Friday 8-28-2009 of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time
Readings: 1Thessalonians 4: 1-8 Psalm 97: 1-12 Matthew 25: 1-13
Psalm Response: “ Rejoice in the Lord, you just”
In our society, by its immorality, the teachings of the Church has no basis in Scripture. Or else, they seem to ignore the validity of Scripture!
Therefore, if they read these passages from 1Thessalonians, they do not recognize the nuances of the original Greek, as though they have no meaning. Paul’s language is couched in terms that aren’t graphic as we would find in our ‘literature’, movies and TV.
Some interpreters ( Jerusalem Bible) phrase immortality in plain language; fornication.
Plainly speaking, Paul urges men, if they can’t control their urges, to “acquire a wife in holiness” not just for satisfaction but for God’s purpose.
Subtly, Paul tells his readers, not to engage in prurient practices, using and exploiting their brothers and sisters; implying improper acts such as homosexuality.
How do we control our subhuman appetite?
God imposes His consciousness on us through the Holy Spirit! However, we must apply His principles, not ours!
The psalm instructs us, like Paul, to be just, to rejoice in our holiness. The Lord loves those who disdain evil and loves with a pure heart. So, we can always rejoice in Him!
In this parable, our Lord is inferred as the expected bridegroom.
Half the pure in spirit, were prepared. The other five, not expecting Him, were elsewhere not waiting anxiously, when the Lord arrived. Therefore, they were excluded from the wedding banquet, symbolizing eternal life.
These messages of preparedness should give us pause to be so!
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