St. Dominic Catholic Church

Homilies

Don’t Run Out of Gas or Oil or Jesus 2020-11-8 Fr. Roberto

Homily for 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A
St. Dominic Church, Los Angeles, CA
Fr. Roberto Corral, OP
November 8, 2020

Title: Don’t Run Out of Gas or Oil or Jesus
Theme: We need Jesus to keep us going, especially in difficult times.
Readings: Wisdom 7:12-16; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

How many of you here have ever run out of gas in your car? I did once, a long time ago, when I was a young man before I entered the Dominicans. Back then, I owned a brand new cool-looking and sporty car; but on one occasion, I ran out of gas. It was embarrassing. What good is a brand new, cool-looking, sporty car if you don’t have gas? Well, I ended up having to walk quite a ways to the nearest gas station, buy a gas can, fill it with gas, then walk back to my car. I ended up being very late to an important meeting. So, the point is, don’t run out of gas!

Our Gospel today is not about running out of gas but about five foolish virgins who ran out of oil for their lamps. They are contrasted with the other five virgins who were wise enough to bring extra oil to keep their lamps lit. Of course, in this parable, Jesus is not really talking about oil or about lamps; he’s talking about making sure you have what it takes to keep you going in your life, to keep alive that flame of faith, hope and love inside of you. 

I would say, therefore, that the lamps in the parable represent our faith, and the oil is what we all need to keep our faith alive, to keep it going: things like prayer, the Mass, receiving the sacraments, reading God’s word in the Bible, going on retreats, attending talks, Bible studies and prayer groups, etc. As Catholics we are blessed to have so many ways in which we can sustain and enrich our faith. And, in addition to all these explicitly religious activities, the reality is that whenever we love, serve and give in our lives that also enriches our faith. 

But I think, besides all these other activities, I believe the lamp oil in today’s parable most importantly symbolizes our relationship with Jesus, because without a meaningful relationship with Jesus in our lives, all of our religious practices are pretty useless. And that is why in today’s parable the wise virgins do not share their oil with the foolish virgins. They are not being selfish; it’s just that their relationship with Jesus is their unique and personal commitment to him, and so it cannot be given to anyone else. So, for example, your faith in Jesus cannot save me; I have to have my own relationship with him that I am responsible for. Each of us has to make our faith our own: we cannot live out our grandmother’s faith, the Pope’s faith, the priest’s faith or anyone else’s faith; it has to be our own faith and our own relationship with Jesus that we live out.

So, the ultimate question this Gospel challenges us to ask ourselves is how we are doing in our faith and in our relationship with Jesus. Now, the thing is, every one of us who has been baptized as a Catholic has been given a “lamp,” so to speak, that represents our Catholic faith. And, therefore, the question for us becomes: is your lamp of faith still lit like the wise virgins’ lamps, or have you run out of oil like the foolish virgins? In other words, is your faith alive and well, or is it barely going or even extinguished altogether? 

Unfortunately, I think there are way too many Catholics who are in that last category; they call themselves Catholic, but they have little or no oil in their lamp, so there is little or no flame of faith in their lives. Their relationship with Jesus is pretty minimal because there is little or no commitment to it. For example, throughout the years I have met so many couples who want to get married in the Church or who want to baptize their child. That’s great, but when I ask them if they are coming to Mass, they often say, “Well, I used to come when I was younger, but then when I went to college or started to work, I just didn’t have time.” Or they’ll tell me that the last time they went to confession or to communion was when they were confirmed in high school ten years earlier.

I think there are way too many Catholics are sacramentalized but not evangelized. In other words, they dutifully receive their sacraments when they are supposed to – baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, and perhaps Marriage – so they are sacramentalized; but they have no ongoing relationship with Jesus and, therefore, no real commitment to their Catholic faith – and, therefore, they are not evangelized. Do you understand what I am saying? Like the foolish virgins in today’s Gospel, they have their “Catholic lamps,” but they don’t have any oil to keep their lamps lit. Their Catholic faith is as useful as a brand new cool-looking, sporty car with no gas, so they are not going anywhere in their spiritual lives.

Now, I think all of us can agree that the year 2020 has been a challenge for us, right? There have been so many difficult things we have had to deal with that have sucked the energy out of us, attacked our faith and, therefore, diminished the oil in our lamps: the pandemic, the economic recession, the lockdown and social distancing protocols, not being able to get together, not being able to have Mass inside church, not being able to get away for any kind of break; the fires and hurricanes, the racial injustices, the protests, the divisions in our Church and in our country, the negativity in the presidential campaigns, the uncertainty in the election process, all the awful stuff on social media and the news, and on and on. As a result, I have noticed in my own life more irritability, more negativity and even depression. And I have certainly heard similar things in many confessions these last few months. I think we are all struggling one way or another in our faith, in our personal lives and in our relationships.

My brothers and sisters, that is why, now more than ever, we need to have oil in our lamps! 
We need to pray, read the Bible, come to Mass or watch it online and do what we can to receive the sacraments! Most of all, we need to commit ourselves to our relationship with Jesus! Jesus is the key. He loves you and will not abandon you. He will give you the strength and hope you need to keep you going; he will give you the oil you need in your lamp!

So, my brothers and sisters, don’t run out of gas in your car; don’t run out of oil in your lamp, and, most importantly, don’t run out of Jesus in your heart and in your life. Keep you lamp lit!