1 CorinthiansChapter 1
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.
18 The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the learning of the learned I will set aside."
20 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?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

PsalmsChapter 33
1 Rejoice, you just, in the LORD; praise from the upright is fitting.
2 Give thanks to the LORD on the harp; on the ten-stringed lyre offer praise.
4 For the LORD'S word is true; all his works are trustworthy.
5 The LORD loves justice and right and fills the earth with goodness.
10 The LORD foils the plan of nations, frustrates the designs of peoples.
11 But the plan of the LORD stands forever, wise designs through all generations.

MatthewChapter 25
1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
3 The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them,
4 but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
5 Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
7 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
8 The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'
9 But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'
10 While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked.
11 Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'
12 But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'
13 Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

The first reading talks about finding strength in the place where you least expect it. To those who did not believe, the crucifixtion looks weak and a defeated. But that is where we look to find strength. I find that when I am in church and maybe become distracted or bored, the thing that always brings me back is the crucifix. I can concentrate on that and begin to focus again. I think that is a hard thing to do, looking for strength in our weaknesses. I think first we have to admit we are weak. I learn a lot about that while being in charge of retreats. I found out that I had a weakness of needing to do things and not trusting people. Now that I think about it, I don't think I found strength in my weakness but overcoming it. I finally learned to allow people to help and it became more enjoyable. But I don't think I found strength in my weakness. Now I can't seem to wrap my head around that idea.
I enjoy the Psalm. His works are trustworthy and He foils the nations. Trusting that no matter what happens, it is all for His plan and for some higher purpose. Hard to do but really uplifting when you do it and actually see things happening around you completly in His hands.
The footnotes after the Gospel say that lamp and oil are good deeds and the wise do good deeds while the foolish do not. I have never heard that interpretaion before. I am not really satisfied that it fits. I am sensing the theme of not being caught with your guard down. But I have talked enough about death. Maybe this time, think about keeping your guard up, not for the end, but for oppurtunities to do good deeds and for times when you may be slipping. Always looking for times when you can help another or stopping yourself from hurting another. I know we all fail at one time or another, but I guess the more are guard is up and we are aware of what is happening around us, the more likely we are to not slip and keep on track.