Homily Short, 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 8, 2026

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Today’s readings start with this theme of judgment and begins with a story of a great wedding tradition, the groomsman’s party. They would gather in a separate place and then they would travel from there to the place where the banquet was held. And because it was unknown when they were going to be coming, it’s a bit of a mystery.

So what I find is interesting is it’s only when the bridegroom is announced like, hey, he’s coming, like this is it, you better be ready, that five of them realize that they’re not ready at all. So like when they saw like the five who were wise, who got their extra oil jars and all that sort of stuff, why’d they wait until it was too late, until the last moment? And the question when the Lord comes and he’s going to ask is very simple, it’s do I know you? The wise virgins, this analogy of this wedding, they couldn’t share their oil with the ones who were foolish because you can’t share your relationship with God like with another person. I can’t just give you what I have with the Lord.

You have to build it up. It has to be cultivated. It has to be tended.

It requires time spent together. So the beautiful thing about our relationship with God is it’s a matter of inviting him into what we’re already doing, but just to be wary, because it is easy to live that foolish way of life of not remembering what is most important to get distracted. You know what I’m saying? Like, well, I’ll just do that later.

I’ll pray later. You know, or right now, like all my kids are in these various sports, like once the seasons are over, then we’ll really start going. We’re missing it.

That relationship starts now, that it is the most important thing. The other good news, God doesn’t want this to be like difficult for us. He wants to speak to me more than I want to speak to him.

If we want to pursue the Lord, then we need to do three things. We need to seek him. We need to desire him.

And we need to watch. So how do we do that? Well, to seek is pretty simple. God, I’m trying to know you.

It means actually doing something. Action. Desire.

The simplest one to have. God, I actually want to know you. I see what you’ve done for other people.

I see what you did in the lives of those saints. I see what you’ve done in the faithful people around me, and I want what you’ve given them. Now the third one is probably the most important, and that’s to watch.

To pay attention. I’m never paying attention for the ways God wants to speak to me. So we have to learn how to watch.

So in prayer, when you ask a question to the Lord, you pause for a moment. Lord, what are you trying to say here? And just to notice. To become aware of that.

Pay attention to those major ways that God likes to speak to us. For some people, it’s going to be a lot of imagination. Like when you pray, you picture Jesus there with you or whatever it is.

Pay attention to that. Maybe it’s that thought that passed through your mind. You tell God about this day and all the stuff that happened.

Receive the ways that the Lord speaks to you. Because the more we receive that now, the better we’re prepared to recognize it in the future. And the more that expands our hearts, the more I want to seek God.

So let this be a time of year, these next weeks, next couple months, of honest reflection. Of not being scared of what’s in our hearts. Not being scared to be honest about where we’re at with the Lord.

But then to recognize that so that you can take those next steps. Alright Lord, here’s how I’ve been seeking you. Or maybe not been seeking you.

Lord, I want to know you. Help me to see. I’m going to pay attention.

Because we know that He will speak to us. We know that He will work powerfully. And He will come close.

Because He wants to be with us more than we want to be with Him.