Walking in a solitary and dark place on a moonless night can be very difficult. We cannot see anything. A small obstacle can become fatal for our walk. We definitely need light, even a tiny flame, at least to distinguish the contour of things around us. It is enough to avoid dangers, to feel safe, to see the direction. We need light.

In this parable, Jesus talks about the need for a lamp for facing the night while waiting for the bridegroom who is late, very late, up to the point to arrive at midnight. The virgins want to see him, but they need their lamps to face the darkness. The lamps are also signs of their steadfastness, their preparation, and disposition to meet with the one they are longing for. Then, all the virgins are overcome by tiredness and fall asleep. Waiting is definitely tough. It calls for faith and imagination, desire, hope. Not seeing the bridegroom is tiring and frustrating. Will he really come? For waiting we need to believe beyond evidences, to see something that is not yet visible.  

The virgins are waked up in the middle of the night by a voice: “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” Then, the virgins light up their lamps but some of them discover that they do not have enough oil, because, according to the Gospel, they are foolish. Probably, they were thinking that waiting for the bridegroom was easy and quick. They were expecting that the meeting with the bridegroom would have been less frustrating. Waiting is a responsibility that requires our active contribution and endurance. But they are not prepared, and finally run out of oil, oil that cannot be taken from their companions. They need to find a seller, but this will make them late at the meeting with the bridegroom who finally does not welcome them: “I do not know you!”

The Evangelist does not explain what this oil is. We can only guess that oil represents our desire to be united to God and our capacity to endure the darkness while waiting for Him. The Christian life is a journey of communion with God in which we experience His presence which enlightens us and gives us strength and enthusiasm. But we all know that there are also moments in which the perception of this communion becomes less evident: in these moments we do not sense the presence of God at our side and we feel abandoned. Everything becomes terribly dark: we long for Him and we do not understand why He is so late. In these moments we need wisdom (not to be foolish), we need to bring enough oil for our journey. Probably we will fall asleep and will be challenged by tiredness and frustration, but this oil, the oil of hope, the oil of the desire to meet with Someone who we know will come, will help us to light our lamps when we will be woken up by that voice in the night “Behold the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!”

We definitely need this oil. Some days ago, three Xaverian brothers professed their desire to say their definitive “yes” to their Spouse, through the vows of chastity, poverty, obedience, and mission. They have prepared the oil for their journey. They know, that the path of their lives will consist of beautiful moments of enlightenment, as well as moments of darkness and despair. The cross is a necessary and unavoidable ingredient of the life of any disciple of Christ. They know that they need the oil of hope and faith, a faith which makes them believe that darkness does not last forever, and that the bridegroom is coming even if they can not see him yet. He is on his way, and it will be full of happiness!