“A Heavenly Attitude” Many of us will say, the parable of the wedding invitation, the bridesmaids and their lamps and oil, those who brought extra, and those who did not and were turned away, is easy to understand. We get the point. We need to ‘prepare’ ourselves for when the Lord, our Bridegroom, comes to invite us into his banquet hall, heaven.
If we are not prepared, we will be turned away. End of story. But if we examine the parable more closely, we might realize the message goes deeper than the obvious unpreparedness of the rejected bridesmaids. Why were they unprepared? Were they just careless? Lackadaisical? Maybe even self-righteous? “If they want me at this banquet, they should be providing us with oil. I only have so much time and money for this. They should be pleased I’m even coming.” In fact, this ‘self-righteous’ tone is perhaps leading us to the real issue behind Christ’s message: our ‘attitude’. If the rejected bridesmaids had been more thoughtful, responsible, even more interested, they would have arrived well prepared with a positive, joyful attitude as they made their way to the feast. Would each of us be able to say right now we have a positive attitude about our life, about our work, loved ones, friends, neighbours, our community, the world at large? Do we have a positive attitude about our Faith journey, about God? Or are we ill-at-ease, discouraged with ‘the cards we’ve been dealt in life’, angry, frustrated, fed-up, bitter, sad, melancholy, or maybe even just complacent, letting our negative ‘attitude’ take us to a place where we ultimately just decide to give up. “Why put all this effort into preparing for the wedding? What’s the point? After all, who cares if I even go to the wedding or not. No one would miss me anyway.” Or, “I’m tired of all the expectations I’m asked to meet day after day. God is just asking too much of me. He’ll just have to take me as I am.” But there is a big difference between preparing for a wedding, and preparing for our final place at God’s table. So, how do we address this real concern re ‘attitude’? Oxford Dictionary: Attitude: a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically reflected in behavior – uncooperative, resentful, antagonistic. The great Canadian poet, Al Purdy, might have looked up this definition himself. Credited with being “the poet who heard and wrote about the voice of the land”, he felt our attitude in life was essential to our existence, like the ground we walked on, either firm and secure, or soft, rocky, or treacherous, hard to navigate. The key is to learn to stand and move on it regardless of difficult terrain with a positive attitude. He might have even reflected on Isaiah 40.3-5: “A voice cries out in the wilderness: prepare for the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” In a CBC interview, he said earnestly to the reporter, “Life is brief! It goes quickly. We should ask ourselves, what are we going to do with it?” He disliked people squandering life with buying things, working themselves to death to get them, then building security fences around them, and making war outside to protect them. Philosopher, Solzhenitsyn, said, “We pay dearly for chasing after what is cheap.” The bridesmaids were not rejected simply because they were not prepared for this one single event, but because they did not prepare for the unexpected their entire lives, thus making flawed decisions, because of an overall poor, negative attitude. It will serve us well and give us peace, if we can work hard establishing a positive attitude about all ‘the cards we’ve been dealt’, especially toward God and each other. This positive attitude will emerge out of preparing ourselves, first by caring for our own well-being, perhaps through exercise, diet, hobbies, volunteering. Others may find help along the way from their pastor, counsellors, coaches, or medical professionals. Daily prayer time is the greatest self-care tool of all. But ultimately, we can do this by making Christ, the Bridegroom, our constant companion. Talk to him throughout the day. Tell him your troubles, your joys, express your gratitude. When you wake up in the morning, say, “Good morning, Jesus! Thanks for another day.” And when you go to bed, say, “Good night, Jesus, and Thank you for a wonderful day.” Then, his final coming will not be a surprise at all. You’ve already been with him the day before. Rev Fr Christopher Tracey Saint Joseph Parish Saugeen Shores, Ontario
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Father's Blog
Rev. Fr. Christopher Tracey
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