We ‘know not the day nor the hour’, and when death finally catches us out, we can all too often be filled with regrets and ‘if-onlys’. “If only,” we say after the death of a loved one. If only we’d spared our ageing parents more time. If only we’d made up that old family rift. If only we’d told our children that we loved them. And what of the deceased themselves? Every day people die unexpectedly. Every day people die in road accidents, as the result of violent crime, sudden illness or as the result of natural disaster. Thousands of people wake up every morning not suspecting that this day might be their last. Death is the final curtain by which time we must be prepared to meet our maker. It’s a message we’ve heard over and over …. so why don’t we heed it?

Life is full of deadlines. We have deadlines by which we must finish essays, complete projects, submit job applications, apply for loans or make payments. Life is always demanding that we make preparations. We make preparations for work, for exams, for holidays, for visitors, for weddings, birthdays and a hundred and one other occasions. But for the greatest test of all, that of meeting our maker we are curiously     unprepared. Deep down we all know that we could be better Christians. Deep down we know there are things that we should be getting round to, but somehow we never do. Those great deeds we are planning can always wait until tomorrow, after all, unexpected death is only something that happens to other people isn’t it? Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow!

The five foolish virgins in today’s gospel were caught wanting. When the bridegroom they were awaiting  arrived unexcitedly in the middle of the night, they were caught unprepared. Their lamps were empty. In a panic they tried to borrow oil from the five wise virgins, but the five wise virgins were unable to help. The message here is that we cannot borrow our way into heaven; we can only enter the kingdom by our own merits. Today’s gospel promotes urgency. We must not put off until tomorrow what we can do today. Do we make the most of opportunities to do good deeds as and when they arise? Do we make the right choices conscientiously on a daily basis? Do we live every day as though it were our last? If we are doing all of these things, we have no need to fear the unexpected.