By Fr Charbel
Imagine getting an invitation to a wedding. You spend hours preparing, putting on your best suit or dress, making sure your hair is perfect, carefully selecting accessories, and perhaps even going the extra mile to ensure everything is just right for the big occasion.
You arrive at the venue, excited and ready to celebrate, only to be told at the door, “Sorry, you can’t come in.” Maybe it’s because you missed an important detail, or perhaps you were late; either way, you don’t meet the requirements to enter.
This frustration of being turned away echoes a lesson from the Gospel of the 5th Sunday of the Holy Cross in our Maronite liturgy. We reflect on the parable of the ten virgins. Five of them met the requirements to enter the wedding banquet, while the other five did not.
The difference? Wisdom.
Wisdom was the gift that set the wise virgins apart. Wisdom is not something we achieve on our own but a gift of God working within us. As St Paul writes in his epistle, “It is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).
Wisdom reminds us that our time on earth is limited and that our lives belong to Christ. Many saints speak about one of the devil’s greatest tricks: convincing us that we have all the time in the world. But wisdom calls us to live with an awareness of the limited time we have and to use it wisely, preparing ourselves for the moment we meet the Lord.
The 13th of October is also the day on which the Miracle of the Sun happened after the appearance of Our Lady of Fatima to three children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. Both the Gospel parable of the ten virgins and the message of Fatima emphasise two key themes: preparation and vigilance, as well as the invitation to wisdom.
Both underline the importance of being ready for the coming of Christ. The wise virgins were prepared for the bridegroom, just as Our Lady of Fatima urges us to be spiritually prepared for Christ’s return. Her message encourages us to pray, to turn away from sin, and to be vigilant, always ready to respond to God’s call. She urges us to be prepared by leading a life of holiness.
Additionally, both the parable and the message of Fatima highlight the importance of wisdom in the life of faith. The wise virgins were able to enter the banquet because they had prepared ahead of time. In the same way, Our Lady of Fatima imparts wisdom, urging believers to seek a deeper understanding of God’s will and to cultivate virtues like faith, hope, and charity in their lives.
Wisdom helps us to live in anticipation of God’s promises, guiding us to make choices that align with His will and leading us on the path to holiness.
Now is the time to heed this call to wisdom. We must not fall into the trap of thinking we have an endless amount of time. Now is the time to prepare to meet the Lord. Now is the time to commit more to prayer. Now is the time to start taking steps away from sin.
The more time we waste on things that do not benefit our souls, the less likely we are to be prepared.
I know it is hard. I know it is countercultural. But consider Jacinta, Francesco, and Lucia, the three children who were under the age of 10, when Our Lady appeared to them at Fatima. The whole world turned on them. They faced hatred, persecution, and even threats of death, yet they remained steadfast in sharing the message that Our Lady gave them. They prayed the rosary in times of doubt and fear, and they overcame.
Let’s learn from their example. The wisest thing we can do with our time is to pray, to cultivate a relationship with God, and to live in a state of readiness. It is through prayer that we keep our lamps filled, our souls prepared, and our faith alive.
This is how we ensure that we are ready, not just for the struggles and uncertainties of life, but for that final moment when we will stand before the gates of heaven. And when that time comes, when we find ourselves standing at the entrance to the eternal wedding banquet we have longed for, we will not be turned away. We won’t hear, “Sorry, you don’t meet the requirements.” Instead, we will be met by the Lord himself, who will say, “Come on in.”
Fr Charbel Dib is a priest at Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral and co-host of the Maronite Down Under podcast “Let’s talk about it.”
Photo Image – Icon of the “Five Wise Virgins” by Fr Abdo Badwi. Photo: Supplied.
