In today's Gospel, our Lord speaks of three things essentially, that we must gird our
loins and light our lamps, and then he gives us the reason that we must do this, because
we must wait for the Master's return, we must wait for the Divine Bridegroom, that is, we
must wait for Christ himself, and so it is absolutely necessary if we are to fulfill
the mission that God has appointed for us, that is, the salvation of our soul in union
with the Blessed Trinity in Heaven, we must always gird our loins, and most particularly
the Doctors and Fathers are pointing out here that our Lord is speaking of the virtue of
purity, that is.
When we do not violate the Sixth and Ninth Commandments in any manner, and so it is most
important in this day and age that we always gird our loins, that is, keep vigilant, because
it is one of the primary vices in today's world.
And secondly, our Lord says that our lamps must always be lit brightly, that is, we must
always carry sound doctrine about in us, and so we must, as it were, always study the faith
and we must do so in a prayerful manner.
And indeed, if we do not guard ourselves in matters of purity, it will be impossible
for us to maintain the light in our lamps, for it takes great effort to keep the lamps
lit.
Indeed, in the time of our Lord, when he was referring to these lamps, it would take great
effort.
The oil had to be constantly put in, the wick had to be trimmed properly so that the lamp
always burned brightly.
And so there was a notion of mortification even in today's examples, but first and foremost,
if we do not guard ourselves in matters of the Sixth and Ninth Commandment, then the
light will go out, for it is the nature of those sins that we do not pursue in any way,
manner, shape, or form, the things of heaven, but the pleasures of this world.
And in the pursuit of carnal pleasures, we become totally blind, and the light of our
intellect goes out.
Indeed, St. Alphonsus D. Liguori points out the reason that Satan works so hard in order
to lure souls into sins of impurity, because...
He knows they are not the worst of sins that can be committed, but if you want to get human
beings to commit those sins that particularly destroy the intellect, that is, the violation
of any one of the first three commandments, you do so by first luring them into sins of
impurity, by which they will blaspheme God, they will commit sacrilegious communions,
and all other amends of sin in which they violate the Third Commandment.
And so, let us truly strive.
In this day and age where it is so easy to fall into these sins, let us strive always
to turn to the one who alone is our safeguard in these matters, that is, the Blessed Virgin
Mary, so that our purity becomes her purity in us, so that we are always keeping our mind
and our hearts on the Lord, our lamps alight, always filled with sound doctrine, and ultimately
our Lord is speaking of the good example we must give to the world, for we read very clearly
in Scripture...
that what was the cause of the conversion of the pagan world was, as St. Paul tells us,
when the pagans saw the Christian families and declared, see how they love one another,
and that was a chaste love, and that was a pure love, and it was a pure love based on
sound doctrine.
And so, let us pray always that our lamps keep alight, and that we safeguard our flesh
from the carnal pleasures of this world, so that we are always waiting for the Master
when He returns.
And so, that we may...
when he returns, we will receive the reward that he has promised to give to each and every
one of his faithful servants. And so we are truly involved in warfare in this life. We
are involved in warfare against the flesh and against the mind. And there are too many
false philosophies and there are too many traps to lure us into violations of the sixth
and ninth commandment in our day and age. And indeed, we cannot safeguard ourselves
by setting ourselves up, as so many make the mistake of doing, by locking ourselves
up in our homes. It is simply too rampant about the law of the modern world. We must
safeguard ourselves primarily by entrusting ourselves entirely and totally into the hands
of the mother of God, for she alone is our safeguard in this day and age. She alone can
guide us through the traps of this modern world in a safe manner so that we recognize
the bridegroom when he comes.
And we find union with him for all eternity in heaven.
And we find union with him for all eternity in heaven.