Kingdom of Heaven is the encounter with the Bridegroom. To prepare ourselves, we learn to walk in darkness, without relying on what we feel, awakening a heart that learns to:

Believe without seeing.

Trust without understanding what it hears.

Love without needing to feel a caress.

Remain faithful without tasting sweetness.

Recognise without perceiving His fragrance.

Five foolish virgins who seek to feel. Five wise virgins who choose to love. For keeping watch means keeping the oil of love burning, nurturing that intimacy with the Bridegroom which must be lived, not borrowed. What must die within me so that I can remain watchful?

Applied to Married Life

John (thinking to himself): Lord, here we go again! Maureen comes home exhausted, irritable, complaining about everything… I just can’t stand it! I don’t even feel like looking at her, listening to her or going near her. And on top of that, it seems as though everything bothers her! Why should I be the one to make the first move? Let her realise how she is treating me!

But, Lord… what if this is precisely when she needs me most? What if, behind her bad mood, there is an exhausted heart that simply needs to feel loved?

Help me, Lord! My senses are telling me to walk away, but I want to welcome You by welcoming Maureen. I cannot do this on my own. Have mercy on me. Give me Your eyes to see her, Your patience to listen to her and Your tenderness to embrace her, even when I don’t feel like it.

May my lamp not go out just when the Bridegroom arrives.

Lord, may my senses rest while my heart remains awake and watchful.

Mother,

Teach us to die to our senses so that we may be born anew in Your Son, who is the meaning and fulfilment of everything.

May He be blessed and praised for ever, for He redeemed us with His Precious Blood.