32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A.
November 6, 2011. Our Lady of Grace 5:15, 9:30.
Wisdom 6:12-16. Thessalonians 4:13-18. Matthew 25: 1-13.
Steve Jobs was one of the founders and much of the brain power
behind Apple electronics. Under his leadership the iPhone,
the iPod, the iPad and
countless other inventions changed the way that human beings are able to
communicate around the world. Steve Jobs was not only a great inventor, a sharp
business man and very wealthy, he was also wise. He was concerned about
much more than technology. He was concerned about the meaning of life.
Knowledge without wisdom can do more harm than good. Knowledge is
something we can get from school or from books. Knowledge is about the
facts. Wisdom is about using knowledge to live a good life and a
life that cares for others. Knowledge
can be used to destroy the world. The facts about atomic energy can
create bombs or create electrical power plants. Wise people know much more than the
facts. Wise people know how to use the facts to serve people and to build
up our human family.
When Steve Jobs spoke at a college graduation he said, “No
one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get
there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped
it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best
invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way
for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you
will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but
it is quite true.”
Steven Jobs is saying that death is a good thing and maybe
even the single best invention in life. Death clears out the old so that
the new can happen. But even if I admitted that death is a good thing for the
world around me, how in the world can death be a good thing for me?
Steven Jobs says “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone
else’s life…” We all have only so much time. If we lived
forever we could spend forever wasting our time. Jobs
says, “don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own
inner voice. And most important, have the courage to
follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what
you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Death is a friend that reminds us that every single day that we have is very
important. What we do today really matters because we will not have
endless days and we will not live forever.
Jesus tells us a very strange parable about ten young women
invited to a wedding feast. Five of the virgins were foolish and five of
them were wise. All ten knew that the bridegroom was coming and that the
wedding feast was about to begin. The five foolish virgins took their
time and were in no hurry to do what had to be done. The wise virgins
took time seriously. When the bridegroom finally arrived they were
prepared, they had bought oil for their lamps and they were ready to go into
the great wedding feast of heaven. At the last minuet the five foolish
virgins were running around breathlessly and frantically trying to make up for
lost and wasted time. When they finally arrived at the doorway of heaven
very late they knocked on the door loud and hard. They cried, “Lord,
Lord, open the door for us.” But the Lord said in reply, “Amen I
say to you, I do not know who you are.” Jesus added
“Stay awake; for you do not know the day or the hour when the great feast of
heaven begins.”
I have a new iPad. It is a
great blessing. I can do fantastic things with it including talking to my
brother in Austin Texas face to face. Already I have learned something very
important about technology. I can spend endless hours with my nose glued to the
screen – having a great time all by myself, but missing the people around me
and in fact wasting a lot of time. Wise people know that there are many
choices in life that go no where and just consume time. The most precious thing
that we have is time. We can not buy time with money. When our time
is gone, it is gone. Realizing that we are going to die reminds us to treasure
the time that we have. I am not saying that relaxing is a waist of
time. Time is to be enjoyed and savored. Family and friends and
good times are not a waist of time. They are a good use of time and
good times prepare us for heaven. Yet, the world as we know it is passing
away. We are certainly going to die. Even science reminds us that the
history of our planet has had many beginnings and many ends. The world
itself, as we see it around us today, is passing away.
Those who are wise think about the time that God has given
them to use as a precious gift. We are preparing for the fulfillment of our
lives when Jesus the Lord comes again. If we are truly wise everything thing
that we do and every moment of time that we enjoy is aimed at the second coming
of the Lord at the end of our lives and at the end the world.
Heaven is our reason for living. Everything else is
passing away. Because wise people know this they make wise choices now that
will bring them eternal joy when Jesus comes again in glory. The
very wise and holy St. Francis of
All praise be
yours, my Lord, through Sister Death,
From whose embrace no mortal can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those She (Sister Death) finds doing your will!
The second death can do no harm to them.
Yes, for death we give God thanks and praise.