“…But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24)
Pic: Ten
virgins foolish and wise brides
(Year A: The Third Sunday before Advent, 8th
November, 2020)
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READINGS (COI & paired as between the Gospel and the Old
Testament readings)
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Good news is important for us today. On first hearing, the appointed readings for
this Sunday, the third before Advent, seem to be full of gloom and doom. There
is much happening in our world today that paints a picture of darkness and corruption
even if green shoots appear here and there (some too early due to climate
change!). If we listen carefully to the
readings we grasp a positive and affirming message running through from the
prophet, Amos, writing in the 8th century before Christ to the psalmist
and then Matthew. The good news is twofold: there is still time for us to
change course and to do the right thing and, secondly, God will overcome evil
on His day of judgement (or the Day of the Lord as Amos refers to it).
Time to change
The story of the ten bridesmaids (or virgins according to
some translations) is contained in the Gospel reading. It reminds me of an
experience I had the other evening when I was four minutes late for the closing
of the outer gates of a large public park (within the 5km Level 5 restrictions
I should add). Along with about 12 other motorists I was stuck behind the
closed gates. We could either abandon
the cars or wait. As it happened someone (probably a park ranger who had to get
home himself anyway) came along some 20 minutes later after the appointed time
of our punishment had expired. We were let out. I doubt if any of the culprits
will re-offend again soon! The point of
the story in Matthew’s gospel is that the bridesmaids did not gain access to
the wedding feast. The door remained shut and that was that.
In life, we have only one chance: one chance, that is, to be
happy, to live well and to live properly. We might go astray once or many times
but we can come back to the core position and value. However, we only have one
chance in this very short and precarious life of ours. The person standing next to you in the shopping
queue may not be alive tomorrow. Or, it may be your turn however unlikely or
distant an event that may seem right now.
For us Christians death is not the end but merely a step on the journey.
We believe and we live on the truth of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. ‘Therefore
encourage one another with these words’ says St Paul in his letter to the Christians
at Thessaloniki.
When our hour
comes will we be found ready with lamps lit and baggage disposed?
A postscript about ‘Remembrance Sunday’ in some Christian
traditions (a personal view of course)
This Sunday is referred to as ‘Remembrance Sunday the
purpose of which is ‘to
commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian
servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.’ In a religious context, the remembrance is
marked by a special service of prayers, readings, hymns and the laying of red
poppies in Anglican churches in Britain and Ireland as well as some
Commonwealth countries. This is an important event in the calendar for many who
had families involved in the two world wars and other conflicts including, it
has to be said, the conflict in Northern Ireland which began in around
1969. Many gave their lives in the most
tragic of family circumstances and the wounds are still very, very real.
It is a noble and honourable thing to remember the sacrifice
and love of those who died not only for their country and fellow citizens but
for the freedom of nations and the institutions of democracy and autonomy that
we enjoy and can take for granted these days.
Lest we might ever forget, Ireland – all of it – was protected from the
horrors of Nazism by one country alone – the United Kingdom in the period June
1940 after the fall of France to June 1941 before the Nazis and the Communists
went to war as their alliance of convenience crumbled. No
matter how much we Irish suffered at the hands of British oppression over many
centuries we ought never forget the sacrifice of American, French, British (including
Irish living and working in England and fighting with the British forces at
that time) along with tens of millions of Russian citizens and combatants among
others in the struggle to defeat the evil of Nazism.
We should not forget that civilians typically make up the bulk
of victims of war. Also, the use of symbols associated with one side of another
of a conflict is a badge of identity as well as remembrance. It is a personal (and community choice) about
how and when to commemorate the dead and who to remember in a special way.
I suspect that for the greater majority of those from an
Irish Roman Catholic background the remembrance event is something distant and
foreign. That is not to deny that tens of thousands of Irish nationalists and
Catholics fought and many died in both World Wars. Regrettably their service
and sacrifice was ignored and never spoken about. It was only as recently as
1993 that the President of Ireland began to attend the annual remembrance
service in the national Anglican Cathedral of St Patrick’s.
By the same token, the greater majority of those from an
Irish Protestant tradition or traditions would have mixed views about commemorating
Irish Republican events whether from 1916-1922 or from 1969 to 1998. The
wearing of an Easter Lilly (whether pinned or stickie) is a badge of belonging
and remembrance. Not everyone is comfortable with that. A direct comparison of
the Lilly and the Poppy may be viewed as inappropriate. It depends on how you
look at it. I have worn the latter on occasions but never the former. Even today it takes a certain chutzpah to
wear a Poppy in public in the Republic of Ireland. You get stared at some of
the time and it can happen that you are verbally accosted – even today in our
supposedly tolerant and liberal new Ireland. The underlying and unspoken prejudice
is that it is OK for Protestants to wear that British symbol but not by someone
from our side.
As we move through this ‘decade of centenaries’ starting
with the lock-out of 1913 through the 1916 rising and up to the bitter Irish civil
war in 1922/23 we are mindful of the importance of respecting and acknowledging
traditions with which we may not be familiar or which may not represent the
bond of affection and loyalty that others experience. At the same time, we need
to be mindful of how our commemorations be they of the Irish nationalist physical
force tradition or the British colonial military tradition can impact on
others. It is a complicated world and our little island is no exception. May we
love the living and the dead, be thankful for those who gave their lives and
look forward to that day when we are, all, ‘caught up in the clouds together
with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever
(1 Thessalonians 4:17).
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