?
Father Mark Suslenko is the pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Learn more about our parish community at www.isidoreandmaria.org. And follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Our music comes free of charge from Blue Dot Sessions in Fall River, Massachusetts. I’m Carol Vassar. Thanks for joining us.