His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros Homily for the Second Bridegroom Service
Evening of Great and Holy Monday - April 13, 2020
Archdiocese Chapel of Saint Paul, New York, New York
My beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Just two day ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to thousands of faithful who participated in the nationwide webinar on the Saturday of Lazaros. In the course of the hour, someone asked me if I thought that this pandemic was a sign of the End of Days, a signal that the Second Coming of the Lord was near. I replied that this is unknown, even as the Lord Himself said:
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of Heaven, but My Father only.[*]
I also reminded everyone that it is not just about when the Lord will return as He promised; it is about when we shall go forth to meet Him at the end of our days.
Just as there is no guarantee to anyone that they will live in the Last Days, there is most certainly a definite guarantee that our days on this earth are numbered. This pandemic is a painful reminder of our fragility and our mortality. And there is a seed of wisdom in this knowledge, one that germinates in the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
That is the reason for placing this Parable in tonight’s Nymphios Service. The Five wise and the Five foolish—their journey to meet the Bridegroom is an image of the journey of every soul. Some are prepared to meet the Lord, and some are not. But it is inevitable that He will come.
Listen to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Then will the Kingdom of Heaven be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the Bridegroom. Now, five of the virgins were wise, and five were foolish. When the foolish each picked up their lamps, they did not take any oil along. But the wise took jars of oil along with their lamps.[†]
Each group of Five starts out with a lamp that is lit and full. This symbolizes every human being because we all have the same capacity for God. Each of us, even before our Baptism, is made in the image of God. We are beings that are created for communion and for community. Just as the Holy Trinity is One, and yet Three. We are made for relationships that spring from love, just as the Holy Trinity is the fountainhead of love; for God is love, ὁΘεός ἀγάπη ἐστίν.[‡]
But for most of us, life is not lived in a single day or a single year. It is a journey, and we need to replenish the oil that feeds the flame of our love throughout our lives. For some, this means marriage and family. For others, it means a life of chaste service – often in the Church, and also in the world. But through the manner in which we live our lives, if we are wise, if we are intuitive, if we are prudent and thoughtful, we will cultivate a life that is loving and altruistic. That is what it means for the Five Wise Virgins to be carrying the jars of oil.
The Five Foolish ones are examples of lives that began with a capacity for love, but through a self-centered, selfish existence, they exhausted their God-given human grace.
But then – in the middle of the night, there was a shout, ‘Behold the Bridegroom comes!’[§] This is not the Second Coming of our Lord, as much as it is the moment when life is at an end and we come to Him. In that moment, the Five Foolish ask the Five Wise for some oil. But you cannot seize the virtue or the merit of others. You must live your own life, and be judged by your own deeds. Even if you run to do good at the very end, you may not have enough time, as the Parable says:
But as the five foolish virgins went off to buy the oil, the Bridegroom arrived. And the five who were prepared went in with Him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.[**]
This is why we watch. This is why we remain vigilant in our spiritual lives. This is why we are diligent and not lazy in pursuing righteousness and truth, and always love.
My beloved Christians, remember the saying of the Lord:
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of Heaven, but My Father only.[††]
This could also be said for the end of each and every one of us, not just the Second and Glorious Coming of the Lord.
That is why in this intense week, this Holy Week, we take stock of our lives, and we examine our deeds, to see how we are really living. Are we like the Wise? Or are we like the Foolish. Do we continually refresh our hearts with love for even the unlovable? Or do we waste the precious moments of our life in only selfish endeavors?
Therefore, we cry out:
Ἀλλ' ὦ Νυμφίε Χριστέ, μετὰ τῶν φρονίμων ἡμᾶς συναρίθμησον Παρθένων, καὶ τῇ ἐκλεκτῇ σου σύνταξον ποίμνῃ, καὶ ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς.
O Christ our Bridegroom, unite us with the wise virgins and join us to Your chosen flock, and have mercy on us and save us. Amen.[‡‡]