Are The Prudent Virgins Selfish? 明智的童女自私嗎？

Thirty-Second Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: Are The Prudent Virgins Selfish? 明智的童女自私嗎？

Some civilizations are very pragmatic. For example, one finds a lot of practical knowledge in the Chinese culture and less analytic philosophy. There are world renowned classics such as “孫子兵法The Art of War”, “墨子Mozi”, “黃帝內經The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor” and “九章算經The Nine Chapters” etc. Of course, there are philosophy classics, such as “易經The Book of Changes” and “道德經Dao De Jing”. But they are more poetic than their Greek counterparts which are more analytic. Moreover, ancient Chinese philosophers quickly gravitate towards morality instead of investigating being-ness or the essence of existence! Perhaps the languages they speak have already delimited the ways of thinking available to them. Thus, it is important to know yourself. It applies to both individuals and civilizations alike because language plays the most essential part in their communications. In Chinese, 「知人者智，自知者明。He who knows others is discerning, he who knows himself is intelligent. 勝人者有力，自勝者強 He who overcomes other is strong, he who overcomes himself is mighty.」 （道德經Dao Te Jing）After all, when you attain a certain level of awareness, language does not seem to matter anymore!

In the case of “智wisdom”, it appears only in 22 verses among pre-Qin Chinese classics. Most of them tie with “仁beneficence”. In them we read 「仁智」 together in the same breath, showing the moralistic tendency of Chinese philosophy. There are a few instances of 「聖智」, but we need to be careful with the word 「聖」 because among pre-Qin Chinese classics, it appears in 146 verses covering a wide range of usages. It does not mean being holy, other or sacred in the Judaea-Christian sense! Anyway, wisdom is among the 五常five Chinese Constant Virtues, viz. 仁beneficence, 義righteousness, 禮propriety, 智wisdom and 信trustworthiness. Wisdom is more or less, equivalent to “prudence” of the Greek cardinal virtues.

Thus, in the Chinese eyes, the five wise virgins in the parable today were not wise at all because they did not show any beneficence towards their needy fellow sisters. “No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves” (Matthew 25:9). It was probably prudent of them not to share oil but such a decision backfired to badmouth them. They sounded rather selfish, treating their fellow sisters like rivals. Doesn’t Jesus teach us to “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you” (7:12)? Put themselves in the shoes of the foolish virgins, the prudent ones would also want somebody to help them by sharing oil with them. Later, Jesus also teaches us to help the needy, viz. the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the homeless, the sick and the imprisoned. In helping the needy, we are serving the Lord, our King (25:40). Furthermore, their refusal to share seems to go against the doctrine of “communion of saints”! Judging from these criteria, the so-called wise virgins did not deserve to enter the Kingdom of Heaven! But we should not judge the prudent virgins too harshly because the foolish virgins were not the needy who were unable to make ends meet. Moreover, the “communion of saints”, namely helping the needy fellow Christians is not a compulsory commandment. Helping needy fellow sisters is meritorious only because it is voluntary. Therefore, there are not sufficient evidences to condemn the prudent virgins.

The Chinese way of seeing things does not have the final say. It is because there are many other ways to understand the parable. First, we should try to interpret a piece of text with other passages from the same book. So, where else in Matthew can we find lamp and light? In Chapter 5, Jesus says, “Nor do they light a lamp … Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (5:15-16). Therefore, the lamp and thus the light of the virgins symbolizes the good deeds we have done on earth. Then the oil must be the desire and the will to serve the needy. If this interpretation is correct, how can we share the desire and the will to serve the needy with others unless you are a saint like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who were able to inspire others to pursue generously the beatific poverty? Thus, we cannot brand the prudent virgins selfish because the desire and the will to serve and help the needy is the virtue of charity which cannot be shared and do not emerge overnight. The perfection of virtues come from practices.

Though we do not have sufficient evidence to condemn the foolish virgins, the Lord does. He says, “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you” (25:12). Please notice that the word “know εἴδω” appears 43 times in Matthew, 21 times rendered as “know” and 20 times “see”! Let’s not talk about the intimacy conveyed by the word “know” for the time being. Just imagine, the Lord tells you in the face, “I do not see you … help the homeless on the streets, care for the hospitalized, join masses on Sundays, adore the Eucharist and confess your sins etc. in Church …” How can those practising Catholics help you? They cannot do it for you. Those practising Catholics have done their share in showing you examples. It is up to you to follow or not. If your priorities in life are different from theirs, it is your choice and your responsibility and not theirs. In fact, if we turn to the intimacy nuances of the word “know”, it is all the more obvious that your relationship with the Lord is unique and nobody can take your place and do it in your stead. Alas! Modern people care more about their comfort, convenience and security than the salvation of their souls. What else can we do?

As for the issue of the “communion of saints”, it is true that we cannot transfer our “merits” because they are not transferable as shown above. However, the prudent virgins can still intercede for those foolish virgins! The stories of Abraham (Genesis 18) and Moses (Exodus 32) are instructive. Since the prudent virgins are already in the company of the bridegroom like the saints in heaven who have better access to the heavenly King. Therefore, the prudent virgins may beg the Lord, not out of the “merits” they have achieved, but out of His benevolent mercy, to open the heavenly gate, admitting those foolish virgins. Such an act of intercession is what the Lord wants and would lead to a very happy ending for the whole universe! The Lord says, “This is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what He gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day” (John 6:39) and “He wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Lord, Your Will be done! Amen.
Beloved brethren! Let us pray that the victorious Church in heaven remember to intercede for us. Amen.

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2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: ainvaresart.com