The lesson from the parable of the 10 virgins

IT’S clear that from this parable (cfr. Mt 25,1-13) we are reminded to be always vigilant in our life, having a clear vision of what the real and ultimate purpose of our life is and of how we can make every event and circumstance of our life pursue that purpose.

This idea may scare us at first, as it surely will involve effort and a certain sense of sobriety that we usually regard as a wet blanket to the spontaneous ways of our humanity. But the truth of the matter is that, whether we like it or not, our life here on earth is a test God is giving us to see if what he wants us to be is also what we ourselves would want to be.

In a sense, our life here on earth is like a business enterprise. In fact, it is the most serious and most important business that we can involve ourselves in. And we just have to learn how we can make that business successful.

This will require some training, of course. We have to develop the proper understanding and attitude toward the purpose of our life, and acquire the relevant skills. We have to know what means and resources we can use. We have to be familiar with the terrain of our drama of our life so we would know how to handle the different conditions and situations we can encounter in our life.

We also have to have a good knowledge of our own selves, making an assessment of our strengths and weaknesses, our assets and liabilities, so to speak. A good practice in this regard is to make daily examinations of conscience, so we would have a running account, so to speak, of how our life is going with respect to its pursuit of its real goal.

To do regular examination is a must for all of us to see if our life, our behavior, our conscience are still on the right track. Otherwise, we open ourselves to all kinds of deviations.

Let’s hope that this need for regular examination be felt by all of us, especially in the personal level, since the vitality and effectiveness of our life, from its personal level to its most global and even cosmic dimensions, greatly depends on that exercise.

It’s there in the examination of conscience where we review our performance of the day in the moral sense. After all, the moral quality of our life, the result of our moral human acts, holds ultimate value over the other aspects of our life.

Everyday, we should have the sensation that through all the events and circumstances of the day, we are making progress in our pursuit for the ultimate purpose of our life. When some problems arise or when we feel we are not making progress, we should make the necessary resolutions to address these problems.

We have to be reminded that everything is already given to us so that whatever happens in our life, we have been provided with all the means—the doctrine of our faith, the sacraments, and others.

It is also good that we avail of spiritual direction so we can be given the appropriate and timely pieces of advice, suggestions and reminders related to our spiritual life, to our relation with God and others, and to our other responsibilities.

It’s important that in this drama of our life, we should maintain a strong faith and hope. We should try to have that ideal condition of being at peace with ourselves and with everybody else, and always eager to do good for God’s glory.