Our Gospel reading for this 32nd Sunday of ordinary time challenges us to be vigilant and wise. We often hear people say that “she has lots of wisdom or he has lots of knowledge”. Of course, knowledge is not the same as wisdom. Wisdom cannot be found on the internet. It can only be gained through a personal encounter with something or someone; that is, through experiences. To gain knowledge, we must to study. But to get wisdom, we must have an encounter.
In the Gospel this Sunday, we encounter the wise and the foolish women. It’s interesting to notice that there were 10 women. In the Bible, the number 10 is thought to be the number of perfection, but in the context of 10 women on the Gospel, it is made up of two different groups of people - foolish and wise. So, it actually speaks to all of us, both men and women, that there are often two sides of our lives: the wise side and the foolish side. Our goal in life should be to always gain more wisdom and live our lives wisely.
It is interesting to see in the parable; these women are not distinguished into good or bad women, but wise and foolish women. Jesus didn’t call them bad and good women. Sadly, we tend to easily judge others as bad people. Jesus never judged, but Jesus did distinguish between people. Jesus didn’t judge as the bad and good women, instead called them wise and foolish women because there is one thing in common among them: they all have good will and good intentions to welcome the bridegroom.
However, what makes five of them foolish? The foolish took their lamps only and neglected to bring any spare oil with them. Sadly for them, when the bridegroom eventually arrived, they had run out of oil. The reason is clear here, they had no vision. They couldn’t picture the future; and so, they didn’t even think about the supply of extra oil. They did not anticipate what might happen. In other words, they were not well-prepared. The lesson for us is clear: in our lives, we must always set our vision on the future and be prepared. We need to be vigilant.
When the foolish asked of the wise, give us some of your oil. for our lamps are gone out, the wise answered, sorry there may not be enough for us. The message for us is clear, Firstly, in our lives, there are things that cannot be obtained at the last minute. It’s too late. And to be too late is always a tragedy, like the foolish women. Secondly, it is also a warning that there are certain things in life, and the most important ones, cannot be borrowed from other people. Something that is very essential, such as our faith and relationship with God, cannot be borrowed from other people; we need to have it personally.