Are we ready?

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the parable of the ten maidens, Jesus emphasizes our need to be prepared for the day when we will meet him face to face. None of us knows the day when the Lord will call us to leave this world. We can only prepare for this day. When we hear about someone’s death, we realise that death is merciless. No one is exempt, whatever the age.

With which group of virgins can we identify ourselves? With the five wise ones or with the foolish ones? Considering that we are often told to share what we have, we might ask why the five wise virgins did not share their oil. There is a particular reason for the wise virgins’ behaviour.

Whenever we go outside, we meet people who are walking to keep fit. Others are running. It could be that another reason for their walking and running, is in preparation for some marathon. Maybe even members of our own family do this kind of training. When the day of the marathon arrives, we cannot go instead of these people, no matter how close they are to us. Even if we have driven their same route every day. We cannot go to the marathon because we are not prepared. Neither can those who trained, give us help. They cannot share their training. The same thing happens with our faith. No one can give us his faith. What can happen, is that through that person’s example we are changed, and we start taking our Christian life seriously.

We are all called to grow in our relationship with God. We are called to live a true Christian life. Some take this seriously and commit themselves to it. Living daily as a Christian, is a priority in their lives. Others think differently. They may wrongly assume that they are still too young to die. In the future, there will still time be time to lead a Christian life. They live as they please, thinking that later, they can change. The true Christian life is a way of life, they can choose to live, in the years to come. In truth, we know that no one knows when their last day is going to be. If we are sincere with ourselves, we know that old habits die hard. Let us take diets, for example. How many of us have tried one diet or another and given up after a few days? We have got used to eating whatever and whenever we feel like. The same goes for smoking. It is not the first time that you hear someone saying that he can quit smoking whenever he pleases. We all know that such a thing is far from the truth! The same thing happens with our spiritual life. If today this is not a priority, tomorrow it will be even more difficult to change.

Jesus is inviting us to accept him in our lives today. The busy lives we lead may distract us from what is important. In this way we will not notice the different opportunities Jesus is offering us, in seeing him in those around us and in their call for help. We do not realise that Jesus is accompanying us in our difficulties and life problems. We do not make time, to meet him daily, in prayer.

Jesus gives us the freedom to choose. We are the ones who must notice the invitations he gives us. We need to be like the five wise virgins, we choose to love and serve others. As parents, we should start from our own families. We make time for prayer, both personal and together as a family. Let us remember too, that the family that prays together, stays together.

A reading from the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 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 Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

  1. Read the Gospel story so that you are familiar with it.
  2. Reflect on what the Gospel story is saying to you. Which points would you highlight and why?
  3. Think about how you spend your day. Do you make time for prayer?
  4. Can you describe your family as a Christian family? If not, try to include these in your family life: praying together, going to mass together, reading from the Bible, helping others, use loving words, forgive each other. You may also join a Christian group within the Church, which may help you both as a family and personally.
  5. Together with your family find the right time to read this gospel. The environment helps, so before you start, prepare:
    i. The Bible reading from St Matthew  (25, 1-13)
    ii. A lit candle;
    iii. Cover the table with green cloth;
    iv. A computer/laptop with the reading and clips.
  6. Go through the steps with your children (2 age groups are being suggested).
  7. Feel free to adapt to your situation.
  8. Be creative 😊
  9. Go to the Prayer Corner section to continue praying as a family.

When you are going to organise a party or when you going out for a picnic, or going abroad, what do you do? You prepare the necessary things, don’t you? Today, Jesus tells us that one day we will go to heaven to be with Him, and we have to start preparing for that day from now!

We will learn that:

  • Jesus wants us to be good children, every day

We need:

  • A children’s Bible. As an alternative, we can search on the internet for the biblical stories listed below

In Jesus’ time, weddings were celebrated differently to how we celebrate them today. The bridesmaids used to wait for the groom, outside the bride’s house. When the groom arrived, it was generally already dark. In those days, they did not have mobiles, so that the groom could not tell them the time during which he would arrive. All had to wait for the groom, sometimes for a very long time. There was no electricity, they only had a lantern or candles or oil lamps, like these bridesmaids had. They needed oil to light the lamp, and when the oil finished they had to have more oil. The groom of this parable kept the bridesmaids waiting for a long time. Not all of them had brought extra oil. Those who did not have extra oil, went shopping for more. But the groom arrived, and the party began without them! They were not allowed to go inside.

You know that Jesus always tells us to be good. We cannot say, that since we are still young, we can do whatever we want, and then when we are older we will start obeying. It would be difficult for us to change our ways. If we have got used to lying, it would be difficult for us to stop lying. If we do not share our sweets now, it will be difficult to share them later on.

If we are not behaving well in church as from now, it will be difficult for us to start behaving as we should when we are older. If we do not pay attention during catechism class, it will not be easy to start paying attention later on. If we are used to doing something, we will continue doing it. So, it is much better to start doing good things from now and continue doing them even when we grow up.

When we are going for a picnic, we plan ahead.
What do you prepare?
What do you parents prepare?

Imagine that you go for the picnic and you do not take the ball or games with you. What will you stay doing? Or imagine that your parents forget to bring the food! What will you do? Someone must go back for the food or go to a shop to buy some. He has to leave the picnic; he cannot continue enjoying himself with the others. So, it is important to prepare ourselves before we do something.

Jesus tells us that some day we will go near him in heaven. To live forever with Jesus in heaven, we have to be good children. Jesus tells us how to be good. In the Bible we find many stories about how to be good persons. In the Bible, there are also stories which happened before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. During this coming week, your parents will read or show you some of these stories. After each story, try to think what Jesus is telling you.

Note to parents:

These are a few of the stories that you may read during the coming week. Use a children’s bible so that the children may follow the pictures. You may also find these stories as clips on the internet. In the brackets you will find the bible reference for each, as a reference for you.

  • David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18-20) – theme: true friendship
  • Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 1-4) – theme: friendship
  • Psalm 23 – theme: we trust in God
  • Our Father (Matthew 6, 9-13; Luke 11, 1-4) – theme: prayer in our lives
  • Jesus heals the paralysed man (Luke 5, 17-26) – theme: friendship, the sacrament of reconciliation, saying sorry for our wrong choices
  • The Good Samaritan (Luke 10, 25-37) – theme: helping others
  • The lost sheep (Luke 15, 3-7) – theme: Jesus is unhappy when we are naughty; he is very happy when we say that we are sorry
  • Jesus heals the ten lepers (Luke 17, 11-19) – theme: Jesus wants us to pray, he also wants us to say thank you for what we receive.

Sign of the cross.

Jesus, we want to be good children. We want to love you and we want to obey you. We are sorry when we make wrong choices. We want to be like those bridesmaids who took the extra oil with them.

Together we will sing and dance to: This little light of mine (click here for the lyrics)

If you are a scout you surely know the motto: “Be prepared.” It seems that it is not only used by the Scouts, it is also used by Jesus! Let us listen to today’s Gospel and see how Jesus wishes us to be prepared.

We will learn that:

  • The Holy Spirit gives us the help we need to live the way Jesus wishes us to live

We need:

  • Printout of the oil lamp
  • Pencils
  • Colours
  • Scissors
  • Construction paper, unless the printout is already on a thickish paper
  • Glue 
Printout of the oil lampDownload

Activity

Today’s parable is about a wedding. In Jesus’ time, wedding celebrations were different from the marriage celebrations which we experience today. It was customary for bridesmaids to go outside the bride’s house and wait for the groom. Together they then went to where the wedding feast was going to be held. The bridesmaids had no idea as to when the groom would come. Usually they had to wait for a long time, and it could be night time when the groom arrived. They had no torches with batteries, no mobiles, no electricity! When it was dark, the bridesmaids used to light their oil lamps. The oil lamp was small, made of clay and the wick was lit because the lamp was filled with oil. In this parable, there were ten maidens. They all knew that they would have to wait for a long time. Five of them, thought ahead, and brought extra oil to refill their lamps. They were true scouts! The other five, were thoughtless and they did not take any extra oil. When their oil finished, they had to go and look for a shop from where to buy some more. While they were shopping, the groom arrived, and he left for the feast without them.

We all know that someday we will go to heaven near Jesus. No one knows when the day will come. Jesus tells us that not everyone will go to heaven. Only those who love him and obey him, will go. Jesus would like everyone to go to heaven, but he knows, that there will be those who similarly to the foolish bridesmaids , will not prepare themselves.

How can we prepare ourselves to go to heaven?
How can we love Jesus? How can we obey him? (praying, going to mass, receiving the Eucharist, going to confession, helping, and loving others, sharing what we have, forgiving others)

It is important that we do these good things every day and not just occasionally. It is not easy to find time to pray every day, we do not always feel like helping others. Jesus knows this. For this reason, he gave us another gift to help us. Apart from giving us parents, priests, catechists and friends to help us live a good life, and to help us make good choices, Jesus also gave us the Holy Spirit. When you will be in Year 7 or 8, you will celebrate another sacrament – the sacrament of Confirmation. During the coming years, and for the rest of your life, you will learn how the Holy Spirit can help you. The Holy Spirit gives you courage and strength needed to do what Jesus wants. The Holy Spirit helps us to be like the wise virgins and not like the foolish ones. 

On the oil lamp printouts write down what you can do to be like the wise maidens. You may write more than one example on each. You may colour them and glue them to the construction paper, if not already printed on stiff paper. Cut on the outside of the oil lamp. Put these oil lamps around the house: near your bed, on the fridge, near the computer, use as a bookmark with your school books, so that during the day you are reminded of what you have to do.

Sign of the cross.

Jesus, we want to prepare from now, so that one day we will come near you in heaven.  Holy Spirit help us to make good choices, to love everyone and not only those who love us, to help everyone and not only those who help us. Holy Spirit give us the eagerness to want to know Jesus more. Amen.

Together listen and sing: This little light of mine.

Gospel in SymbolsDownload

How to use this space

God speaks to us in many ways, including through the Sunday Scripture readings. Here you will find useful background and activities to better understand the upcoming Sunday's Scripture readings, helping you to connect the Scripture to daily life in a meaningful way.