A Life of Holiness and Purity

Homily for Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

In St. Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians, he encourages them to live in a way that pleases God, avoiding immorality and living in holiness and purity. These aren’t just random words he is offering, as if some sort of pious platitude will bring them to perfection. As with all of his letters, St. Paul is writing to a community with which he has already spent a great deal of time, teaching and preaching. He is responding to information he has received, either by word-of-mouth or by letter, that something is amiss or needs addressing.

In this case, with the church at Thessalonica, the issue to be addressed concerns the relationships between members of the community, and includes St. Paul’s admonition to them regarding not entering into unlawful marriages. Customs, Jewish religious laws, and the ethos of the fledgling Christian community were the waters in which this church’s members swam. St. Paul’s letter - and not just within these verses - acknowledges these challenges while offering them a lifeboat of sorts: calling them to the dignity and love that they have as children of God and allowing holiness to flourish within their relationships.

Through this lens, we have a valuable insight into today’s Gospel. Sometimes we miss actually hearing the very first line of the parable: “The kingdom of heaven will be like…” which is then followed by the telling of the parable itself. So, the kingdom of heaven will be one in which those who have been wise, and prepared, will be present, but the foolish will not. Those who have filled their lamps with oil – whose words and deeds signify they have lived with holiness and purity (signified in literary form by the word “virgin”) are prepared for the bridegroom, Christ. Vigilance and staying awake, then, is not simply a passive state; but one in which holiness is actively sought and therefore flourishes in our relationships with God and with one another.