The Eternal Life and COVID-19
Matthew 25:1-13
Reflection
Dear sisters and brothers,
Today, we have the text from the Gospel of Matthew (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.””
The above text wonderfully explains the beauty of our discipleship and our eternal life in the time of COVID-19.
1. Wise vs Foolish
I visited a famous temple in India.
There are different counters with different status (according to the money that is paid) to have a darshan (just to see god of that temple) of god.
You pay more money for a darshan.
You can reach fast to have a darshan.
And you will have more time with god.
That is not a story in the Church.
There are racial discriminations.
There are caste discriminations in the Indian Churches.
There may be different discriminations in the Church too around the world.
But, overall we do experience that everyone is a part of the Kingdom of Heaven or of God.
There are no special places of honour.
You occupy the pews as you reach the Church from the first pew to the last pew.
It is my experience.
This is the way, we experience Jesus Christ in the Church.
This is the way, we experience the Kingdom of Heaven or of God.
We may have our individual and social differences.
We may be poor.
We may be rich.
We may be lower in status in the society.
We may be higher in status in the society.
We may be educated.
We may not be educated.
We may be influential.
We may not be influential.
We may be men.
We may be women.
We may be elders.
We may not be elders.
We may be children.
We may not be children.
We may be vulnerable.
We may not be vulnerable.
We may be strong.
We may be weak.
We may be broken.
We may contribute to the Church in different ways.
We may not contribute to the Church.
We may be wise.
We may be foolish.
Everyone in spite of its differences is accepted in the Kingdom of Heaven or of God.
No one is left out of the Kingdom of Heaven or of God.
The Kingdom of Heaven or of God includes everyone.
The Kingdom of Heaven or of God accommodates all creation.
2. Oil (essential material)
The difference between the Christianity and other religion is that the Christianity speaks about love and forgiveness.
The Christianity never ever speaks about revenge.
With this background, we know that to be a disciple of Jesus Christ demands being in love and forgiving.
Without love and forgiveness, we can be a disciple of Jesus Christ for a brief moment, but we need to change or transform ourselves to carry the essential value of love and forgiveness to be wise disciples.
Unless we change we are like foolish disciples who carelessly follow Jesus Christ without the essential material of our discipleship.
Love and forgiveness are essentials to enter the eternal life offered to us by our Saviour Christ Jesus.
When we are not we cannot become wise disciples, we become like these foolish disciples in the text.
Are we ready to become wise disciples who carry on their lives with love and forgiveness?
3. Delayed (drowsy and fell asleep)
They felt drowsy and fell asleep.
God does not delay.
God has His time.
God has His purpose.
God has His season.
God knows when He is supposed to come.
God comes in time.
God does not delay.
God delays for our active waiting.
God delays for our eagerness.
We need to wait for God in prayer.
Prayer does not allow us to sleep.
Prayer does not make us drowsy.
Prayer is an intimate conversation.
Prayer is a love talk.
Prayer is a communion with God.
When we are intimate, when we are in love, when we are in communion, we do not feel drowsy and asleep.
We will actively wait for the Lord all the time.
We do not wait to die to enter eternal life.
We enter the eternal life being active.
We enter the eternal life being in love.
We enter the eternal life being in prayer.
We enter the eternal life being in forgiveness.
4. I come like a thief (midnight)
Jesus Christ was born in the midnight when no one (except the little ones) is aware of his birth on this earth.
They came to know after his birth.
Jesus Christ comes into our lives in the same way.
We may not be aware of his presence in our lives.
Christ Jesus is present in our lives all the time.
I am with you till the end of the age.
If we want Jesus Christ to be with us, we need to follow his commandments.
Following commandments in our lives is essential to enter the eternal life.
The two commandments are:
Love God with our souls, with our hearts, and with our minds.
Love our neighbours as ourselves.
Keeping our souls, hearts and minds in good health is essential to love God and neighbours.
Keep loving our souls with prayer.
Keep loving our hearts with love.
Keep loving our minds with forgiveness.
By these, we can confidently say that we can surely be at peace all the time to enter the eternal life and to be in communion with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit on this earth when we are alive (in spite of COVID-19, relationship problem, financial crisis, unemployment, broken marriage, and so on) and in the heaven when we die.
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen...
