NOT VERY SENSIBLE BELIEVERS
There are a lot of parables in which Jesus repeats in one way or another, the same message: «The best thing you have is hope. Don’t lose it. Keep it alive. Don’t dampen your yearning for eternal life. Wait with your heart burning. Be clear. There’s nothing sadder than a “worn out” person who has lost hope in God».
Jesus doesn’t use moralistic language. For him, letting hope go out in us isn’t a sin, it’s stupidity. The young girls of the parable who let their lamp go out before the bridegroom arrives are «foolish», since they didn’t know how to keep their hope alive. They hadn’t been concerned with the most important thing a human being must do: wait for God until the end.
It’s not easy today to hear this message. We’ve lost our capability to live something intensively for the long run. The passing of time wears everything out. People of our day only seem to be fascinated with what’s new, what’s up to date, the present moment. We don’t manage to go about living something alive and permanent without letting it languish.
We’ve encountered a more reasonable and sensible way of looking at the future. We’re masters of making all kinds of calculations and previsions in order to run no risks in the future. We’re worried about securing our health and guaranteeing our level of living; we plan out our retirement and we set up a tranquil old age. All that is very well, but we don’t stop being foolish if we don’t recognize something evident: all these securities fabricated by ourselves are insecure.
The Gospel warning isn’t irrational or absurd. Jesus simply invites us to live with our eyes on eternal life, without deceiving ourselves naively about the expiration date and the limits of this life: «What provisions have you made beyond what’s visible and perishable? Where do you think you will encounter security when your securities collapse?»
To keep hope alive means not being content with just any old thing, not losing hope in human beings, never losing the desire of «eternal life» for all, not ceasing to seek, to believe, to trust. Though they may not know it, those who live thus are awaiting the coming of God.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
