Welcome to the latest edition of the weekly Say Yes to Holiness newsletter—designed to help inspire, encourage and accompany you on the path towards holiness.
Are YOU Ready for the arrival of the Bridegroom?
I have to say that at the moment, I do NOT feel ready. Mostly because I am in the process of relocating to Rome (Georgia) to be closer to my mom, so as I pack up the house, I realize how much STUFF I still have and things that I need to let go of in order to be ready for when Jesus shows up! (As the saying goes, when you die, you can’t take it with you.) I know that this is an opportunity the Lord is providing for me to shed things to be able to really start anew come Advent, but for all of you who have moved, it is HARD!
Anyway, my own current transition is only amplified by our continuing to move closer to the end of the liturgical year as the Church invites us to reflect upon the reality of eternity and whether we are truly prepared to meet the Lord. This is the focus in the Gospel of Matthew 25:1–13, where Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins who are awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom.
Jesus tells us that five are wise, and five are foolish. But all ten fall asleep as they are waiting for the bridegroom. But then, when the bridegroom finally arrives, only five are ready to welcome him because they brought sufficient oil for their lamps. The other five try to rectify the situation by seeking more oil, but ultimately, they are left outside the wedding feast. Jesus concludes His parable with a warning: “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
Now, we might be tempted to think that this parable is simply about being prepared for our death. And although that is true, it is also about reflecting upon how we are living our lives in this present moment. So, ask these questions: Are we preparing ourselves to encounter Christ? Are we cultivating the virtues, habits and relationships that will sustain us as we await His coming? Or are we presuming that we will have plenty of time to prepare ourselves later?
Each of us is being called to be like the five wise virgins by keeping our lamps filled with the oil of faith, hope and charity, so that when the Bridegroom comes, He will fid us ready to enter into the eternal wedding feast with Him.
Therefore, this week’s Food for the Head, Heart, Hands and Feet will strive to inspire, encourage and accompany you in becoming more prepared to meet the Bridegroom as we each continue our journey towards holiness...
Food for the Head
"Can there be a more fitting pursuit in youth or a more valuable possession in old age than a knowledge of Holy Scripture? In the midst of storms it will preserve you from the dangers of shipwreck and guide you to the shore of an enchanting paradise and the ever-lasting bliss of the angels.” —Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface shares with us that through knowing Sacred Scripture, we can become like the wise virgins in the Gospel.
Those five wise virgins knew that they needed to have enough oil to sustain their lamps while waiting for the bridegroom. They understood what was necessary and prepared accordingly. The foolish virgins, on the other hand, knew that the bridegroom was coming, but they failed to prepare adequately.
How often do we do the same?
Although we know that we are going to die someday, and are called to spend eternity with God, and we know that we need to grow in holiness, we still fail to do these things so that we are prepared properly, don’t we?
Yet Saint Boniface reminds us that Scripture is one of the greatest treasures we have to help us become prepared. Not only does Scripture teach us who God is, and who we are in relation to Him, it also teaches us how to live. And then when the storms of life come, Scripture provides us the wisdom and knowledge we need to persevere.
However, we must first KNOW the Scriptures. We can’t rely upon someone else’s knowledge of Scripture any more than the foolish virgins could rely upon the wise virgins to provide them some oil when the Bridegroom arrived.
To make sure we ARE ready when the Bridegroom arrives, we must cultivate our own knowledge and understanding of God’s Word, and then allow it to illuminate our path towards holiness.
This week, resolve to spend time each day reading and meditating upon Sacred Scripture so that you may grow in wisdom and be prepared to meet the Bridegroom.
Food for the Heart
"When you have free moments, go faithfully to prayer. The good God is waiting for you there.” —Saint Julie Billiart
Saint Julie Billiart reminds us of the beautiful reality that God is waiting for us. Just as the ten virgins were waiting for the bridegroom, the Lord is waiting for each and every one of us to come into His presence.
And how do we do that?
Through prayer.
Prayer is the means by which we cultivate our relationship with God and allow Him to fill our hearts with His grace and love. But, unfortunately, many of us treat prayer as something we do only when we have time, or if we need something, or if life becomes so overwhelming that we finally turn to God because we have nowhere else to go.
But that’s not how we should cultivate an intimate relationship with someone we love, is it?
Imagine if you only spoke to your spouse, children or closest friends when you needed something from them! That would not be much of a relationship, would it? Yet, far too often, that’s how we approach our relationship with God, and we presume that He will always be there whenever we finally get around to spending time with Him.
And while God is always present and inviting us into relationship with Him, the parable reminds us that our opportunity to respond will not last forever. The foolish virgins discovered this when they returned with their oil only to find the door to the wedding feast closed. Similarly, we must not presume that we can wait until some future moment to cultivate our relationship with Christ.
The time is NOW.
The Lord is waiting.
Let us go to Him.
This week, resolve to spend time each day in prayer, allowing the Lord to fill your heart with His love and grace so that you may be ready to welcome Him whenever He comes.
Food for the Hands
“What was the first rule of our dear Savior’s life? You know it was to do His Father’s will. Well, then, the first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly to do it in the manner He wills; and thirdly to do it because it is His will.” —Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton provides us with a very practical way to ensure that our lamps remain filled with oil.
Do God’s will in the manner that He wills, because it is His will.
Pretty straightforward, isn’t it?
Yet, don’t we struggle to even do the first of those things? Even though we might know what God is asking of us, we don’t necessarily want to do it, do we?
Or perhaps we might be willing to do what God asks, but only if we can do it in the manner that WE want. And then maybe when we do God’s will, we sometimes do it for reasons other than love of God. We might do it for recognition, or appreciation, or simply the satisfaction of knowing that we have done something good.
But Saint Elizabeth reminds us that holiness is found not merely in doing good things, but in doing God’s will for the right reasons.
That is how we fill our lamps with the oil of charity so they will be filled when the Bridegroom comes. It is through all the daily, ordinary and often unnoticed acts of love and obedience that prepare our souls for eternity. And what is amazing is that we don’t need to accomplish extraordinary things to become saints.
We just need to do them with extraordinary love and faithfulness.
But we need to do them now and not wait until some imagined future moment when we will have more time, energy or opportunity.
The time is now. Are you ready to do God’s will in the manner He will because He wills it?
Then let’s get after it.
This week, resolve to fulfill your daily duties according to God’s will, in the manner He desires, and out of love for Him.
Food for the Feet
"When uncertain about God’s will, it is very important that we tell ourselves: ‘Even if there are aspects of God’s will that escape me, there are always others that I know for sure and can invest in without any risk, knowing that this investment always pays dividends.’ ... Lacking answers about the future, we should prepare to receive them by living today to the full.” —Father Jacques Philippe, Interior Freedom, p. 55
Father Jacques Philippe gives us a wonderful insight into what it means to remain vigilant while awaiting the Lord.
Live today to the full.
Not tomorrow. Not next week. And not when we finally figure out what God wants us to do with our lives.
TODAY.
One of the greatest temptations we face is to become so preoccupied with the future that we neglect the present. We worry about what might happen. We wonder whether we are making the right decisions. And we spend enormous amounts of time and energy trying to discern what God wants us to do next. In the process, we neglect being attentive to what we already know God wants us to do.
Like pray. And love our neighbor. And fulfill our daily responsibilities. And receive the sacraments, practice virtue, and trust Him.
All the things that fill our lamps with oil.
They are things we can do regardless of whether we know what tomorrow may bring. The five wise virgins did not know when the bridegroom would arrive, but they prepared themselves anyway so that when he finally came, they were ready.
We must do the same.
Rather than becoming anxious about when or how the Lord may come, we need to focus upon being faithful to Him in the present moment.
It can seem daunting at times, but this is where we can turn to the Blessed Mother because Mary is the greatest example of this kind of faithfulness. She did not know all that would happen when she said YES to the angel Gabriel, but she trusted God and continued to say YES throughout her life.
We can learn to do the same when we spend time with Mary in prayer, especially by praying the Rosary. Through the Rosary, Mary teaches us how to trust God and live each day in faithful anticipation of His promises so that we will be ready when He arrives to take us to our eternal homeland.
This week, resolve to live each day to the full by faithfully doing what you already know God desires of you, trusting that He will reveal the next step when the time comes.
One of my favorite ways to grow in trust and faithfulness is by praying the Rosary. To help you pray, check out the Daily Rosary podcast by the School of Faith.
Exhortation
“The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” —C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
C.S. Lewis gives us a sobering reminder of why Jesus tells us to remain vigilant.
Because the greatest danger to our spiritual lives is not necessarily some dramatic rejection of God, but it is a gradual drifting away from Him.
Another word for it is tepidity. And it shows up as one missed prayer becomes a week without prayer. And then one small compromise becomes a habit. And an act of selfishness becomes a pattern of living for ourselves rather than for God.
The result is that before we know it, our lamps are running out of oil.
Because the frightening thing about the five foolish virgins is that they were not necessarily bad people. They did get an invitation to the wedding feast and wanted to be there and were waiting for the bridegroom just like the five wise virgins.
But they were not prepared, so when the moment came, they found they could not borrow what they had failed to cultivate for themselves.
We have also been invited to the eternal wedding feast and desire to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. But desire alone is not enough. We must prepare.
We must cultivate wisdom through Sacred Scripture.
We must deepen our relationship with Christ through prayer.
We must faithfully do God’s will in the ordinary circumstances of daily life.
And we must persevere in living each present moment to the full, trusting that God will provide whatever we need for the journey.
The best news is that the Bridegroom has not yet come or closed the door, so there is still time to prepare by filling our lamps. There is still time to say YES.
But we have to begin NOW.
So, this week, know of my prayers that each of you may do WHATEVER IT TAKES to keep your lamps filled and burning brightly so that when the Bridegroom comes, we may enter into the eternal wedding feast together as we tell the Master of Death, “NOT TODAY!”
All the best,
Christina
PS—Make sure to check out my latest book, Solving the Parish Puzzle: One Person, One Disciple, One Leader at a Time. It is available for purchase on Amazon.
Below are the Latest Happenings In the Say Yes to Holiness Community!
Check out my latest blog post “Following Wonder Into an Encounter with God”
Or check out how you might benefit from working with me directly or access the many free resources on christinasemmens.com.
Some of the FREE resources include a Spiritual Wellness Assessment, List of Recommended Books for Spiritual Reading, and a Rule of Life Planner Sheet.
If you are interested in spiritual direction, make sure to sign up for a FREE 20 minute consultation.
Or, if you would like to support my work, you can click the link below and subscribe to the Say Yes to Holiness Substack with a free or paid subscription.
Latest Posts on the Women of the New Evangelization (WINE) blog:
Two Things I Ask of You (Sept 23)
Mercy, Peace and Exultation (April 12)
Harden Not Our Hearts (Mar 9)
Guest appearance on the Equipcast Podcast:
"When God Asks, How Do You Answer?: The Power of 'Yes' with Christina Semmens
Articles on the Catholic365.com Platform:
Recognizing the Path to Life
We Are All Eucharistic Missionaires!
Latest episode of the Say Yes to Holiness podcast...
Episode #269
“Made for Eternity: Forming the Soul of a Disciple”--A Conversation with Allan Smith
Subscribe to the Say Yes to Holiness podcast!
You can listen to the latest episodes of the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
You can also watch the podcast on the Say Yes to Holiness YouTube channel
Click Here to Check Out All the Podcast Episodes
The Say Yes to Holiness YouTube Channel
“Angel of God: Growing in Friendship with Your Guardian Angel”— 1:1 Conversation with Patrick O’Hearn
In addition to podcasts, you can also find additional content like the Lenten Book Online Retreat—”Rooting Out Hidden Faults” by Father James McElhone on YouTube—Click here to be taken to the playlist
Update from The Catholic Leadership Puzzle
Here is the latest podcast on The Catholic Leadership Puzzle for your listening pleasure:
A Clear Path to Everyday Evangelization—1:1 Conversation with Jim Jansen
How can a busy parish move from a calendar full of activities to a shared mission of making disciples?
That is the question that Christina Semmens and Jim Jansen, author of A Clear Path, focus upon in the midst of an extremely practical 1:1 CLP conversation about relationships, clarity, and teamwork that all are necessary to make parish renewal possible.
Have Christina guide you through her latest book!
After several months of work, my latest book, Solving the Parish Puzzle, One Person, One Disciple, and One Leader at a Time, is now available as an audiobook on Audible!
Just like the book itself, the audiobook allows me to personally guide you through the concepts of the book, and share why so many parish renewal efforts are falling short despite good intentions, dedicated leaders and numerous programs.
If you have yet to pick up a copy of Solving the Parish Puzzle: One Person, One Disciple, One Leader at a Time, I encourage you to do so, especially in light of all the wonderful reviews it has received. And if you do already have a book, please consider posting a review on Amazon—every review matters!
And if you are looking for more SPP book resources and content, you can find it on Substack at The Catholic Leadership Puzzle.