One of my cultural shocks after coming to the United States was discovering how far ahead Americans prepare for celebrations! Back home in Buganda, we prepare for important visitors, too. We clean the house, prepare food, and make sure everyone is ready. But here on the South Shore, I have discovered that sometimes the celebration arrives in the shops long before it arrives on the calendar! You walk into a store, and suddenly everything is red. Red hearts, red balloons, red chocolates Valentine’s Day! And we are still weeks away. Before we have finished recovering from all that red, green for St. Pats. Then rabbits and coloured eggs appear everywhere for Easter. Sometimes we are still in Lent, trying to pray, fast, and repent, but the stores are already inviting us to follow the Easter Bunny! Then come the American flags for the Fourth of July. Before we have even finished enjoying summer, pumpkins begin appearing everywhere. Halloween arrives with skeletons, ghosts, and scarecrows. And when I look at some people’s front yards, I think, Oh, my Jesus! Is this a garden or a cemetery? Then come Thanksgiving turkeys, pumpkins, pies, and advertisements reminding us what to eat. Before we can finish digesting the turkey, Christmas lights appear, Santa Claus is everywhere, and the music begins! Sometimes I wonder whether the stores have a secret calendar that the rest of us have not seen! But I have to admit something: Americans know how to prepare! They plan ahead, decorate ahead, shop ahead, and sometimes celebrate ahead. And I find myself thinking: if we can put so much effort into preparing for holidays that last a day or a season, imagine what could happen if we put the same care into preparing our hearts for Jesus! That is the message of today’s Gospel. Jesus tells us about ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom. Five are wise and bring extra oil for their lamps. Five are foolish and come unprepared. When the bridegroom is delayed, all ten fall asleep. But when the announcement comes, only those who prepared have enough oil. Jesus concludes: “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Jesus is not asking us to live in fear. He is inviting us to live in readiness. We do not know when we will meet Him face to face, but we can prepare for that meeting through the way we live today. The first reading tells us that Wisdom is radiant and unfading. St. Paul, in the second reading, reminds us that those who have died in Christ have the promise of eternal life. Our hope is not in decorations, shopping lists, or even the best-planned holiday. Our hope is in Jesus, who died and rose again for us. So what is the oil for our lamps? It is our daily relationship with God: prayer, forgiveness, the sacraments, generosity, and love. It is making peace with someone we have hurt, visiting someone who is lonely, returning to Confession, and choosing kindness when impatience comes more naturally. We cannot borrow someone else’s faith at the last minute. Our parents may have taught us to pray, and our grandparents may have shown us how to trust God, but each of us must personally respond to His invitation. The good news is that we do not prepare alone. God gives us grace, and every new day is another opportunity to turn toward Him. Perhaps we could begin preparing for Jesus with the same enthusiasm with which we prepare for Christmas. Instead of waiting until Advent to think about God, we can begin today. Instead of saving prayer for when life becomes difficult, we can make room for it now. Instead of waiting until someone is gone to appreciate them, we can love them today. And finally, we come to the Master’s Table. The same Jesus who speaks to us in the Scriptures now feeds us with His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. He gives us Himself to strengthen our faith, nourish our hope, and prepare us for the heavenly banquet. We prepare for holidays by filling our homes with decorations. We prepare for Jesus by allowing Him to fill our hearts with grace. Brother! Sister! Let the stores prepare for the next season months ahead. Let us prepare our hearts today. At the Master’s Table, Jesus feeds us for the journey, keeps the flame of hope alive, and prepares us to meet Him—not with fear, but with hearts ready to welcome the Bridegroom. May it ever be so. Amen Amen.

Thank you to all those who participated in both parishes Respect Life Displays for October, respect life month.

Great day for our Saints in training! Many of our Faith Formation Families in our WITNESS/Saints program and our 6th Grade Youth Ministry team donated supplies and those who could attend helped make 100 Lunches consisting of Turkey or Ham & Cheese as well as a New England staple, Peanut Butter and Fluff for the clients of Father Bill's in Quincy. We also made 40 inspirational, laminated book marks for our neighbors at the Cohasset Senior Center.