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The Wise and Foolish Virgins and our Capacity for Truth and Wisdom
November 6th, 2011
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
It's fascinating to see how reason and faith live in a profound, inseparable unity. The search for wisdom, to which man is called to engage all his energies, and its meeting, is a most effective icon for the waiting for the arrival of the 'bridegroom' which crowns the pages of the Gospel.
VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - "Wisdom is found by those who look for her." What great news this is for people of all times and for those who search for truth! Wisdom does not hide herself, she does not avoid the humble searching of our reason, and she is not an inaccessible phantom. If someone wishes to know the truth, and loyally engages their liberty and energy in the search for it, then wisdom will not delay to manifest herself.
Notwithstanding the mortal wound of original sin, which is healed by the death and resurrection of the Lord, humans still have their "capax Dei", their capacity for God, and therefore their 'capax veritatis et capax sapietiae,'which is the capacity for truth and for wisdom.
Man truly has the capacity for God, and he is capable of truth and wisdom. For this reason, the fruitful union between a man's desire and his ability on the one hand, and the manifestation of the generosity of his wisdom that donates itself on the other, represents one of the most significant human experiences and a real 'introduction' to that encounter with the Lord that we call 'faith'
It's fascinating to see how reason and faith live in a profound, inseparable unity. The search for wisdom, to which man is called to engage all his energies, and its meeting, is a most effective icon for the waiting for the arrival of the 'bridegroom' which crowns the pages of the Gospel.
The parable of the ten virgins describes the Kingdom of God, present and active today and also the eschatological event at the end of history, of which the Lord says "you do not know the day or the hour" (Mt 24: 13)
The Gospel reading seems to overtake the text of the first reading by making a totally new invitation that is personal, prudent and wise. It's not enough on the last day just to want to enter the wedding feast, nor is it sufficient to recognise the voice of the bridegroom. The humble and realistic use of reason, understood as a search for wisdom, is not always the same as a true encounter with it.
Certainly the 'search for truth' implies some admission of its existence and excludes, in that sense, every prospect of relativism. However, the universal religious sense is not by itself the proper encounter with Christ. It's not enough to be an anonymous believer to call oneself Christian, one must have faith.
The lamp oil which some of the virgins lack, and which the others cannot give is a symbol of the great mystery of our personal liberty. Our choices cannot be made or substituted by others. We can only pray, offer and suffer for the salvation of mankind. However, our personal choices, which are the fruits of the utilization of our liberty with its consequent merits (or de merits), are the personal actions that qualify us for eternity. These acts form the spiritual profile and the 'echo of wisdom,' image and likeness of the Wisdom incarnate who is Christ the Lord.
We implore the Blessed Virgin Mary, the one who is truly wise, that She will take us by the hand to that encounter with Jesus Christ, the true Wisdom that never ends and of which we all await, asking to be recognised by Him.
Citations
Sa 6,12-16: www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9assdkf.htm
1Th 4,13-18: www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9audyud.htm
Mt 25,1-13: www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9abtzpy.htm