Echoes in Eternity

Seeing how our actions have consequences in heaven

08/31/2018

Matthew 25:1-13 Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.  The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.' While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'  But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.' Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

One of the most fundamental laws of human nature states that actions have consequences. Good actions have good consequences, while evil actions produce evil consequences. And yet, tragically, many people try to live as if that law did not apply to them. We attempt to teach our children this basic law with the concept of Santa Claus (nowadays it is with Elf on the Shelf). If you are nice, you will receive Christmas presents, but if you are naughty, you will not. And they get it! World religions inculcate this law in their adherents with spiritual principles like Karma. Good actions create good karma that will eventually be rewarded, but bad actions produce the opposite karma that will be punished. The Roman Empire owed both its rise and its decline to this basic belief as captured in a line from the movie “Gladiator.” Emperor Marcus Aurelius, a great philosopher in his own right, oversees a battle against the Germanic tribes. His best general, Maximus Decimus Meridius, played by Russell Crowe, stirs his soldiers with the sober statement: “Brothers, what we do in life, echoes in eternity.” That is, the law of actions and consequences does not stop at the edge of the grave, but penetrates deep into Paradise itself, where it echoes in eternity.

The parable of the ten wise and ten foolish virgins, found in Matthew 25, is the first of three sections in this chapter that underscores this same law: actions have consequences. Indeed, “what we do in life echoes in eternity.” The story of the wise and foolish virgins is followed by the parable of the ten talents (use your gifts do not bury them), and that by the judgment of the nations (what you do to the little ones you do to Christ).  Each illustrates the law of cause and effect.  In today’s parable, the wise virgins carry sufficient oil in their lamps while the foolish fail to think ahead and run out of oil.

The Church has always seen that oil lamp as a symbol of baptism, where the baby receives a candle lit from the Easter Candle, the Paschal Candle. But even if that baptismal candle is extinguished by our sins, it can be rekindled in sacramental confession. In other words, the parable of the wise and foolish virgins does not refer to literal oil lamps, but to the life of grace given through the sacraments, particularly baptism and sustained in confession. The wise virgins frequently refreshed their spiritual lamps, their spiritual lives, with the oil of grace. The foolish virgins tragically neglect the sacramental sources of grace and goodness. They may have been baptized but they never received more sacraments and their lamps run dry and their spiritual life dies. The parable of the wise and foolish virgins stress again the basic law of human nature: actions have consequences even in the spiritual life; so much so that they even echo in eternity.

Obedience and disobedience to this inescapable law of life is being again born out in the Church today with the clergy sexual abuse scandal. Apparently, some clergy, like foolish virgins, ignored this law and foolishly felt it would not apply to them. They thought they could sin with impunity. But as a Protestant Pastor famously said recently: “Their chickens have come home to roost.” The consequences of their actions will to be faced here on earth, in front of a Grand Jury, but also in heaven before the Great Judge of all. Why? Because, “brothers, what we do in life echoes in eternity.”

But we should not judge others without also conducting a searching self-examination. How often do we ignore, or foolishly feel, that our actions will not have consequences? We tell white lies, we steal from the company, we talk mercilessly about others, we commit impure acts in private, we are lazy and cut-corners, we skip Sunday Mass, and on and on. This is precisely why Jesus taught the parable of the wise and foolish virgins: when our lamps go out due to our sins, we can replenish and relight them with the new oil of confession. The wise virgins never skimp on the sacraments and therefore are ready when the Bridegroom comes. They are wise because they know their actions have consequences, on earth and in eternity.

Praised be Jesus Christ!