St Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Brothers,
Christ did not send me to baptize,
but to proclaim the Gospel,
and not with the wisdom of human eloquence,
so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.
For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing,
but to those who are being saved, to us,
it is the power of God.
For Scripture says:
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the intelligence of the intelligent I will reject.
Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe?
Where is the debater of this age?
Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?
For since, in the wisdom of God,
the world did not know God through its wisdom,
it pleased God to save believers
through the foolishness of the preaching of the Gospel.

While Jews demand miraculous signs,
and Greeks seek wisdom,
we, for our part, proclaim Christ crucified,
a stumbling block for Jews,
foolishness for the pagan nations.
But for those whom God calls,
whether Jews or Greeks,
this Messiah, this Christ, is the power of God
and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

         — The word of the Lord.

Shout for joy to the Lord, you righteous ones!
Upright men, praise is yours!
Give thanks to the Lord on the lyre,
play for him on the ten-stringed harp.

Yes, the word of the Lord is upright;
he is faithful in all he does.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his love.

The Lord foils the plans of the nations,
nulls the schemes of the peoples.
The plan of the Lord stands firm forever,
the designs of his heart through all generations.

At that time,
Jesus told this parable to his disciples:
“The kingdom of heaven will be like
ten bridesmaids who were invited to a wedding,
and who took their lamps
to go out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish,
and five were wise:
the foolish ones took their lamps
but brought no oil with them,
whereas the wise ones took, with their lamps,
flasks of oil.
As the bridegroom was delayed,
they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.
In the middle of the night there was a cry:
‘Here is the bridegroom! Go out to meet him.’
Then all those young women awoke
and began to prepare their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise:
‘Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.’
The wise replied:
‘That will never be enough for both us and you;
go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
While they were away buying it,
the bridegroom arrived.
Those who were ready
went in with him to the wedding feast,
and the door was shut.
Later, the other bridesmaids came as well
and said:
‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’
He replied:
‘Amen, I say to you:
I do not know you.’

Therefore, stay awake,
for you do not know the day or the hour.”

         — Let us acclaim the word of God.