Twenty Sixth Sunday of the Year September 25, 2022
Amos 6:1a, 4-7; 1Timothy 6:11-16; Luke 16:19-31
A man dies and arrives before the Judgment Seat of God. The
divine Judge goes through the Book of Life and does not find the man’s name. So
He announces to the man that his place is in hell. The man protests, “But what
did I do? I did nothing!” “Precisely,” replies God, “that is why you are going
to hell.” That man could as well be the rich man in today’s parable.
God speaks to us in many ways and touches our lives but we
often fail to listen to him. He speaks to us in gentle ways and guides us in
our weaknesses. The Gospel of today gives us a quick clue regarding the Kingdom
values which are different from all worldly values. It tells us that we as the
children of God have the obligation and duty to look after our brothers and
sisters and care for them.
In the first reading, we have the last of three woes that
the Lord God promised to inflict upon Judah and Israel because of their evil
deeds. These nations had rulers who were idle, insensitive to the needs of the
poor while they lived in luxury. They failed to recognize their connectedness
with others and their responsibility. Accordingly, God said that they would be
punished and taken into exile. However, this did not worry these selfish,
self-centred egoists. Nor did the warning sent them through the prophet awaken
any sense of guilt in their consciences.
We all of us are familiar with the story of the rich man and Lazarus. We can draw many lessons from the story:
1. Wealth or riches is not a measuring rod to say that a person has spiritual favour and blessings on one’s life.
The Rich Man was materialistically rich and wealthy but spiritually he was poor and bankrupt. Though the Rich Man was dressed in fine linen clothes and lived in extreme luxury, his outward appearance did not match his inward condition. One indication of his spiritual state was the Rich Man’s indifference to Lazarus’ plight despite the fact that this beggar stayed by his gate. The Rich Man had no compassion, love or sympathy for the poor.
2. Poverty does not always indicate that a person is cursed.
Lazarus was extremely poor. He lived on the crumbs of the
Rich Man and lived his life as a beggar. He also had sores all over his body,
indicating that he had some kind of sickness. As a beggar Lazarus was clearly
in the lowest social class in society and the world did not care about him as
indicated by the Rich Man’s indifference towards him. A person would be tempted
to believe that God’s wrath and displeasure was upon Lazarus and that Lazarus
was probably being punished or under a curse.
Yet the fact that Lazarus went to heaven when he died indicates something about his spiritual relationship with God. While Lazarus’ reasons for being in poverty are unknown, the fact that he was living in poverty did not indicate that God had cursed him or that he was doomed to go to hell.
3. How you live in your lifetime will affect where you will spend eternity.
Even though he was rich and wealthy on
earth, the Rich Man did not have a relationship with God. If he did, he may
have treated Lazarus better and would have been compassionate towards Lazarus.
The Rich Man’s wealth was not evidence that he would spend eternity in heaven.
Instead his life choices on earth sent him to hell.
In contrast, Lazarus suffered on earth, but ended up spending eternity in comfort in heaven. This clearly indicates that even though Lazarus lived in poverty and suffering, he clearly had better life choices in God’s eyes than the Rich Man.
The problem we have pinpointing the reason why the rich man
went to hell has a lot to do with what we think sin is. We often think that we
sin only by thought, word and deed. We forget a fourth and very important way
through which we sin, namely, by omission. In the “I Confess” we say these
words: “I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in
what I have done and in what I have failed to do.” Yet how readily we forget
the sin of omission. Today’s parable reminds us that the sin of omission can
land someone in hell. This is what happens to the rich man.
The name “Lazarus” is the Hellenised form of the Hebrew name
“Eleazar” which means “God is my help.” Lazarus, therefore, is not just a poor
man, but a poor man who believes and trusts in God. This must be why he found
himself in Abraham’s bosom in Paradise — because of his faith and trust in God,
not just because he was poor.
There is a good news for us in this parable: If you feel
like a Lazarus right now, battered by sickness, poverty and pain, forgotten by
society and by those whom God has blessed in this life, continue believing and
trusting in God knowing that it will be well with your soul in the end. If you
see yourself as one of those blessed by God with the good things of life, open
your door and see. Probably there is a Lazarus lying at your gates and you have
not taken notice.
Happy Sunday
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