HOMILY FROM CANON STEPHEN BAILLIE
32nd Sunday of A20
Saints in the Making
Are you a procrastinator? If a task is awkward or unpleasant, are we likely to put it off until another day? In any given week, do you have a ‘to-do’ list that you need to get through? The most important items always get done – things that can’t be avoided, like work deadlines or paying bills. But bigger projects often get put on the long finger and you can find yourself transferring items to the following week’s list. It is part of life to learn to prioritise, and to be prepared to tackle the important things. Even when we are not ready to face a certain situation, sometimes we need to push ourselves to just dive in.
Among the wedding customs in Jesus’ time was a night-time procession from the bride’s home to the grooms. The bridesmaids would go out with torches lit to welcome the groom and his entourage. The parable in today’s Gospel sets two groups in contrast – the ‘foolish’ bridesmaids who run out of oil because they have failed to prepare, and the ‘sensible’ ones who are ready with their lamps and oil, who recognise the importance of the task. Only one group was ready when the groom approached.
This parable encourages us to focus on the here and now, to nurture our relationship with God in the present and to live well. There is no point in procrastinating, or waiting until the bridegroom is at the door. As well as having the light of faith, we need the fuel – the action – to keep it lit so we are ready when the Lord comes.
Dom Gregory Dix was an Anglican Monk who had written about the worship of the early Church. He invites us to imagine what it would be like to attend the Lord’s Supper in the 2nd century Rome by recreating the experience in the context of where we live today.
In a time of Covid-19, news bulletins carried daily the number of infections and the number of deaths as a stark reminder of our sheer vulnerability and frailty, despite the technological advances of medical research.
What Covid-19 has taught us is that like the early Christians and indeed our own Scottish faith ancestors and today’s persecuted Christians, we need the concrete reality of Christ’s Body, to nourish and sustain us in the communion of his abiding and living presence.
So I will bless you all my life, my soul shall be filled as with a banquet (Psalm)
