32nd Sunday Ordinary Time
Fr. Joonbin Lim
Preached: November 8, 2026
When I was young, I had a cousin who was very close to me. He was only six months younger than I was, and we grew up almost like brothers. His family lived about two hours away by train, but I always enjoyed visiting him. In the summer, we swam in the river and caught fish together. In the winter, we roasted sweet potatoes and spent time together.
One summer, when I was seventeen, my cousin came to visit my family. I usually went with him to the train station when he returned home. But that day, I was tired and didn't feel like going. So I stayed home and fell asleep. The following evening, we received terrible news. My cousin had died in an accident.
It was the first time I had experienced the death of someone so close to me. For a long time, I blamed myself for not saying goodbye to him at the station. But what troubled me even more was something else. I loved him very much, but I had never told him how much he meant to me. I had never said, “You are very important to me.”
Those were simple words, but I ne ver said them because I thought I would always have another chance. I never imagined that it would be our last goodbye. We often believe that tomorrow will come and that we will have another chance to express our love. But tomorrow is not guaranteed.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us the parable of the ten virgins. All ten were waiting for the bridegroom, and all of them fell asleep. But five were wise, and five were foolish. The difference was not that some fell asleep and others stayed awake. The wise virgins had prepared enough oil for their lamps. But there is something difficult to understand.
When the foolish virgins asked for oil, the wise virgins refused to share it. Were they being selfish? Jesus is not teaching us to be selfish. Rather, he reminds us that our personal relationship with God is something no one else can live for us.
God’s grace is a gift, not something we earn. But each of us must freely respond to that gift. We can pray for others, help them, and guide them in faith. But no one can love God in our place.
Even the faith of parents cannot replace the personal faith of their children. God calls each of us personally, and each of us must respond to his call. The oil reminds us of the faith and love we are called to live each day. Even now, I sometimes clean and organize my room, not only to keep it tidy, but because I know that the tomorrow I expect may not come.
And this makes me ask myself: We prepare our rooms and our belongings, but how well do we prepare our hearts? Being ready for the Lord means responding to God’s grace today, loving others, and forgiving those we need to forgive.
Dear brothers and sisters, we do not know whether tomorrow will come. But today, we have the opportunity to love. So let us tell the people we love how much they mean to us. Let us not delay forgiveness or reconciliation.
The best time to love is today.