2645AFC110626 – Being Bright & Waiting Wisely

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     Matthew 25:3-4 – ³ When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

     Psalm 63:2-4 –
² Let me see you in the sanctuary;
    let me see how mighty and glorious you are.
³ Your constant love is better than life itself,
    and so I will praise you.
⁴ I will give you thanks as long as I live;
    I will raise my hands to you in prayer.

    Wisdom 6:14-16 –
¹⁴ One who rises early to seek her [Wisdom] will have no difficulty,
for she will be found sitting at the gate.
¹⁵ To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,
and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
¹⁶ because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
and she graciously appears to them in their paths,
and meets them in every thought.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 ^c – 18 – ^{17 c} and so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

    Matthew 6:10 –
¹⁰     Your kingdom come.
    Your will be done,
        on earth as it is in heaven.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We’ve come to the 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time in Cycle A. Our readings are preparing us for the Advent season by reminding us about the wonders of God's Gifts in creation. This Sunday we are also reminded of the Wisdom and marvelousness of all of God's Works. We might recall the opening lines of Psalm 8 –
¹ O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
²     Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
    to silence the enemy and the avenger. ü

üנָקַם  naw-kam') the avenger – the revengeful who seek personal vengeance rather than allowing for God's absolute authority to exact vengeance and settle justice through his direction of retribution’s means and ends. From the Patriarchs to the Prophets, scripture shows a singular principle – the absolute authority for vengeance belongs to God alone. Only God has the capacity to administer it in perfect goodness. Whenever earthlings attempt this act of נָקַם, Scripture clearly points to God's origination and consent; personal vendetta is excluded and thus prohibited because it is completely unwise.

In the Bible Book of Proverbs in the section of Proverbs 8:20–31, we read about how Wisdom accompanied God's Divine Actions during Creation in this long quote ~~
²⁰ I walk in the way of righteousness,
    along the paths of justice,
²¹ endowing with wealth those who love me,
    and filling their treasuries.

Wisdom’s Part in Creation

²² The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
    the first of his acts of long ago.
²³ Ages ago I was set up,
    at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth,
    when there were no springs abounding with water.
²⁵ Before the mountains had been shaped,
    before the hills, I was brought forth—
²⁶ when he had not yet made earth and fields,
    or the world’s first bits of soil.
²⁷ When he established the heavens, I was there,
    when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸ when he made firm the skies above,
    when he established the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ when he assigned to the sea its limit,
    so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
³⁰     then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
    rejoicing before him always,
³¹ rejoicing in his inhabited world
    and delighting in the human race.

God is ONE

Now, since we know that God is One because of his Perfect integrity, it would be foolish to think that Wisdom is being described here as another of “the gods,” some sort of mythicaldemigoddess, but is in actuality a personification of the joyful endeavors of Divine Actions which brought Joy to the Creator. To believe otherwise, one might expect to hear a common phrase from our school days (daze?) – “That wasn’t too bright, was it?” Here we recall The Apostle Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 5:15–17 – ¹⁵ Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Let us also remember several of the manifold ways Christ has revealed himself to us in his Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, Eternal Salvation, Immutable Justice, Irreproachable Wisdom, and Incomparable Grace.

Everyone who Loves God serves God, and all who serve God Live in the Hope that we will one day Get to Heaven (← Music Link). Indeed, what a Day of Rejoicing that will be – The Day of Reward and Resurrection In the Day of the Lord (← Music Link)! But for some – perhaps many – there will be a crushing hunger for God because they will be forced to live in his absence. Those who are rewarded in Heaven will know Eternal Joy, Freedom, and Life in the Presence of our Creator. As The Apostle Paul so brightly and wisely tells us, we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. It depends on whose hand we are holding as we live our lives.

Whose hands anyway?

Until That Day comes, we are instructed to wait and watch. That is what was expected of “The 10 Virgins” in Sunday’s Gospel. A Jewish wedding was A BIG DEAL! Lasting days – five days, seven days, even longer depending on the family’s wealth and status. That’s a l-o-n-g time to wait what we party-party-hardy. AND THAT’S EXACTLY THE POINT! It seems to be taking a long time by our standards, but by the Lord’s standards it’s a snap of the fingers. That’s why Jesus is constantly telling us to be prepared, because it’s going to sneak up on us like a thief in the night. Half of the ladies in Jesus' Parable were like Good Girl Scouts and were prepared for a long wait. Good thing, too, because the Groom showed up in the wee hours of the morning, and only those who were ready got into the Wedding Banquet. So, “have yah checked yer awl lately, podnah?” And while we’re at it, we should check to trim the wick, too. There’s an APP for that – the Absolutely Perfect Plan – and in the APP, there’s a M.A.P. that we can use to guide the trimming of that wick. (¬ One of Chick Todd’s Terrific Tuesday Parables) If we want to be ready, we need to carry plenty of the Oil of Gladness that sustains the Light of Hope. Isn’t that what the Lord wants us to be, a Light for the Nations in the Darkness of Sin? God is All-Together Lovely in is Light because he is

GOD ≡ LIGHT ≡ LOVE ≡ TRUTH ≡ WAY ≡ LIFE ≡ ETERNAL ≡ MERCY ≡ GOD (← Music Link) and he is mine, he is yours, he is ours, but – best of all – we are HIS! How do I know? Well, of course we would probably say, “The Bible Tells Me So,” but today I'll just say Wisdom taught us the answer, and we’d be wise not to wait to be bright about that lesson! You have to get up pretty early in the morning to catch that little gem from Wisdom (and that’s why it’s in our Key Verse for today because “One who rises early to seek her [Wisdom] will have no difficulty.”

Put out a BOLO for Wisdom

… because To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,
and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care, and Wisdom can be found anywhere fools do not go or gather together. Be On The Look Out for her everywhere else,because that is where’s she’ll be – “at the gate” – i.e., right in front of us. And even if we are given over for correction – as a parent disciplines their child – we still live in faith for our hope, hope for our joy, and joy for our Salvation. That is why we say, “I will give you thanks as long as I live; I will raise my hands to you in prayer. There’s a lame joke I sometimes tell: “If you’re Catholic and you know it CLAP YOUR HANDS! If you’re Catholic and you know it CLAP YOUR HANDS! If you're Cath …. Oh. Wait. We’re Catholics. We don’t clap our hands.” We don’t often raise our hands in prayer, either. Well, … except for some of us when praying the Lord’s Prayer during Mass. That’s called the “Orans Posture” – Prayer Posture – and it is reserved for the Priest only (according to some writers with pretty good credentials and great sources, so check with your Pastor).

Considering The Lord’s Prayer, we should all carefully consider what each of us means when we pray
Your kingdom come.
 Your will be done,
 on earth as it is in Heaven. All of God's children who are baptized and in a state of Grace and have lived out Jesus' commands have good hope to receive the reward of Heaven. That’s why we hope “his kingdom comes.” But, it comes to us if we make sure God's “will be done- on Earth AS IT (is done) IN Heaven.” Are we doing God's will in our lives as earthlings on Earth? Tough question, Camper! God certainly hopes so, and so do we. IF that seems backwards, we must remember that if we want to give God preeminence in our lives he has to what? RIGHT! COME FIRST! IN EVERYTHING!! If we can’t Be Bright about that, then we won’t be Wise enough to be able to live up to things like Leviticus 19:18 – ¹⁸ You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Difficult to do in an election year, or when your neighbor’s throwing yet another noisy party, or that kid who just started learning violin would puh-LEEZ learn how to handle a bow! Those who are at the Gate seeking Wisdom will know what to do. Some of us will just have to go on and get used to suffering. I see no way that could be understood as “waiting wisely.”  Belovéd, in these difficult and dark days, let is reaffirm and deepen our trust in the Brightness of God, who lives in Unapproachable Light, which signals to us the Joy of knowing Wisdom because the Wisdom of God is Love. Those of us who wait in Faith, Hope, and Love are a little brighter about these scenarios, and that’s how we handle Being Bright & Waiting Wisely. We are living in and sharing in the Light of The World. (← Music Link)

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!
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 nless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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