In today’s gospels and next Sunday’s as we hear stories from Jesus about those who waste their lives because they hide behind the false pride of saying that they are not very good.

It is of course God’s fault that they are not very good, so it’s God’s fault that they don’t do much with their lives.

They are content to be mediocre because that seems pretty safe Jesus did not like slackers.

Fr. Greeley's Last Book:

Would that you were hot or cold, but since you are lukewarm I will vomit you out of my mouth. The unwise bridesmaids are slackers, giddy, silly young women who wanted to be part of the dining and music and dancing at the wedding party but as many young people of either gender do, they were not quite able to see a relation between the goal of joining the fun and the lamps that they must light for the ceremonial entrance to the marriage ceremony. The lamps were the reason they were there.

If for one reason or another they could not light their lamps, then they had no claim on entering into the party. Indeed the bride had undoubtedly chosen them because she believed their beauty would impress the groom and his family. She must have assumed that they had the common sense and the responsibility to carry enough oil so that their lamps would not go out.

Wait till you see my attendants, she said to the young man.

There will be ten of them, five on each side, to escort you and your family into the wedding ceremony.

So when the groom showed up late (in our society the opposite seems to be the more common phenomenon), he must have been startled that there were only five young women to escort his entourage. Perhaps he had made promises to his family about how elegant the circumstances of their entry was going to be.

He was quite properly furious and, one must assume, so was bride who had been let down by her friends.

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Psalm 46:1-8

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. [Selah]
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. [Selah]
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has wrought desolations in the earth.

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This book has a chapter about Fr. Greeley and is dedicated to him. Great read!
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