What do you seek in your life? What is the ultimate goal you seek to fulfill? It’s important to consider this very important question as we got through life and today’s readings help us answer it. In our first reading, there’s a lot of reference to seeking. The reading personifies Wisdom as a woman who is sought by those who love her. Wisdom – clearly the Wisdom of God – is described as a gracious woman who hastens to make herself known and who sits by the gate of those who seek her. The passage goes on to explain that Wisdom is also seeking. She makes her rounds, seeking those worthy of her, appearing to them at their gate or on their way and meeting them with all solicitude, that is, with great attention. After all, God wants us for himself.
Yes, as we hear in today’s first reading, Wisdom is not only sought; she is also the one who seeks. The great mystery revealed here is that our search for Wisdom, for God, is always a response to God who first searches for us. Because he draws near, we can seek him; because he seeks us, our seeking is never in vain.
It is this wisdom – resplendent and unfading wisdom – that today’s first reading encourages us to seek. Because, as we hear in today’s second reading, “the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise.”
And so, we must search. As we turn to the Gospel, we hear a parable about ten virgins waiting to meet the bridegroom on his wedding day. Five of the virgins are wise. They prepare themselves, watching for the bridegroom’s arrival. They are seeking the bridegroom. These virgins are the ones who diligently prepare their lamps and ensure that they have sufficient oil. When the bridegroom appears, they are ushered into the wedding feast with him, carrying the lamps that light the way to the wedding feast. In contrast, the five foolish virgins are caught unprepared when the bridegroom arrives. They have not brought sufficient oil and the bridegroom says to them, “I do not know you.”
With these three readings, we are invited to consider who – or what – we seek and how well we are prepared for the moment he – or that moment – arrives. The bridegroom is Jesus Christ who will come to welcome those who seek him into the heavenly banquet. We must prepare our oil lamps with strong faith and good works. We must actively seek the Lord. This requires a conscious response from us; it is not passive. We must desire a relationship with Jesus and actively seek him by preparing ourselves for his coming.
When we are seeking someone or something we really desire, our hearts experience longing. One sign that our spiritual life needs renewal – that our “oil” has run out – is that our desire for the Lord has grown weak or dormant. Today’s psalm invites us to take as our own the words of King David: “O God, you are my God whom I seek; for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.” If we find ourselves in a place where our thirst for earthly things is greater than the Lord, then we must ask him to awaken us from our spiritual slumber, that he may give us the grace to rekindle in us the flame that burns for love of him and a desire to be with him forever in heaven.
The good news is that our God isn’t hard to find. Just as Lady Wisdom in our first reading draws near to those who seek her, the Lord comes to us in prayer and in the sacraments – most especially the Eucharist – drawing near to all who seek him with sincerity and faith. And all who sincerely seek the Lord will find a place at his heavenly banquet.
Last Sunday, the first of November, we celebrated the Feast of All Saints. The next day, we celebrated the Feast of All Souls. Throughout this month of November, we remember all of our beloved dead as we prepare for our own deaths. We will all die – that is certain and we cannot avoid it. But, whether we are welcomed into the heavenly wedding feast or not will depend on whether or not we fill our lamps with a strong faith and good deeds, shining the light of God’s loving presence in this world so often engulfed in darkness. I’m seeking to join with our Lord in his eternal banquet and I hope to see you there, as well!