FIVE OF THEM WERE WISE

PRAYER MOMENT  

Friday 28 August 2015, St Augustine

FIVE OF THEM WERE WISE

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “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.” (Matt.23:1-13)

Reflection. How does this story of the ten wise young women touch me? Jesus does not give flat dry explanations.He tells a story with multiple layers of meaning which each of us can relish in our own way. This story is about attentivenss. We celebrate Augustine of Hippo today who died in 430 as the Vandal invaders surrounded his city. He had spent his early life searching for the truth and his later life teaching it to others. He was deeply attentive to the culture in which he grew, wandering from his childhood faith and then coming back to it with an intensity that lit up succeeding centuries. Pope Benedict is perhaps one of his most renowned recent devotees.

Prayer. Lord, help us to be attentive to the movements of culture and faith than are part of our world to day. We pray that we do not grow weary and let our lamps go out. Rather may we always be in our own way a light for the world. Amen.