Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/669

 stand ready,  holding  not  only  the  lamp  of  faith, but  also  the  oil  of good  works  in  their  hands. The foolish  virgins  are  those  bad  Christians who have  indeed  the  lamp  of  faith,  but  to  whom  is  lacking  the  oil  of active  love,  and  whose  faith  is  therefore  dead. They pass  their  lives carelessly, taking  no  thought  of  that  eternally  decisive  moment  which  is before  us  all. At midnight,  when  none  of  the  virgins  were  expecting him, the  bridegroom  came! In other  words,  death  took  them  unawares. Wise or  good  Christians,  even  though  death  may  take  them  by  surprise, are  always  ready  to  meet  the  Lord,  and  enter  into  eternity;  for they have  not  only  kept  the  faith,  but  also  gained  merit. Foolish, careless Christians  do  not  live  in  accordance  with  their  faith,  but  put off their  conversion  till  the  hour  of  death. Death comes  on  them  unawares, and  then  they  find  out  with  terror  that  their  faith  is  dead,  and that there  is  lacking  to  them  the  oil  of  good  works. The merits  of their  fellow-Christians  can  avail  them  nothing,  and  they  have  no  time to gain  merits  of  their  own  by  the  performance  of  good  works. For them, indeed,  the  night  has  come  “when  no  man  can  work”! (John 9,  4.) They may  wail  and  cry  out  “Lord! Lord!” but  they  will  find  themselves shut  out  from  heaven,  for  our  Lord  Jesus  has  said:  “Not  every one that  saith  to  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven; but he  that  doeth  the  will  of  My  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  he  shall enter into  the  kingdom  of  heaven”  (Mat.  7,  21).

Watchfulness. Our  Lord  Himself  points  the  moral  of  this  parable by His  concluding  words:  “Watch  you,  therefore,  because  you  know not the  day  nor  the  hour  (of  your  death).”  We  ought  to  live  on  the watch, and  be  always  ready  for  the  coming  of  our  Divine  Judge,  because 1. we know  not  when  we  shall  be  called  away;  2. the hour  of death  is,  as  a rule,  too  late  for  conversion  and  the  gaining  of  merit; and it  is  therefore  a mischievous  act  of  carelessness  to  put  off  conversion till the  hour  of  death.

Prudence is  one  of  the  four  cardinal  virtues. The wise  or  prudent virgins desired  to  be  admitted  to  the  heavenly  marriage-feast;  therefore they took  pains  to  become  worthy  of  admission  by  virtues  and  good works. They avoided  sin,  and  persevered  in  grace  and  in  the  practice of the  love  of  God,  and  were  therefore  found  ready  when  death  surprised them. The foolish  virgins  also  wished  to  take  part  in  the  banquet, but  they  did  not  use  those  means  by  which  alone  they  could  gain admission. The virtuous  are  prudent,  but  sinners  are  fools!

Dead faith.  Even  as  a lamp  goes  out  when  it  is  not  fed  with,  oil, so does  faith  die,  if  it  is  not  nourished  and  sustained  by  works  of  piety, mortification and  brotherly  love.

Humility. It  was  not  from  selfishness  that  the  wise  virgins  refused to share  their  oil  with  those  who  were  foolish. Humility made  them act thus,  because  they  feared  that  they  would  not  have  enough  for  themselves. The just  do  not  rely  on  their  good  works,  but  “work  out  their