November 8, 2026
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 154
Reading 1
Resplendent and unfading is wisdom,
and she is readily perceived by those who love her,
and found by those who seek her.
She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire;
Whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed,
for he shall find her sitting by his gate.
For taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence,
and whoever for her sake keeps vigil
shall quickly be free from care;
because she makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her,
and graciously appears to them in the ways,
and meets them with all solicitude.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (2b) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
I will remember you upon my couch,
and through the night-watches I will meditate on you:
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Reading 2
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
about those who have fallen asleep,
so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose,
so too will God, through Jesus,
bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive,
who are left until the coming of the Lord,
will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself, with a word of command,
with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God,
will come down from heaven,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
Thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore, console one another with these words.
or
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
about those who have fallen asleep,
so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose,
so too will God, through Jesus,
bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake and be ready!
For you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110826.cfm
Commentary on Wisdom
6:12-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13
The approaching end of the liturgical year regularly brings
the usual warnings about being prepared. We know that in the very early Church
the Christians believed that Christ’s Second Coming, and therefore the end of
the world, would come very soon, even in their lifetime.
However, by the time the Gospels were put in written form,
this began to seem less likely. Does that mean that the warnings about
readiness can be put aside? Because, for most of us, it is presumably purely
academic to wonder when the end of our universe or of our planet will take
place. We are not likely to be around when it happens.
What is much more practical, however, is the end of our own
world—the end of our own time here on earth. That is anything but an academic
consideration. That is the one reality of our future that we can be absolutely
certain about. And we know very well—although we often prefer not to think
about it—that it can happen at any time and in any place. Today’s readings
bring us face to face with this reality, this fact. They ask us the question:
Am I ready? And they imply consideration of a second question: How can I be
ready?
The ten bridesmaids
In today’s passage from Matthew, Jesus tells a parable, partially an allegory,
about something which would be very familiar to his Palestinian readers—a
village marriage. Apparently ten young women would be asked to accompany the
bride as she awaited the arrival of the bridegroom. The problem was that they
had no idea when the bridegroom would turn up and, when it got dark, they would
need to have lighted lamps. If the bride’s companions were caught unawares, if
they were not around when the bridegroom came, they could be locked out or left
behind.
Imagery drawn from marriage was a traditional way to
describe the relationship between God and his people. When asked why his
disciples, unlike those of John the Baptist, did not fast, Jesus replied:
The wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the
bridegroom is with them, can they? (Matt 9:15)
And, a few weeks back, on the 28th Sunday, we saw Jesus tell
the parable of the guests invited to the marriage feast of a father’s son.
The ten young women represent disciples of Jesus, as they
await his coming. On the basis of what happens later on, five are described as
wise or sensible and five as foolish. Their wisdom here consists in their
taking prudent steps to do what they need to do in order to come face to face
with their Lord.
However, the bridegroom is long in coming. The early
expectation of the Second Coming has not been realised. All—both the sensible
ones who brought a sufficient supply of oil as well as those who did
not—”became drowsy and slept”. Thus it seems that being fully awake at every
single moment is not the point, but rather the overall readiness when the time
comes to respond.
God of surprises
Then, right in the middle of the night, the cry goes up:
Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.
Our God is a God of surprises. You never know how or when he
is going to appear. For some, it is a long-awaited and long-desired
announcement; for others, it creates alarm. For those well stocked with the oil
of loving service to their brothers and sisters, the cry is one that fills them
with joy and anticipation. One thinks of Paul saying:
For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain…yet I cannot
say which I will choose. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to
depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
(Phil 1:21-23)
For those who have squandered the gifts they have been
given, the announcement fills them with dread. We might feel that the “wise”
young women were rather selfish in refusing to share their oil with the
“foolish” in such a critical situation. However, the parables of Jesus normally
are making one point taken from some common experience of daily life. The focus
is on that one point and other details are not part of it. Another example
might be the parable of the dishonest steward who falsified all his employer’s
accounts so that he could make sure of future employment for himself. Jesus,
who was obviously not condoning this man’s behaviour, only used it as an
example of how even a bad person can take prudent steps to guarantee his
future.
We can also say in the context of today’s parable that the
“oil” of loving service is not strictly speaking transferable to others. Our
preparedness to meet the Lord is something that is ultimately only our
responsibility. No one can say “Yes” to Christ on my behalf. And, this means
that those baptised in infancy also have at some stage to say “Yes”, on the
basis of their own faith, to Jesus as their Lord. So, while the foolish young
women went off to make up for lost and wasted time, “those who were ready” went
into the wedding hall and “the door was closed”. All are invited, but not all
get inside. All are called, but few are among the chosen ones. This is not due
to any partiality on the bridegroom’s part, but because of the tardiness of
some in responding to the invitation. The closed door means that access to
Jesus is not automatic or to be altogether taken for granted. And that is
precisely the warning in today’s readings.
I do not know you
The foolish young women eventually get back with their necessary supplies of
oil and find the door shut in their face, and they say:
Lord, Lord, open to us.
In reply, they hear the most terrible words God could speak
to us:
Truly I tell you, I do not know you.
In other words, “I invited you to be part of my wedding, but
you have never been with me. You have been asleep or you have been going your
own way.”
In an emergency, there are some things we can borrow from
others at short notice. But to be ready to meet Jesus, to have fully accepted
his gospel vision as part of our life and to walk hand in hand with him is not
something we can suddenly wake up to and then imperiously demand, “Give it
to me now!” At a minimum, we must first acknowledge our failure to let our
hearts be open and receptive to Jesus’ faithful presence. Jesus will never
force himself on us. So let us pray today for that wisdom which knows where the
real secrets of life and success are.
The First Reading tells us to be constantly on the watch for
Lady Wisdom:
One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for she will be found sitting at the gate.
Not only that:
…she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she
graciously appears to them in their paths and meets them in every thought.
The truly wise person is the one who has not waited until
‘some time in the future’ to make Jesus fully part of their life. For quite a
number of Christians it seems that setting up a career and making money are
more important priorities than making the gospel a major part of their lives.
It is a risky investment. If there ever was a blue chip for life, it is Jesus
and the way of life he offers us in the gospel. So many pass it up; they are
indeed foolish.
The only way
The truly wise person builds his life on Jesus as the Way, on Jesus as Truth
and Life, not only for the future, but for here and now. The gospel, understood
and adopted, is the only programme that can guarantee fulfilment and happiness
right away. The others all depend on an uncertain future.
Such a wise person lives each day in the light of Jesus’
vision. Such people find him in the most ordinary experiences of daily
living—in the people they meet, in the events that take place, in the
situations in which they find themselves. Jesus is no stranger to them. He can
bring many surprises, but he is never unexpected. When they eventually hear the
final call, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him”, they are not
worried. They are happy and more than ready to meet an old friend face to face.
It is not a question of taking a gamble on making a
last-minute confession on your deathbed. A surprising number of people do not
die in their beds. It is a question rather of what I plan to do this very day
and every day. There is absolutely no better way to prepare for the final call
than, first, to put it completely out of one’s head, and, second, to learn to
spend each and every day in the company of Jesus:
I am with you always… (Matt 28:20)
There are two short prayers which we may find useful to be
said at any time as we go through our day:
Lord, grant that all my thoughts, intentions, actions and
responses may be directed solely to your love and service this day.
and
Help me, Lord, to seek, to find, and to respond to you in
every person and every experience of this day.
If these prayers really reflect the fabric of my daily
living, then let the bridegroom come when he will—I am ready. Instead of
knocking at his door, I will find that he comes to knock at mine:
Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear
my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.
(Rev 3:20)
Today he is certainly going to knock at my door. Will I be
in when he does?
https://sacredspace.com/commentary/oa321/
Sunday, November 8,
2026
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to
read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on
the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped
them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence
and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for
them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to
your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above
all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the
two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and
witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity,
justice and peace. We ask this of you,
Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent
us your Spirit. Amen.
Reading
A Key to Guide the Reading:
Our meditation is on the parable of the ten
virgins. In His parables, Jesus loves to make use of well-known facts in the
life of the people as a means of comparison to clarify some unknown aspect of
the Realm of God. In the parable of the ten virgins, He builds a story around
the different attitudes of the girls who accompany the bridegroom on the feast
day of his wedding. Jesus uses this fact, which is well known to all, in order
to shed light on the event of the sudden coming of the Realm of God in people’s
lives. Generally, Jesus does not explain His parables but says: "Let him
who has ears to hear, understand!" Or "So it is. You have heard! Now
try to understand." He provokes people, so that known facts of daily life
might help them discover God’s promptings in their lives. He involves His
listeners in the discovery of the meaning of the parable. The experience that
each person has of the facts of life as told in the parable, contributes to the
discovery of the meaning of Jesus’ parable. This shows that Jesus trusted in
people’s ability to understand. They become co-owners of the meaning. At the
end of the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus says, "Watch, therefore,
because you do not know the day or the hour". This final warning serves as
a key to the reading. It shows the direction of Jesus’ thinking. In this
reading we should seek to discover the central point of this parable that Jesus
uses as a comparison for the Realm of God.
A Division of the Text to Help with the
Reading:
Mt 25:1-4: The different attitudes of the girls who
accompany the bridegroom: five wise and five foolish.
Mt 25: 5-6: The delay in the coming of the bridegroom and
his sudden arrival in the night.
Mt 25: 7-9: The different
attitudes of the wise and the foolish.
Mt 25: 10-12: The different
outcome for the wise and the foolish. Mt 25: 13: The conclusion of the parable.
Gospel Text – Matthew 25: 1-13
1-4: Then
the kingdom of Heaven will be like this: ten virgins who took their lamps and
went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible:
the foolish ones, though they took their lamps, took no oil with them, whereas
the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. 5-6: The bridegroom was late, and they
all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, "Look!
The bridegroom! Go out and meet him."7-9:
Then all those virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish
ones said to the sensible ones, "Give us some of your oil: our lamps are
going out." But they replied, "There may not be enough for us and for
you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves."10-12: They had gone off to buy it when
the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding
hall and the door was closed. The other attendants arrived later. "Lord,
Lord," they said, "open the door for us." But he replied,
"In truth I tell you, I do not know you."13: So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the
hour.
A Moment of Prayerful Silence
so that the Word of God may enter into us and
enlighten our life.
Some Questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
•
What did you like best in the parable and what
caught your attention? Why?
•
What is the context of people’s daily life that
Jesus stresses in this parable?
•
From the start, Jesus distinguishes between
"wise" and "foolish". What is the meaning of wisdom and of
foolishness?
•
How can we interpret the bridegroom’s harsh
reply: "I tell you solemnly, I do not know you"?
•
Of what day and which hour is Jesus speaking at
the end of the parable?
A Key to the Reading
for those who wish to go deeper into the text.
The Context Within which Matthew Records
Jesus’ Words
Matthew’s Gospel has two kinds of parables. Those that help
in the understanding of the Realm of God as present in Jesus’ activities, and
those that help us prepare for the future coming of the Realm. The first are
more frequent in the early apostolic life of Jesus. The latter are more
frequent in the second half when it is clear that Jesus will be persecuted,
apprehended, and killed by the civil and religious authorities. In other words,
both dimensions of the Realm are to be found in the parables:
1)
the Realm already present, here and now, hidden
in the daily events of life and which may be discovered and appreciated by us,
and
2)
the future Realm still to come and for which
each one of us must prepare starting now. The tension between the already and
the not yet pervades the life of the Christian.
Christmas is at once a celebration of the Realm already
present and the anticipation of the Realm that is still to come.
A Commentary on Jesus’ Words as Recorded in
Matthew
•
Matthew 25: 1-4: The different attitudes of the
girls who accompany the bridegroom: five wise and five foolish. Jesus begins
the parable with the words: "The kingdom of heaven will be like
this…" This means that the parable of the ten virgins is about the future
coming of the Realm for which we must prepare starting now. In order to shed
light on this dimension of the Realm, Jesus uses the well-known custom of
inviting some young girls of the village to accompany the bridegroom to the
wedding feast. They had to accompany the bridegroom with lighted lamps. But the
lamps were small and the oil they contained was sufficient only for a limited
time. That is why it was prudent for each to take with her a little oil in
reserve since the journey with the bridegroom could take longer than the
limited time the oil in the lamps would last.
The following is what is implied in this story of the ten
virgins: those who accept an assignment must prepare themselves according to
the requirements of that assignment. The young girl, who accepts to be lady in
waiting at a wedding must do what is required for this function. She must be
far-sighted and carry the oil needed for the lamp. Those who undertake a trip
of 100 kilometers on a road that has no petrol stations, and who know that, and
leave with petrol for only 50 kilometers, are neither prudent nor farsighted.
People will say: "Silly, they have no brains".
•
Matthew 25: 5-6: The delay of the bridegroom and
his sudden arrival in the night. The sequence of events told by Jesus is quite
normal. It is night and the bridegroom is delayed. The girls, with every good
intention and without meaning to fall asleep. They try to stay awake because
the bridegroom might come at any moment. Suddenly a cry goes up! "The
bridegroom is coming!" It is the signal they were all awaiting. It is at
this critical moment that a person’s values are revealed. The things that
happen to us suddenly, independent of our will, show whether we are far-sighted
or foolish.
•
Matthew 25: 7-9: The different attitudes of the
wise and the foolish. When they awake, the girls begin to prepare the lamps
they need to make light on the road. It was time to add some oil because the
lamps were running low. The girls who did not bring oil with them in reserve
ask to borrow some from those who had brought oil. These reply that they cannot
give them any oil, because then both of them would not have enough. If it was
just a question of making light for the road, the wise ones could have said:
walk beside us and you will be able to see where you go. But it was not a
question of just making light for the road. The lamps were also a festive sign
and to make light for the bridegroom on his arrival. This was the task of these
ladies in waiting. Each would hold a lamp in her hand. At the critical moment,
the foolish girls ask for a share. They ask that the wise share the oil with them.
Often, a parable makes only one point.
Sharing was a very important and fundamental practice among
the people of God. But in this case, it was not a question of sharing, because
had the wise ones shared their oil, they would have caused harm to the bridegroom
and spoiled the wedding feast. Neither they nor the others would have fulfilled
the function which they had accepted. That is why the wise meet the request of
the foolish negatively and offer realistic advice: "Buy some
yourselves!" However, it was already midnight and it would have been
difficult to find a shop open.
•
Matthew 25: 10-12: The different outcome for the
wise and the foolish. While the foolish girls went to buy oil, the bridegroom
arrived and those who were prepared went into the wedding feast with him and
the door was closed. In the parable, the foolish girls found a shop open and
bought some oil. Late as they were, they come and cry: "Open the door for
us!" The bridegroom (at least, it seems that it is he) answers harshly: "In
truth I tell you, I do not know you.
•
Matthew 25: 13: Conclusion: Watchfulness. The
conclusion applied by Jesus Himself at the end of the story is a phrase that
may be seen as the key to the whole parable: "Stay awake, because you do
not know either the day or the hour!" God can come at any time during our
lives. Everyone must be prepared. Like the young girls at the wedding feast,
everyone must be prudent and show foresight and carry sufficient oil. There is
a personal responsibility, even within the context of community.
One cannot “borrow” good works from the community when the
time comes. Everyone must stay on guard in the service of God and neighbor
because you know not the time the bridegroom will arrive.
To
round off: How can we explain the harsh phrase: "I do not know
you!"? We suggest two possible answers:-- Many parables contain something
strange: the father who does not scold the prodigal son, the shepherd who
leaves ninetynine sheep to look for the one, the Samaritan who behaves better
than the priest and the Levite, etc. Usually, these strange or surprising
aspects hide an important key for the discovery of the central point of the
parable. In the parable of the ten virgins there are some strange things that
do not usually happen: 1) There are no shops open at night, 2) The door is not
usually closed at a wedding feast, 3) Normally, the bridegroom would never say:
I do not know you. It is through these strange matters that the central thread
of the teaching of the parable runs through. What is that? "Listen! Anyone
who has ears."-- The bridegroom in the parable is Jesus Himself who
arrives late at night. It is what the context of other texts in the Gospels and
in the Old Testament implies. In His conversation with the Samaritan woman,
Jesus says that she had five husbands and the one she had now, the sixth, is
not her true husband. The seventh is
Jesus, the real spouse (Jn 4: 16-18). While the bridegroom is with His
disciples they need not fast (Mk 2: 19-20). From the time of the prophet Hosea,
in the 8th century before Christ, there grew in the people a hope of being able
to one day come to an intimacy with God like that between bridegroom and bride
(Hos 2: 19-20). Isaiah says clearly: God wishes to be the husband of the people
(Is 54: 5; Jer 3: 14), to rejoice with His people as a bridegroom rejoices in
the presence of His bride (Is 62: 5). This hope is realized in the coming of
Jesus. When Jesus enters the life of a person, all else must withdraw because
He is the bridegroom. This view of the story and the centuries long hope of the
people helps us to understand the meaning of the harsh phrase of the
bridegroom: "I do no know you!" Jesus also uses denial as a means to
differentiate those not prepared for the Kingdom, as in Mt 10: 33, whoever will have denied me before men, I
also will deny before my Father, who is in heaven. Because of the lack of
commitment and seriousness, the five foolish girls clearly show that they were
not ready yet to commit themselves definitively to wed God. They needed some
more time to prepare themselves: "Watch, because you do not know the day
or the hour".
Psalm 63: 2-9
God’s Desire
O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for
thee; my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is.
So I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary, beholding thy power and glory.
Because thy steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise thee.
So I will bless thee as long as I live; I
will lift up my hands and call on thy name. My soul is feasted as with marrow
and fat, and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips, when I think of thee upon
my bed, and meditate on thee in the watches of the night; for thou hast been my
help, and in the shadow of thy wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to thee; thy
right hand upholds me.
Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank you for the word that
has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit
enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which your
Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to,
but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity
of the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
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