November 8, 2026,

Wisdom 6: 12-16+ Psalm 63 + First Thessalonians 4: 13-18 + Matthew 25: 1-13

This is not a story about foolishness, lamp oil, sharing, or taking a nap. It is story that, with some thought, can lead us to think about the difference between Knowledge and Wisdom. It seems to me that knowing that difference is what makes a story here. We don’t need a story in the Gospel to tell us about planning ahead or foolishness. We don’t need a story about sharing either. We already had that with a “five loaves and two fish” story. For that matter, we don’t need a story about taking a nap either. We will get story when we get to the night of the Last Supper.

It might be best and more fruitful to listen to this Gospel and begin to wonder about wisdom since this story seems to focus our attention on these wise virgins. Let’s not get distracted about sharing either. Wisdom is the point of this story. The search for wisdom is really the great goal of our spiritual journey, a journey that leads us deep into the heart of divine love.

A wise spiritual director once said that “Much of Christian spirituality presumes that our desires are bad.” Ignatius believed that our problem was not desiring too much but rather desiring too little. Because we are made for God, the only thing that can satisfy us is relationship with God and growing in love with all that God loves. All the rest, knowledge, fame, wealth, beauty, accomplishment, popularity are nothing more than two-bit substitutes for the love that fills the human heart.

Wise people, like those virgins are filled with desire that led them to be prepared for the long wait. Nothing mattered more than being ready when the bridegroom came. The foolish ones had a lot of excuses, and while they showed up did not have the wisdom they needed. They were not short of oil. They were short of Wisdom.

Wisdom and Knowledge are very different. We can acquire knowledge through study, practice, or the internet. All get from that is information. Those foolish ones had information. They knew the bridegroom was coming and they knew where to be. Wisdom however is quite different. Wisdom is about a relationship of love. More than possessing it, wisdom captures us. Wisdom, my friends is really a name for God. I know some really smart people who know a lot of things. Many of them are extremely lonely and restless. I also know some very wise people who know God and love their neighbor. They are never lonely because they already have one foot inside that door that will someday be closed.