The Parable of the Ten Virgins (2026)
By Fr. Conor Donnelly
(Proofread)
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins, and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten wedding attendants took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, though they took their lamps, took no oil with them, whereas the wise ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Look, the bridegroom. Go out and meet him.’ Then all those wedding attendants woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, our lamps are going out.’ But they replied, ‘There may not be enough for us and for you. You had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves.’ They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall, and the door was closed. The other attendants arrived later, ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us.’ But he replied, ‘In truth I tell you, I do not know you.’ So stay awake because you do not know either the day or the hour” (Matt. 25:1–13).
In this gospel Our Lord makes reference to social customs with which his listeners were perfectly familiar. That’s why Our Lord does not spend time on general explanations. Among the Jews it was common practice for women to be given in marriage at a very young age. It was then the custom to celebrate the betrothal. After this first stage of the marriage, the woman, who was quite often still an adolescent, would continue to reside with her parents for some further time. Then after some months had passed, the wedding ceremony itself would take place. It consisted of the solemn transfer of the betrothed from her parents’ house to the residence of her spouse, to their new home, in order to initiate their life in common as husband and wife. The ceremony was frequently celebrated in the late afternoon. Such was the case of the wedding feast in Our Lord’s parable.
The transfer of the betrothed from her parents’ home to her new abode always took on a specific character of solemnity and would be conducted in a festive mood that in small villages would spread and reach out to all of its inhabitants. One writer said an entourage would then be organized to accompany the betrothed during the transfer. This escort was usually composed of the bride’s friends. The transfer itself would begin the moment the spouse arrived to fetch his beloved. Upon arrival at her new house, those who had just escorted the betrothed couple would join the other invited guests in the bridegroom’s house, and the festivities of the wedding would immediately commence once the gates had been shut. This parable concerns a bridegroom who happens to arrive unexpectedly in the middle of the night. The question is whether the escorting bridal party is ready to receive him. The bridegroom is Christ. He will come again in some future time. The virgins represent mankind. Some are vigilant, while others have been careful or careless. One writer says the time of waiting is a symbol of our life on earth. The arrival of the bridegroom and the wedding celebration signify the inauguration of the state of eternal bliss in the company of Christ.
The parable brings to our mind that fateful moment when God calls each and every soul to himself. This is the moment of death. Following God’s judgment, some souls enter fully into God’s presence, while others find themselves excluded from the wedding feast forever. The Old Testament speaks to us about death. In the book of Ecclesiastes, it says, “If a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie” (Eccles. 11:3). At the time of death, the state of the soul is fixed for all eternity. The ten virgins of the parable were entrusted with a serious responsibility. They were to await the coming of the bridegroom who was expected at any moment. Five of the virgins took their assignment seriously. They did everything possible to be on guard. The wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. The other five virgins were foolish. They took no oil with them. They became caught up in other concerns and neglected the primary duty of welcoming the bridegroom.
We cannot forget that God is our ultimate end. Everything else is of secondary importance, whether it be success, fame, poverty, or wealth, health or sickness. These temporal concerns can be beneficial to us, but only if they help us to keep our lamps burning. We need to maintain a good supply of oil, of good works, especially works of charity. We can remember to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord and not become distracted by things of secondary importance. St. Josemaría had the habit of saying there are things we fail to remember, not because we have short memories, but because we are short of love. We have to be careful not to fall into carelessness and lukewarmness in our spiritual life. We can’t allow ourselves to become attached to the things of this world to the detriment of the things of God. When we arrive in the presence of God, he will ask us two questions, said John Henry Cardinal Newman, if we are members of the church and if we have labored for the church. Everything else, he says, is of little value, whether being rich or poor, famous or unknown, highly thought of or disgraced, whether we have been sick or healthy, whether we have a good or bad name.
We can examine the motivations for our conduct. Do we seek Our Lord in everything we do, or do we seek ourselves? If Christ were to call us to himself today, would he find us vigilant, our lives replete with good works? And we’re told that at midnight there was a cry, “Behold the bridegroom, come out to meet him” (Matt. 25:6).
In the immediate aftermath of our death, we will encounter God in the particular judgment. At that time we will receive before our eyes all the good works and sins of our past life. How delighted we will be to review those many acts of faith we have made to Jesus Christ present in the Tabernacle. We will take comfort in the countless genuflections we have made with love in the many hours of work we have offered to God, in the smile and good cheer we have brought to our workplace, and the efforts we have made to bring our friend to the sacrament of confession. We will also contemplate with joy our participation in works of mercy, our prompt recourse to the sacrament of confession whenever we have sinned. And yet how much sorrow we will have at the sight of those occasions when we have offended God, those hours of work or study which we failed to sanctify, those lost opportunities for apostolate with our friends. What a shame to behold so little generosity and attention to God’s grace. How grieved we will be by so much neglect.
It is Christ who will judge us. He is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. As St. Paul reminded the first Christians at Corinth, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil according to what he has done in the body” (2 Cor. 5:10). If we are faithful in the little things of each day, then we will have no fear in coming before Christ. On the contrary, we will feel an immense peace and joy at the prospect of this encounter. St. Teresa of Avila provides a moving description of that moment. But it will be, she says, a great thing at the hour of death, when we are going we know not whither, to realize that we shall be judged by one whom we have loved above all things, and with a passion that makes us entirely forget ourselves. Once our debts have been paid, we shall be able to walk in safety. We shall not be going into a foreign land, but into our own country. For it belongs to him whom we have loved so truly and who himself loves us. As St. Thomas Aquinas says, right after death, the soul itself will find itself within the banquet hall or outside the bolted doors forever. He teaches that the soul is lifted up or brought down by its merits or the lack thereof.
Thus, we can meditate today on the condition of our soul. Are we making a sincere effort to rectify our intention, to sanctify our work? We can take to heart those words of the responsorial psalm, “O God, you are my God, I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where no water is” (Ps. 63:1). My Lord, I am convinced that the things of this world have no meaning unless they lead me to you. There are things that we fail to remember, not because we have short memories, but because we are short of love. A person in love does not forget. As long as Our Lord is our highest priority, we will remain vigilant. We will not become distracted. We will heed the Lord’s counsel at the conclusion of this parable, where he says, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matt. 25:13).
To prepare ourselves for this encounter with the Lord, we need to acquire a profound understanding of ourselves. We are now living in a time of testing. St. Paul warns the Corinthians, “If we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:31). Let us not be taken by surprise by our past faults and failings. We need to make a daily examination of conscience so that we can identify our trouble spots and apply the necessary remedy. So to make sure that there are no surprises at the last moment.
One writer says, I often like to take this book in my own hands. This book that I’m in the process of writing, whether I like it or not, as long as I live. I like to take it up and open it and let my soul read it. And that’s very easy and very useful to do at the time of prayer or of examining one’s conscience. I like to think that every day of my life is a page of this book. And when I begin a day, often I have in front of me a blank sheet of paper. And sometimes I run quickly through the pages already written and allow the blank pages to pass through my fingers. The pages which are as yet unwritten, because the time hasn’t come. And in a funny way, some pages always stay on my fingers. They are the days I don’t know whether I’ll get to write, because I don’t know when the Lord will show me this book for the last time.
We do not know how much time is left to us to correct and improve the manuscript of our book. The examination of conscience helps us to ask pardon for our mistakes. This exercise also gives us the time to rectify our behavior. If we examine our conscience each night, we will be well prepared to make a good confession. It is through frequent consideration of the eternal truths of death and judgment that we prevent ourselves from being deceived by our pride and by the attractions of this world. The name of the game is examination of conscience. You will gain a great deal of knowledge of yourself and of your character and your life. You will teach yourself to love God and to pin down your desire to make good use of your days by making clear effective resolutions. St. Josemaría says, “Friend, take up the book of your life and turn its pages every day, so that you won’t be surprised when it’s read on the day of your particular judgment and won’t be ashamed when it’s published on the day of the universal judgment.”
The Lord calls those unprepared virgins imprudent, foolish. There is no greater act of stupidity than to put at risk one’s eternal happiness. We could ask Our Lady to help us to make good use of our time, every day, of every hour, of every period of time, ordinary little pieces of time that are given to us each day.
One person tells a story, saying imagine that you won the following prize in a contest. Each morning, your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private account for your use. But this prize has certain rules. One is that everything that you didn’t spend during each day would be taken away from you. You can’t simply transfer money into some other account. You can only spend it. Each morning upon awakening, the bank will open your account and another $86,400 will be deposited for that day. The bank can end the game without warning. At any time, it can say, “Game over.” It can close your account and you won’t receive a new one. What would you personally do? Well, you might buy anything and everything that you wanted, not only for yourself, but for all the people you love and care for, even for the people you don’t know, because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself. You would try to spend every cent and use it all, because you knew it would be replenished in the morning.
Well, you could say that this game is real. Each of us is already a winner of that prize. We just can’t seem to see it. Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life. And when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is not credited to us. What we haven’t used up that day is lost forever. Yesterday is gone forever. Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your accounts at any time without warning. So what will we do with our 86,400 seconds? Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars. We could think about this and remember to make good use of every second of our life. Because time races by so much quicker than we think. So we could try and make an effort and a resolution to use our time better.
Jesus speaks of small increments of time. “This day you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). I saw a sign on a clock here in Nairobi one time, saying, “Time is free, but it’s priceless.” We could ask Our Lord for the grace to savor that realization that time is priceless, as a treasure, a gift of God, a talent. And God calls each one of us to be like those prudent and wise virgins, who made good use of their time. And that means we should have a plan for every day, a plan for our spiritual life, a plan for our professional life, a plan for our home life. What is planned for gets done. What is written down gets done. It doesn’t stay in the realm of our imagination.
And time is for glory, it’s for grace, it’s for eternity. It’s an instrument in our hands, we’re doing something with it. To gather the oil. And in the story, ultimately, the oil is everything that’s necessary in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. It’s an instrument that we have been given in order to do something with it. Being given to us in order to work, to serve, to develop ourselves, to give glory to God. It’s an instrument. We don’t go looking for time for its own sake. We don’t go around telling everybody, “I have time, I have time, I have time.” Nobody says, “I have a pen, I have a pen, I have a pen.” What you do with that instrument is what’s important. Just like we look for a pen in order to write with it.
And it’s an instrument on loan. God will ask us to account for those 86,400 seconds day by day. It has been given to us very specifically. It has to be used for the purpose for which it was given. And the fact that it has been given, well, also is a sign that it’s not ours. We can’t play around with it. We can’t add a single second to an hour. We can’t shorten it or lengthen it. It’s one of the gifts that God has given, and we have very little playroom. God gives his time, and at the end, he asks for it back. We’re told in Scripture, “But about that day and the hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matt. 24:36). And everyone has a limited amount of time. A packet of a number of years, some of 20, some 40, 60, 80, 100. Some babies just get a few hours of light, but each gets their time.
St. Josemaría liked to speak about the sanctification of the moment, each second, each moment in our existence, very ordinary moments as we function throughout each day and each night. Our sanctity is tied up in the sanctification of those moments. We sanctify them by living in the presence of God, by having a heart-to-heart relationship with Jesus or with Our Lady or our guardian angel, or by practicing some virtue. Our life is made up of many sanctified moments. An act of thanksgiving is an act of a moment.
And in Scripture, we see that when people discover what the will of God is, they go quickly with a sense of urgency to fulfill that will. We’re told that Our Lady went with haste into the hill country. The shepherds went with haste to Bethlehem. So Lord, give us that sense of urgency so that we can work every day with that spirit. Help us to use the time for the specific reason that you’ve given it to us, to work, to develop ourselves, to give God glory.
Time is something sacred. It belongs to God. We have to use it for that for which God has given it to us. For that reason, we also have to respect other people’s time through punctuality, through order. Whenever we’re late for some appointment, even by a few minutes, it’s very good manners to message that person ahead and let them know we’re going to be a little bit late. It’s a very good gesture of charity. It sends a message that I appreciate your time. I respect it. I value time.
From the contemplation of all of these things that the parable has spoken to us about, taking oil in our lamps, we can turn to Our Lady, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. She will help us to make good use of our time, to take all that oil that we need to take on every opportunity, to purify our life so that it may bear abundant fruit.
We can also ask our guardian angel. He always accompanies us as our principal witness. He will be there for us also at the particular and general judgment. And hopefully, as some writers say, he will remember the kind deeds that we have performed for Our Lord throughout our life, which we may have long forgotten. And as St. Josemaría says, “Furthermore, when you feel lost before the terrible accusations of the enemy, your angel will present those intimations of your heart, which perhaps you yourself might have forgotten, those proofs of love which you might have had for God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. That is why you must never forget your guardian angel, and that prince of heaven shall not abandon you now, or at that decisive moment.”
I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
EW