Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 26, 2022
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry,
‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise,
‘Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.’
But the wise ones replied,
‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you.
Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’
While they went off to buy it,
the bridegroom came
and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.
Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said,
‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’
But he said in reply,
‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
It is a common stereotype that older people are the most pious believers. Anyone who attends daily Mass can likely attest that the pews at their local parish on any given Tuesday are mostly filled with the white and gray-haired faithful. But why is this so?
Do people simply have more time for religious activities once they retire and their kids leave the house? Is it a product of accumulated wisdom? Or is it because the elderly understand that “the day [and] the hour,” at least for them, is not far off?
While each of these explanations is plausible, they all point to the same central truth: There is so much in daily life that can distract us from our relationship with God. Most of these distractions, such as family, work, friendships, and hobbies, are objectively good. However, because these temporal goods seem—especially for the young—more tangible and pressing, we fill our lives with them and relegate our faith to the backburner.
Today’s gospel reminds us that to live in this way is to act like the foolish virgins. If we put off and deprioritize our relationship with God, we will be unprepared when the day of judgment comes. Ironically, we will also be worse family members, workers, and friends along the way. As Christ tells us in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, we must not become consumed with anxiety about our practical needs, but rather “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given [us] besides.”
So, amid the many priorities of our lives, let us not lose sight of what is most important. In the words of the Hillbilly Thomists, my favorite bluegrass band, “Keep those lamps trimmed.”
Prayer
No one can know the day or time of the Lord’s coming for us. Therefore, Jesus says, be ready at all times, be true and faithful in our service to him, be honest and courageous in turning to him for forgiveness and mercy. Jesus called blessed the servant whom his master finds doing so. Lord, grant us perseverance and fidelity in our prayer. Give us confidence in your mercy for us. Let us be ready for your coming as we wait with the knowledge of your love for us.
Saint of the Day
Our Lady of Czestochowa is an image of Mary located in Poland. The icon is also known as the Black Madonna because the image has darkened from the soot of so many votive candles burning near it. Czestochowa is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in Poland—many people visit the shrine to venerate Mary in this icon.
Tradition holds that the icon was painted by St. Luke upon wood that had been part of the table in the home of the Holy Family. It is said that the image was kept in royal palaces in Constantinople and Ukraine after St. Helen found it in Jerusalem. It came to Czestochowa in 1382 by way of a nobleman who was escaping an attack in Ukraine—he stopped to rest in the town and entrusted it to a monastery there.
In 1430, robbers looted the monastery and stole the image. In trying to remove precious stones from the icon, they smashed the wood and made slashes in the paint. When the icon was restored, the artists retained the slashes that were made on Mary’s face.
In the image, Mary’s hand points to Jesus, as she did with her whole life. Jesus holds a book of the Gospels in one hand and extends the other to the viewer in a blessing.
The image is associated with a miracle that marked a turning point in a war between Poland and Sweden in 1655. Monks and other people in the monastery were severely outnumbered by the invading Swedish forces but managed to repel the attackers with the miraculous intervention of Mary.
The image also played a large role in the devotional life of the young St. Maximilian Kolbe; he experienced a moment of conversion as a boy when he was praying in front of this image, and the experience shaped the rest of his life.
A replica of the Our Lady of Czestochowa image stands in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and it faithfully reproduces even the slash marks on Mary’s face. The image was a gift to Father Edward Sorin, C.S.C., founder of Notre Dame, from the Polish Carmelite Sisters in the Shrine of St. Bridget in Rome. The sisters gave it to Father Sorin, who was superior general of the Congregation of Holy Cross at the time, “as a sign of perpetual friendship.”
Personalize and share a prayer card with this image of Our Lady of Czestochowa at our prayer card page.
Our Lady of Czestochowa, you are captured in the miraculous image of Mary venerated by Polish people--pray for us!