Sufficient Oil

Homily for the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Deacon Thomas Stephenson

November 12, 2017

Here we are, quickly approaching the end of the liturgical year; in only three weeks it will be the First Sunday of Advent. We began this month with observances of All Saints and All Souls, and as Father Robert has reminded us, November is the month that we are especially encouraged to remember, and pray for, those of our relatives and friends who have died. And on this Remembrance Day weekend, we also must recognize those who gave their lives defending our country in war, sacrificing so that we may live in relative freedom. We also should be taking the opportunity to reflect on the fact that one day we, too, will pass away. As Catholics, as Christians, we know that death is not an end, but a passing to eternal life. In the second reading, St. Paul tells us, “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have died”. Through our faith, we have the hope and confidence that after we depart this life we will be with Christ.

In the last line of today’s Gospel, Jesus says “Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour”. The Bridegroom in the parable may appear to be quite harsh in his refusal to let into the banquet the foolish bridesmaids who needed to go find more oil for their lamps. However, the arrival of the bridegroom was a one time opportunity, there were no second chances; in the same way, our passing away is only going to happen once, so we have to be ready at that moment. We must make sure that we gather sufficient oil, sufficient faith and a strong enough relationship with the Lord, for us to be ready if He comes quickly, or to endure even an extended delay in His coming, to keep our trust in Him strong until our death.

Death is the first of what are commonly called “The Four Last Things” – Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell. Actually, we will only experience three of them – hopefully the first three. Death is something we all will eventually face. For each of us, “a day will come when we will not see the night; or a night...which will have no morning”. (The Sinner’s Guide, p. 54) At that time, the soul will leave the body, and return to the body only at the resurrection. We are not pure spirits, like the angels; we are created body and soul together; our bodies are not just shells to hold our souls. After our death, if we go to heaven, we become not angels, but saints, awaiting that time when our souls are reunited with our glorified bodies. We confirm our belief in this when we profess both the Nicene and the Apostles’ creeds.

The second of the last four things is Judgement. At the instant we die, we will appear before God, face to face with our Creator. When we do, we will probably be very happy for the time we have spent growing in our faith and developing our relationship with the Lord. After our death, we will no longer have the ability to make any effort for conversion and repentance. We will be judged according to the testimony that the record of our life provides. The Catechism states “Death puts an end to human life as a time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.” (CCC 1021) It has been said that, if anyone rejects Christ, His Church, or His teachings, they better have a reason for that rejection that will hold up before God, which is unlikely if not impossible. If we have heard the Gospel, if we know the teachings of our faith, and then reject the parts that don’t suit us, we can count on being judged accordingly. However, even if we don’t reject His teachings, we are all sinners, we all fall short. God is both just and merciful; we trust that His mercy will temper His judgement. Everyone receives eternal recompense in their immortal soul at the very moment of death...either entrance to the blessedness of heaven – (whether) through a purification or immediately – or immediate and everlasting damnation.( see CCC1022) We may not like to consider the possibilities, but Jesus told us many times that we will face judgement, and it’s not so much about what He decides; it’s about what we decided through our actions on earth.

Our firm hope is that our decisions, our lives, will have led us to heaven. It is impossible for us to understand exactly what heaven will be like, but we do have some general idea. In heaven, we will be perfectly happy, living in the presence of God, eternally. It will be our home, the place Jesus said He would prepare for us. We will be in communion with God and all who are in Christ, but we will still be distinct, with our own identity. Although we can be pretty sure that it will be much more than just a better version of our life on earth, we will only discover the true splendour and grandeur of heaven once we get there.

It is important to say a word here about Purgatory. Would any of us, even if we were in a state of Grace, be perfect enough to go straight to heaven when we die? If our ultimate destination is heaven, we will probably need some purification in order to be holy enough to enter into God’s presence. We will need to be completely purified, purged of all our attachment to sin, and of the lingering effects of sin on our soul. Purgatory is not so much a punishment that we must endure as it is a cleansing that we must undergo. That is why we pray for our deceased friends and loved ones, as we have been doing especially this month, because our prayers benefit the souls in Purgatory. If they were in heaven already, they would have no need of our prayers; if they were in hell, our prayers would be of no assistance. So, we do pray for them, presuming that they are not in hell, but understanding that they may not yet be in heaven. This is where our prayers for the dead make a difference, because the time in which our loved ones are able to do anything to affect their salvation has passed. And when we pray for the dead, we engage in a spiritual work of mercy, as Father Robert mentioned last week.

Of the Four Last Things, the final one, and the one we least like to discuss, is hell. We prefer to think that a merciful God would not condemn anyone to eternal suffering, and that is correct – God does not condemn the person, He simply confirms the choices that person made during their life. We need not fear hell if we choose to follow the Lord, and if we repent when we sin against Him and our neighbour. God is patient – He has given us the faith and the Church; He has given us the sacraments, especially the sacrament of reconciliation (so please, go to confession); He has given us His Son so that we may be saved. He has also given us free will, to accept Him or reject Him, and He will not subvert our will if we have chosen not to follow Him. Please, do not have any false notion that there is no hell. The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity, and Jesus Himself speaks about hell in the Gospels. And, while we are told of physical torments in hell, the most excruciating punishment would be eternal separation from God, and the anguish of knowing we could have lived forever in His presence.

Our salvation is absolutely critical. We should contemplate the Four Last Things with joy, not sorrow, because doing so can help us to prepare well for our passing into eternal life. I’ll close with words from St. Augustine: “Watch with the heart, watch with faith, watch with love, watch with charity, watch with good works … make ready the lamps, make sure they do not go out … renew them with the inner oil of an upright conscience; then shall the Bridegroom enfold you in the embrace of His love, and bring you into the banquet room, where your lamp can never be extinguished.”