Gospel of 28 August 2026
Friday of the Twenty First Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of St Augustine, Bishop and Doctor
Matthew 25:1-13
The wise and foolish virgins
Jesus told this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.” At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out.” But they replied, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves.” They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed. The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us.” But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.” So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.’
Reflexion
Today, we celebrate the memorial feast of one the greatest theologians of the Church, St Augustine. The fact that his feast should follow after that of his mother, St Monica, whom we commemorated yesterday, tells us something about motherhood. Monica never gave up on her son despite his wayward ways. Her patience, fidelity and perseverance won the day. Who could have guessed that her sinner of a son would one day become bishop, and a saint for that matter. Today’s parable is a perfect illustration of the life of St Monica and provides us an important lesson - life is a marathon, not a sprint to the finishing line; we are in it for the long haul, not just a short excursion in the park. If we can understand this truth, then the secret of finishing the race is to ensure that we should have sufficient stock of “oil” that will last until the bridegroom’s arrival.
Our Lord’s parable of the five sensible and five foolish bridesmaids has a touch of reality-based pragmatism to it. The common theme of preparedness, found in these sets of eschatological parables, is being expanded in each of them and our Lord is not being annoyingly repetitive, but introduces a new nuanced message in each of these parables. If yesterday’s parable about the wise and good servant and the wicked one, is a reminder that our waiting should not be idle but preparedness, means applying ourselves to the work of the Kingdom entrusted to us, today’s parable gives us another facet of being ready.
Once again, our Lord clarifies that vigilance on the part of a disciple does not mean that we should be on 24-hours guard duty. He recognises the fatigue that can set in even for the best and strongest among us. And so the parable notes that all twenty bridesmaids “all grew drowsy and fell asleep” because the bridegroom was late. This point doesn't only take into consideration our human frailty but also God’s sovereignty. We don’t get to set the dateline and schedule for God’s action and intervention; He does.
If both the sensible and the foolish bridesmaids fell asleep, what distinguishes the first group from the second. In the parable, the foolish ones only brought their lamps but no extra oil, whereas the sensible ones kept an extra supply of oil in flasks. In our modern context, we could say that they brought their charger banks along with their devices!
To the consternation of the foolish, they find their lamps are flickering, guttering, about to go out. The long delay has used up the oil and they have no more. They make their appeal to the wise: "Give us some of your oil.
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