32^nd Sun Ord Time A, Nov 8, 2020 Wis 6:12-16; 1 Thes 4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13

In 9^th grade, I went out for the Junior Varsity Basketball team but I wasn’t very good. I just couldn’t shoot very well or dribble with my left hand.

My coach said that if I worked on dribbling, with my left hand, and practiced and prepared, during the summer, I might be able to start the following year. That’s all I needed to hear. I worked and prepared, all summer long, so that I could be a starter. The following school year, as a 10^th grader, I became a starter on the Junior Varsity basketball team. The preparation, and hard work, paid off.

Now, there was another player, on the JV team, let’s call him Bill, (not his real name). Bill was over 6 feet tall and had some potential but his level of preparation was always a little suspect. Perhaps Bill never seemed prepared because that entire 1^st year the coach never seemed to call on him to play.

One game Bill was on the bench when one of our tall 1^st team starters got hurt. So, the starter had to come out of the game and our coach looked at Bill and, to Bill’s surprise, the coach told Bill to get in the game to substitute for that starting player who was hurt.

Bill immediately ran to the scorer keeper’s table to check in but Bill had that “deer in the headlights” look on his face. Bill was still wearing his warm-up jacket and pants. So, the coach told Bill to get that warm-up off and get into the game. Bill’s face suddenly turned beet red and Bill said, “I don’t have a uniform on underneath the warm-up”. Talk about unprepared! What if the entire five players, of the 2^nd team, had also been that unprepared? The game could’ve been lost.

Today, Jesus gave us a parable about 5 prepared and 5 unprepared bridesmaids. While I can’t relate to the particulars of Jesus’ story, my idea of 5 basketball starting players being prepared and 5, 2^nd team, back up players not being prepared, and the havoc that would cause is something that I can easily wrap my head around.

So, the point of Jesus’ story is not just something relevant to events that happened thousands of years ago. Being prepared is critical in our everyday lives today and in our spiritual lives as well. The question is: “Are we prepared?” This past year we have had so many things thrown at us that were definitely unexpected and completely unwanted.

We have had to face Covid 19, and all its horrible lingering effects, and a totally bizarre hurricane season that just won’t go away. While it’s true that we do know how to prepare for most hurricane seasons, nothing in our past has prepared us for the Corona Virus and all its issues. That’s still a work in progress. Hopefully, we have a better understanding of what it takes to be prepared “spiritually” to face the fear, the worry, the spiritual attacks, the frustration, the confusion, and the disappointment, which have also been a part of this year.

If not, let me encourage us all to go back to the basics: prayer, scripture, the Sacraments (especially the Eucharist and confession), the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and giving of our time, talent, and treasure, to help those in need. We don’t know when Jesus will return or when we might, unexpectedly, be called home to heaven so, the point is, we need to be prepared. After all, the team, the human race, is counting on us.