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32nd
Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Private
Baptism of Isabella Nason Rodriguez
Our Lady
of Grace Church
November
12, 2017
The Hour
Glass of Life
By (Rev.
Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Sand in an Hour Glass
There is a story about
a little, four-year-old girl who lived near the beach.
She had a grandfather
whom she loved very much. Her
grandfather had a collection of hourglasses and she liked to turn them upside
down and watch the sand steadily sift through to the bottom.
Her grandfather once
told her that the hourglasses reminded him that time was so very precious. Well, this particular year, Christmas was
coming.
With difficulty, this
little girl’s mother told her that her Grandpa was in the hospital and was very
sick. He might even die.
The little girl asked
what that meant. And her mother
explained that life was like one of Grandpa’s hourglasses and that Grandpa had
very little time left.
Her mother suggested
that she make a special Christmas gift that they could take to Grandpa. So the little girl excitedly went to work on
her gift.
When they got to the
hospital, she gave her Grandpa a beautifully wrapped box. He slowly unwrapped it and looked inside and
just smiled.
He immediately
understood. His little granddaughter had
filled the box with sand.
The
Story of the Bridesmaids
Well, if it were only that easy!
If only we could extend our days by adding
more sand to our hourglasses! But, of
course, we cannot!
Today’s parable of the bridesmaids addresses
this very issue. There are three important
reminders that I see here.
1.
Prepare
First, each of us must prepare for the moment
when we will meet God face to face.
We must do this for ourselves. No one can do it for us.
We are reminded of this in the refusal of the
five wise bridesmaids to share their oil with the others. This is not an issue of sharing.
Instead, it is about being prepared. These bridesmaids did not share their oil
because they could not share this kind of oil.
This is the oil of personal preparation, the
oil of who we have become as persons in the course of our lives. We can motivate and encourage one another,
but ultimately each one of us must do this kind of preparation for ourselves.
2. Watch
the Time
The second lesson is that our time is limited.
There are only so many grains of sand in the
hour glass. We see this in the inability
of the five foolish bridesmaids to go and buy oil for themselves.
Obviously, it was midnight and the stores were
closed. And that is exactly the point:
it was too late!
The moment had come, the groom and bride were
arriving and there was no more time to prepare.
This will be true for each one of us at some moment.
So, we need to watch the time and be ready
today. We need to live as if today were
our day to meet the Lord face to face.
3. Keep
Our Lamps Lighted
And then the third lesson is that we must be
about light.
Psalm 36 in the Old Testament praises God by
saying: “In your light we see light.” The idea is that we need to allow ourselves
to be drawn into the light of God.
And then, with this light, we can see light in
the world and bring light to one another.
“In your light we see light.”
We see this in the oil lamps that the
bridesmaids are to keep burning brightly.
We are to be and to bring light in darkness.
This is a helpful way for understanding our
role in promoting respect for human life.
We can lift up the wonder and preciousness of an infant, or tend the person
who is homeless, or provide comfort to a person who is dying.
Theses are actions of light. They are some of the ways of keeping our
lamps burning brightly.
Conclusion
So, the grains of sand in the hour glass are a
good reminder for us.
1.
We are to be prepared.
2.
We are to watch the time because it is limited.
3.
And we are to be a light for the world around us.
