"IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT"

MEMORIAL OF ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

1 Thes. 4: 1-8/ Ps 97/ Mt. 25: 1-13

“It was worth the wait!” Those were the words I heard from those seminarians who after walking several kilometers, braving the vast crowd, and waiting for hours, finally got the chance to either kiss the hands of the Pope or take a selfie with him at the Manila Cathedral. “It was worth the wait.”

Since yesterday until today, our Gospel readings are taken from the 24^th and 25^th chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. And these readings form part of Jesus’s discourse on the end of times. Yesterday, Jesus used the story of the faithful and prudent steward. Today, Jesus tells us the parable of the ten bridesmaids. Despite becoming drowsy and even falling asleep, the five wise bridesmaids can truly say, “It was worth the wait.” It was worth the wait because they were able to join the wedding feast. And they were able to join the feast because they carried with them extra oil for their lamps. It was worth the wait for they persevered.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, a Father and Doctor of the Church. Well, if St. Monica were alive today, she would for sure say to us here, “It was worth the wait.” Her long hours of prayer and fasting, waiting for her son’s conversion did not end in misery. It bore fruit. It was worth the wait.

The life of Augustine was a life of constant search for that which is true, good, and beautiful. Initially, he found truth in paganism and heresies. Yet, later on, he found those schools of thought wanting. Initially, he found the good and beautiful in the satisfaction of his carnal desires. However, all these proved to be false when one fine day in Milan, he picked the book of Scriptures and read the words of Paul to the Romans: “Not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual excess and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy. Rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh (13: 13-14).” His heart became flooded with God’s light. He cannot but make a 360 degree turn from being a notorious sinner to becoming a great saint of the Church. Indeed, after reading the life of St. Augustine, we can all say, “It was worth the wait.”

My dear friends, as we celebrate the feast of St. Augustine, we are challenged to make our waiting worthwhile by carrying in ourselves the extra oil of perseverance. As seminarians, I know that you are all waiting today. You are waiting for my homily to finish. You are waiting for this semester to finish. You are waiting for your thesis to finish. You are waiting for your seminary life to finish so that you too will be ordained. We are all waiting. Let us then carry with us the extra oil of perseverance so that we will not fall out of love. For me, what made Augustine great was not his ante conversio nor his in conversione experience. Rather, it was his post conversionem experience that made him great. Why? After his conversion, he became a holy Bishop, yet he remained deeply in touch with his humanity. He still felt the wounds and weaknesses of his fallen human nature, still prone to temptation. Yet he continued to wait on the Bridegroom who has the power to save him. Augustine did not waver and fall out of love because he carried with him the extra oil of perseverance.

“It was worth the wait.” My dear brothers, we can only re-echo these words if we carry in our lives the extra oil of perseverance so that even if we feel drowsy and sleepy in our chosen vocation, we can still welcome in our lives the coming of Jesus, the Bridegroom.

Augustine once said in his Confessions: “To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.” Indeed, let us never grow tired of waiting for the Lord through our perseverance in life for it’s truly worth the wait. Amen.

Photo taken from www,thecathedralparish.org