Fri of 21st Week of OT Homily

1st Reading: 1 Cor 1:17-25

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 33:1-2,4-5,10-11

Gospel: Mt 25:1-13

There is only one thing that we are entitled to in life, and that is death. We may achieve many great things within our lives, but we are not entitled to them. We do not know if we will be married or become become a priest or have a great job or posses a lot of money. We do know that in time we will die. It might come at an old age or it may come unexpectedly when we jump inside of our cars and pull into the road. In our Gospel reading we are reminded that we know "neither the day nor the hour." With this knowledge we should feel moved towards preparing ourselves for this ultimate reality.

Today I have decided to celebrate this votive Mass of the mystery of the Holy Cross because the Holy Cross is a reminder of the triumph over death. Christ died upon the cross to save of us all from our sins and from the cross He continues to call out to us to come and follow after Him. We join this day with the cross of Christ as we prepare our hearts and souls to move closer to it. We know "neither the day not the hour" and so we spend the time given to us to put our disordered passions to rest and to move towards Christ. It is only when we have drawn ourselves closer to Christ that we will be prepared for our death.

In today's Gospel we heard about the virgins who were preparing for the coming of the bridegroom. Some were prepared for his arrival while the others found themselves in need of more time. These unprepared virgins were given the same opportunity as those who were prepared, but they did not take it upon themselves to be ready. May we not allow ourselves to follow after these unprepared women, but instead may we follow after the example given by those were prepared. We know "neither the day nor the hour" so may allow ourselves to be prepared for our ultimate destiny.