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First Reading: Wisdom 6: 12-16
Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Gospel: Matthew 25: 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.”
Anchor Verse
“…but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.”
— Matthew 25: 4
🔎 Lens: What the Lamp Can’t Show
All ten had lamps. All ten showed up. All ten were waiting for the bridegroom, and all ten fell asleep when he was late. Pope Francis, reflecting on this Gospel, points to the first thing worth noticing: the difference between the wise and the foolish was not goodwill, and it was not punctuality. It was oil.
Oil, he observes, is easy to overlook. It sits inside the lamp, where nobody sees it. In his words, “it is not conspicuous, but without it the lamps have no light.” Then he turns the parable gently toward us. We tend to take great care of how we appear, the image we present. The wiser care is for what cannot be seen: the heart.
His suggestions are quiet ones. Make room for silence. Notice what has happened in your heart today. Set the phone down long enough to see the light in another person’s eyes. Give the Lord a little time.
One more detail matters. The oil has to be prepared. The inner life, Pope Francis says, cannot be improvised. It is built from a little time each day, the way anything important is.
For anyone who has been showing up with a lamp and wondering why it feels dark: showing up counts. That is the lamp. The oil is what we are invited to add, a little at a time.
Reflection Prompts
- Before asking what’s missing, what is already lit? Where does your faith still give off light, even a small one?
- At the end of an ordinary day, do you usually know what happened in your heart, or only what happened on your calendar?
- Which part of your life is well maintained on the outside while the inside goes unattended?
- What fills your lamp, even slightly: a silence, a person, a place, a prayer? When did that last happen?
Weekly Practice
At Mass
When the Gospel is proclaimed, notice the moment you feel most like one of the ten: awake, drowsy, or somewhere in between. There’s nothing to fix. Then, in the quiet after Communion, ask the Lord for oil in a single sentence, in your own words.
After Mass
Choose one fixed moment this week, such as the first minute after you park the car or while the kettle boils, and leave the phone alone. Say the anchor verse once, then ask quietly: what is in my heart right now? That’s the oil: small, ordinary, repeated.
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