Outside the Wedding Feast

Reflection for November 8, 2026 – 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus shares the parable of the 10 virgins, counseling his followers to pay attention to their relationship with God and to remain ready for the coming of the kingdom. Find the daily reading here.

Every time my husband tells me he needs to take our car in for an oil change, I groan: “Didn’t we just do that, like, six months ago?”

“Yeah,” he replies. “And like I told you six months ago, that’s roughly how often it needs to be done.”

If I didn’t have him, I would forget to change that oil until the engine came to a grinding halt in the middle of the interstate. It’s not that I’m incapable — I remember when we’re about to run out of butter, when we need to scrub out the kitchen sink so it doesn’t get nasty, when it’s time to schedule the kids’ annual doctor visits. I just don’t even think about the oil.

Why would I? My husband’s on top of it.

Our brains reflexively prioritize certain tasks, delegating the rest to the care of others we trust. I do it with the oil in the car. My husband does it with the groceries.

Sometimes — too often, in fact — we do it with our spiritual lives. We let it go. We don’t think about it. We trust. God’s got us. We’ll focus on that tomorrow.

It’s beautiful to have a relationship with God based in confidence, not in anxiety. But do we sometimes take this further than is healthy? In trusting that God loves us unconditionally, do we slip into the habit of de-prioritizing him? Do we linger too long outside the wedding feast, trimming our neglected lamps, forgetting that once the door closes, it also locks?

©LPi