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Browsing Father Michael Deering's Sunday Homilies

Stay ready ... for the Final Test is unannounced!

Homily originally presented November 8, 2020

by Monsignor Deering

 

Stay ready ... for the Final Test is unannounced!

 

I heard of a Priest, who’d been pastor of his Parish and Catholic Grade School for some 20 years. And each year when school resumed in August, he made a point to visit the children in Kindergarten on their first day of school, and he’d always ask some little boy or girl to stand up and he’d ask them four questions.

And the four questions were always the same. They were:

  1. What’s your name?
  2. How old are you?
  3. Do you say your prayers every night?
  4. What can happen if you don’t say your prayers every night?

 

Always the same 4 questions.   Now one mother knew of this and was so conscientious that she had her 5 yr.-old son practice the answers to those questions all summer long so that he’d be prepared if asked them on the first day of school.

  1. What’s your name?
  2. How old are you?
  3. Do you say your prayers every night?
  4. What can happen if you don’t say your prayers every night?

 

Well as luck would have it, on the first day of Kindergarten, the Priest walked into the classroom and he pointed to this little boy and asked him to stand up.

But before Father could ask him a single question the little boy blurted out:

  1. Patrick O’Malley.
  2. 6 years old.
  3. Yes.
  4. And you can go to hell!

 

How about that?    How’d he do?       Did he give the right answers?

Isn’t that what can happen if you don’t say your prayers every night?

You can go to hell!

 

So he gave the right answers.

But more than that ... he was ready ... he was prepared for Father’s test!

 

Which is what we want to talk about todaybeing prepared for The Father’s test.

The Gospel message today is:      Be prepared for the day ... the Lord calls on you!

 

Let me ask you ... “Do you like to be prepared for a test?”     I certainly do!

 

And let me share with you something that helped me grow in this area.

In my Freshman year at DePaul University in Chicago, I took General, then Qualitative, and then Quantitative Chemistry under Professor Porkorny. She was

a very competent, no-nonsense Teacher who used a very unique form of testing.

 

Her Quizzes were announced … but her Tests were not announced!  

Yes, the Quizzes were announced, but the Tests, which counted far more, were not!

 

That’s not normally the way it’s done; is it?     Normally the Tests are announced and the Quizzes can come at any time. We sometimes call thempop quizzes”!

 

If you don’t do good on a quiz, it’s only 10 points,

but it’s really important to do good on a Test because they’re worth 100 points!

 

And in Professor Porkorny’s Chemistry class ... the Tests were unannounced!

 

What did that mean to me?

It meant that I studied Chemistry every night ... as if the next day was a test!

And in the process, I learned a lot of Chemistry ... and I aced all three Classes! 

 

What did that mean to a lot of other kids? It meant that they were frequently caught off guard by not keeping up with their studies and they got surprised when the day of the Test came, and being unprepared,  many of them flunked out of the course.

We started out with 600 students in the Fall Quarter, went down to 400 students the Winter Quarter, and down to 200 students the Spring Quarter!

 

The goal of Mrs. Pokorny’s Grading System was to keep Students studying! And if they did that, then they’d have no problem passing the test whenever it came.

 

In today’s Gospel, we hear that Jesus encourages a similar method of preparation.

He says, Stay awake for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

 

Like Professor Porkorny, Jesustest is unannounced!

 

If we pass His test, we will pass into Eternal Life with Him.

Jesus wants this very much, which is why He tells us the parable of the 10 Virgins,

where 5 of them were prepared … and 5 of them were not!

 

Why do you think the 5 wise virgins didn’t share their oil with the 5 foolish ones?

Wouldn’t that be the Christ-like thing to do … to give to those who are without?

 

Yes ... but in this case, the oil in the parable is personal virtue.

 

Personal virtue is not something you can give to another.

I can give you $5 to feed you ... but I can’t give you my Virtue to save you.

 

No ... you have to obtain virtue for yourself.

 

Virtue isn’t something you can buy ... it’s something you acquire.

 

The wise Virgins were those who acquired and possessed the array of virtues which characterize a complete Christian life. The extra oil they had with themrepresents Christian wisdom … which empowers someone to live a holy life.

 

Wisdom is a very special and pre-eminent gift from God.

 

This was revealed in our First Reading from the Book of Wisdom where we heard:

Resplendent and unfading is wisdom,

and she is readily perceived by those who love her, and found by those who seek her.”

 

Recall how pleased God was when King Solomon asked for wisdom as his gift!

And God happily bestowed on him ... wisdom beyond compare.

 

Wisdom is the first of the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit!

Wisdom of God moves us to seek Him and to even long and yearn for Him.

 

We just expressed this yearning for God in our Psalm Response saying 5 times:

My Soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.”

 

We said this in response to the beautiful words of Psalm 63:

O God, you are my God, for you I long. For you my soul is thirsting.

My body pines for you … like a dry weary land without water.

So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory

 

For your love is better than life, my lips will speak your praise.

So I will bless you all my life

In your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul shall be filled as with a banquet

My mouth shall praise you with joy.

 

On my bed I remember you, on you I muse through the night.

For you have been my help, in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.

My soul clings to you; your right hand holds me fast.

 

Beautiful words  ... of a beautiful love affair that we can have with God!

 

Attaining this beautiful Love Affair comes from following the wisdom of God.

 

The oil that the Wise Virgins had in abundance was the wisdom to seek and serve the Lord above all else. It motivated them to be ready and prepared for their eventual meeting with the Bridegroom.

 

It’s the wisdom of God that enabled them to see that love of God was far better than life itself ... because it’s the love of God that got them into the Eternal Banquet.

 

Now we know that Jesus, the Bridegroom, will be coming to meet , His Bride, the Church at the end of the age. This is a truth that we profess in our Creed, saying,

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”

 

We believe this will happen … we just don’t know when!

St. Paul and all the Apostles actually expected Jesus to return very soon after He ascended into Heaven and most of them thought it would be within their lifetime. But that was not to be the case.

 

But if we listen to His parable today, Jesus actually foretells that it will be a while!

He says, “Since the Bridegroom was long delayed …”   It’s now been 2000 years.

 

And what did Jesus say would happen because of the delay?       He says,

“Since the Bridegroom was long delayed … they all became drowsy and fell asleep.”

 

We can easily relate to this, can’t we?

 

As the Corona Virus Pandemic has gone on longer than we ever thought ...

10 mos. now ...

many people have grown weary of wearing a mask and keeping their distance

 ... thereby letting down their guard so to speak ...

and contributing to a new wave of sickness.

 

Well, if the 10 months of a Pandemic is considered a long time ...

then the 2000 years since the Ascension is an extremely long time.

 

And sadly, many people have become drowsy and have fallen asleep from the standpoint of being ready for the second coming of the Bridegroom, Jesus.

 

That’s not very wise.       In fact it’s very foolish.

 

For Jesus tells us what happened to the foolish virgins who were unprepared.

They were locked outside the Wedding Banquet ...

and nothing they could say or do ... would enable them to enter.

 

Jesus wants us to enter the Wedding Banquet in Heaven!

Which is why he calls us to stay prepared … in spite of His delay.

 

If we remain ready at all times … then we’re sure to be ready at the time.

 

Those caught unprepared when Jesus comes, will be treated just like the Chemistry students, who weren’t prepared; they failed and were removed from the class.

 

Jesus tells us there will be a Final Test … He just doesn’t say when it will come.

 

We simply can’t afford to be unprepared … with our soul stained with grave sin.

 

Let’s let the unannounced aspect of God’s coming motivate us to live each day as if it was the day of the testturning away from sin and staying in the state of grace!

 

Let’s not become drowsy in maintaining our relationship with Jesus.

 

We need to keep our souls in the state of Grace every day by praying a daily Act of Contrition, and faithfully attending Sunday Mass and regular Confession.

 

Wisdom instructs us to yearn and long for ... the living God!

So let’s pray for Lady Wisdom to blossom ... our Love Affair with God.

 

And for motivation, remember the wisdom of little Patrick O’Malley,

in our opening story,

who spent time every day preparing himself for the start of Kindergarten.

 

We need to spend time every day preparing ourselves for the start of Eternal Life.

 

And remember too Patrick O’Malley’s correct answer to Father’s 4th question:

 

“What can happen if you don’t say your prayers ... every night?” 

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