At first reading it may appear that St. Matthew has made a mistake. After narrating Christ’s tale of the ten young women charged to attend to a newly married couple, the evangelist’s concluding advice to his readers is quite clear: “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Now St. Matthew had previously noted that five of the servants had been prudent enough to arrive all prepared. These maids had sufficient oil in their lamps to carry out their chores. Alas, the five other helpers had been negligent and did not have enough oil in their lamps to carry out their tasks. The difference between the two groups of women is clearly that five were prudent about the oil available and five were negligent about their fuel supply. Their sleeping habits contribute nothing at all to the tale. St. Matthew himself notes clearly: “...they all became drowsy and fell asleep (25:5).” So it seems the sacred writer’s final advice should not be about dozing off – “Stay awake” -- but rather, as any good Scout knows, “Be prepared!” First pay attention to the matter at hand! Then you may certainly be free to lay your head on any pillow.
But before the reader dismisses the evangelist’s seemingly faulty analysis too quickly, nearby writings from St. Matthew deserve some attention. In the author’s previous chapter, the former tax-collector made other observations about vigilance for Christ’s eventual return. The writer notes, “Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come (24:4-42).” Surely two men plowing in a field and two women grinding at the mill should not be planning to take a snooze. Yet the author draws the same conclusion as he did regarding the ten maidens: “Stay awake!”
Much more justifiable, however, is the like advice given to a victim of a robbery. “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come (24:43-44).” Now here, deprivation of sleep is perfectly understandable and indeed commendable! Yes, sitting by the door with sword or axe or staff in hand awaiting a burglary is perfectly understandable in this instance. Indeed stay awake!
Maids tending to a wedding couple, laborers busy in a field, women preparing flour, and home-owners suspicious of thieves all have the same responsibility. Regardless of his or her immediate occupation and irrespective of the time of day, each serious believer must be alert to the prospect of meeting Christ, both in this world and in the next! The Old Testament reading at this Sunday’s Mass anticipates this responsibility of making an effort to meet Christ not only at the end of the world but now, daily. The ancient author writes about the wisdom that an encounter with Christ will assure: “Whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed, for he shall find her sitting by his gate (6:14).” Yes, an encounter with Christ in not only an event that will occur at his Second Coming but rather an experience that is available to every sincere and alert believer right here and now, as near as the front door. Christ is accessible every dawn and is always sitting by the front gate. The psalmist as well agrees on the ready availability of Christ’s presence: “I will remember you upon my couch, and through the night-watches I will meditate on you (Ps.63:7).”
Christian believers have daily to demand of themselves how often they attempt soulfully to encounter Christ through prayer, through the Scriptures, through charitable work, through the sacraments and sacramental devotions. Such alertness is the “stay awake” upon which St. Matthew insists several times in his writings. And this has been the hallmark of every authentic believer, those who thought the Second Coming was just in the offing and those who must wait patiently and hopefully for its mysterious fulfillment. In the meantime, “stay awake!” Stay attuned to Christ in personal prayer, in communal worship and in charitable undertakings.
