Paul merely assured them that they should not be overly concerned about when Christ would come.
It brings us to the Gospel message: the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids. The difference between wisdom and foolishness is as clear as day and night, which makes the comparison an academic exercise. What might be better is to look at it as a distinction between wise and smart maidens. The line between being wise and being smart is rather thin.
A good example would be the Camino. To walk it, one has to be prudent in terms of the things one carries. If we were to follow the virgins taking extra oil because it was the wise thing to do, we will soon be overwhelmed and it would have defeated the pilgrimage. Why? This extra towel, those extra trousers, this added plaster and whatever we think might be necessary for any eventualities will definitely weigh us down.
Remember a time when cars were simpler? Their function was to ferry people. Today, a young family with a child might not just need a car. They feel they must have an SUV because they need a special seat for child-protection. Then the boot must be ample because of the bags of eventualities for this cut or that bruise etc. Do you travel with this and that bag because you might need this and that? The list goes on.
Preparation requires wisdom. In a culture which fears and hoards, our preparation is not wisdom but fear. The Camino is rather purifying in the area. The collective wisdom so far is that the backpack we carry to walk 800 km should not weigh more than 8 kg. Every gram counts. In the case of the wise virgins, they only had to bring along an extra flask of oil to last them just in case the bridegroom was late. But on the Camino, every gram counts, and the tendency is for the pilgrim to pack for the “what ifs”. What if I need this? What if I need that?
The wisdom of the virgin has to be more than just a flask of oil.
In the first place, there is a difference between spiritual readiness and material reliance. The virgins were praised for their spiritual preparedness, not so much for the extra flask of oil. In fact, their refusal to share the extra oil with those who were ill—prepared shows us that readiness requires an attitude. Those virgins had the inner resources to wait it out just in case the Lord did not show up. On the Camino, over-packing a bag is not a sign of readiness but rather a symptom of the lack of trust and the fear of facing uncomfortable scenarios.
In fact, often enough when things fall short during our events, somehow God provides. Wisdom is not about material reliance as the case may be but an ability to trust that God will come to our aid. The most important thing we need to do is to be ready for when God comes.
I remember an exercise which the late Father Moses gave us when he was still a deacon at St Theresa’s Church, Malacca. It is a familiar one where we were asked to think of what we would want to do in the last three days of our lives. It was interesting that many scrambled because time was of the essence. With 72 hours until death, each list was packed with as much as one possibly could do. But one of the youths gave this answer, which has since stayed with me: “Nothing. I will not deviate from what I have been doing”.
It means that salvation is not a last-minute effort—like, for example, asking the priest to bless you for your examination when you have not spent time studying for it. That is hoping that some magic might work. Spiritual preparation is always in view of a long journey towards a destination that spans eternity. The oil symbolises the inner resources we need when we are faced with trials and tribulations.
In fact, if one were to apply wisdom to the Camino, it is to know what we should leave behind so that we can walk freely and better rather than being weighed down by the extra pair of shoes which may come in handy but which we may never have to chance to use. When we are over-attached to material things, wisdom will not find an easy home in our hearts.
Do you remember the movie Terminator? When we were developing artificial intelligence, we were enamoured by what AI could do. This scenario in the movie and right now with AI is similar to what happened at the time when scientists were splitting atoms in the desert of Nevada. We have been driven by this need to know what AI could achieve but now that the genie is out of the bottle, we realise what we failed to recognise: knowledge is not amoral. The desire for knowledge is a drive which requires wisdom to govern. We must know when to stop, otherwise we will be in trouble.
The saving grace of wisdom is that our hearts are made for it. In this knowledge economy, we may have heard it said, “knowledge is power” many mistakenly equate knowledge with wisdom. But knowledge is not wisdom. With knowledge, one accumulates—just like someone googling and gathering information. But wisdom is applying what one knows and a lot of times, wisdom comes with age and experience. And Wisdom is another name for the Holy Spirit.
Being wise is to be led by the Spirit which therefore means we need to return to the source of wisdom. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. Knowledge is just knowing but in itself, it cannot bring us to heaven. We need the wisdom to guide our knowledge. Let us return to that Source today. We pray: Come, Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of your faithful. Amen.
