Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this.  Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.  When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.  As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.  But at midnight there was a shout, “Look!  Here is the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him.”  Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.  The foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.”  But the wise replied, “No! There will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.”  And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.  Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.”  But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.”  Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Fear and worry destroy recollection.  Without recollection there is no memory.  Without memory we forget to keep our lamps lit, to await the bridegroom in the unfolding events of each day; to carry our cross, to see Christ in our neighbor, to love God above all and our neighbor as ourselves.  To usher in the kingdom which is already here, indeed, within us.

Since Our Lord told us “the kingdom of heaven is not a place, rather, the kingdom of heaven is within/among you” can we not then, at least figuratively, read the parables of the coming of the kingdom as the daily waiting for the visitations of the Spirit to our soul?  The kingdom of heaven is like ten bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom.  Some were wise, and prepared themselves for possible delay.  The foolish ones were not prepared for the long haul.  They expected him to come immediately.  When he didn’t they were unable to greet him when he finally did arrive, and so were left outside in the darkness.

This constant vigilance can be thought of as attentiveness to the daily unfolding of events and discerning therein God’s will for us that day. It can be thought of as encouragement for prayer, in which God’s answers seem delayed, but we know he hears and answers us in his own time.

Help us to recognize, Lord, the time of your visitation to us.  Let us not have you weep over us as you did over Jerusalem, which did not recognize your visitation and so knew not peace.