Imagine the bridesmaids leaving their homes to go and await the arrival of the bridegroom. The following conversation takes place among them:
"Do you think we need to take some extra oil?"
"Why? The bridegroom will arrive at sunset anyway. That's what the program says."
"But what if he is delayed. Then we shall not have enough oil for the night?"
"C'mon! Why are you so negative? Why do you always complicate things? You want us to carry extra oil that we are not going to use? Why can't you see the bright side of things?"
"Yes, but you never know! Me, I am taking extra oil, just in case..."

We know the rest of the story. The bridegroom is delayed and the bridesmaids who took extra oil prove to be the wise ones. Wisdom here has little to do with personal intelligence or IQ. Wisdom is a choice -- a choice to do all it takes to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. The foolish ones only hope for the best and do not prepare for the worst possibility.

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins is told against a cultural background that is so different from ours today. Some words about the Jewish wedding in New Testament times might help us to understand the story better. On the wedding day the bridegroom and his friends would go to fetch the bride from her family. The ceremony took place at night, so the bridegroom's party would usually set off to arrive at the bride's sometime after sunset. Meanwhile the bride and her bridesmaids awaited the arrival of the bridegroom and his party. Upon their arrival, the bridesmaids would join the party as they escorted the bride to her bridegroom's family where the party would take place. They carried lighted lamps for the night journey and sang love songs as they went in the procession.

In the Parable, the bridegroom was delayed and arrived at midnight. Meanwhile, the five bridesmaids who took no extra oil had discovered that they were running short of oil and gone to the village to get some more. Meanwhile the procession left for the bridegroom's house. By the time they got the oil and found their way to the bridegroom's house, the party had started and they were locked out. They must have gotten the shock of their lives when they called out, "Lord, lord, open to us!" and heard the voice of the bridegroom, "I do not know you" (vv. 11-12).

This parable, found only in Matthew's Gospel, probably served as a warning to early Christians who hoped for a speedy return of the Saviour. Matthew is telling them that the return of the Lord may be delayed beyond their expectation and that they should, therefore, prepare for the long wait by providing enough oil for their lamps. Many details of the parable make good sense when seen against the framework of this principal theme. The bridegroom is Christ. The bride is the church (Revelation 22:17). The ten bridesmaids are the totality of the members of the church. The lamps, which all the bridesmaids had, could represent faith which all Christians have. The oil, which some of them had and others did not, would then represent good works. A lamp without oil is like faith without good works -- dead and useless (James 2:17).

Is Matthew's message to his fellow Christians still relevant to the Christians of our time? Very much so! As we draw close to the end of the liturgical year, the church, through the gospel, invites us to contemplate the end – the end of our lives and the end of the world. The way to prepare for the end is not to live in fear and anxiety, or to go after prophets and visionaries that claim to have access to God’s secret calendar of how and when the world will end. Jesus told us that the Son of Man will come back on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead. How and when that will be, we do not know for sure. How then is the wise Christian to prepare for the end-times? Today’s parable gives us the answer: The best way to prepare for the end is to follow the example of the wise virgins. The wise virgins took enough oil to keep their lamps burning. In the same way we should engage and persevere in good works to keep our faith alive. That is the best way to make ourselves ready and prepared for the Lord, no matter when the Lord chooses to come.