Lectionary: 429“The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise."
The New Testament and both Catholic and Protestant spiritualities agree we are saved by faith. That is a key doctrine of Saint Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians: "For by grace you have been saved through faith...." (Eph 2:8)
This doctrine is so widely accepted that it's picked up and co-opted by a secular American culture. I think of the animated Christmas film Polar Express with its insistent banality, Just Believe in Santa Claus.
We are saved by our faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and second person of the Most Holy Trinity. We are saved by our faith in Baptism and the Eucharist, which he entrusted to the Church and its ordained priesthood. We are save by faith alone if our works and attitudes reflect that focused intent on the Lord. Our lives are animated and guided by the Holy Spirit. Our faith is a right faith in Jesus.
But what if faith is misguided by an alien spirit, and someone doesn't actually know the Jesus who lived and died in Jerusalem? What if one seeks the face of God and mistakes the LORD for someone or something less than God?
The human brain is an astonishing thing. A woman can scan billions of faces and recognize her husband as the one she loves. She might be momentarily confused by several immobile, impassive faces but when that familiar visage is animated, when it smiles at her, she has no doubt whatsoever about her beloved.
The wise seek the face of God with that same intensity; they are infallibly guided and assured by God's Holy Spirit.
In the last few years, some Americans have promoted alternate facts and alien truths. And millions of people have put their faith in these deceptions. They practice weird spiritualities like Wicca, Druidism, and Odinism. Some have refused Covid vaccinations because wackos on Fox News raised doubts about them. Families are divided and churches are split by faith in bizarre notions found on the Internet.
I met one unfortunate woman who said she had researched the vaccine and didn't believe in its effectiveness. I asked which medical journal she had studied: the Journal of the American Medical Association? The New England Journal of Medicine? Lancet?
She replied, "Google." She had never heard of medical journals.
I had only recently conducted, and wept during, a memorial service for an equally foolish nurse, a woman who should have known better. I don't know if that patient, her daughter, and her unborn grandchild survived the epidemic; but her misguided faith has imperiled millions of people.
This unexpected credulity of literate Americans -- some with doctorates! -- is hard to fathom. Why do they dismiss uncomfortable truths and pursue their preferred opinions? Why do they drink Koolaid laced with cyanide when it's so transparently evil?
Perhaps they believe they will be saved by faith regardless of its object. Any faith in any idea, no matter how absurd, is good enough for them.
Our gospel today concerns five wise little girls and five foolish ones. (Called virgins, I assume the author and translators mean teen or preteen females.)
The wise virgins enter the wedding hall to enjoy the festivities; the foolish virgins arrive too late and are barred from entering. Their darling, plaintive cries of. "Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ are met by the Lord's refusal, "Amen, I say to you, I do not know you."
That's a hard story, and especially for Americans whose hearts melt for disappointed children. But Covid is also hard, as are poverty, racism, and climate change. Hard facts don't care who they hurt. And people die because they believe lies instead of truth. The scriptures have little sympathy for fools.
Saint John Henry Newman recognized the fallacies of his Anglican church and, in mid-life came over to Roman Catholicism. He insisted that Christians cannot pick and choose the doctrines they want to believe. We search for that One Face among the billions; we listen for the Good Shepherd's voice. We accept the Truth as God speaks the Truth while fools die in their sins.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.