BIBLE STUDY #13
TWENTYSIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

 Gospel Luke 16:19-31


Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied,
'My child, remember that you received
what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go
from our side to yours or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father,
send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers,
so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"
The Gospel of the Lord


Reflection


Today’s Gospel is from chapter 16 of Luke’s Gospel, which has the title “The Proper Use of Wealth”. Last week we had the Parable of the Dishonest Steward in which we were told to imitate the shrewdness of this steward and use money properly. This week we have the parable of the rich man and Lazarus and we are told what not to do with wealth.


We are told that the rich man “was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.” This man was doing a lot better than just making ends meet. He had a lot and the means by which to help Lazarus.


Lazarus is described as being abjectly poor. He was “full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.” This is a way to describe a man who is really down and out.


Both men died, and to the surprise of those who were listening to Jesus tell this parable, the rich man was in torment in Hades, and the poor man was “carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom.” (An aside – see who is in heaven? Abraham! Someone who died prior to Jesus. You can use this whenever someone plays God and condemns people because they aren’t of a certain faith. God can and does save all people who measure up). People in Jesus day would have expected the rich man to be in eternal life, since riches were considered a blessing from God, and that the poor man’s suffering would have been relieved, but he would not have been rewarded. This reminds us of The Canticle of Mary from Luke 1:46-55, otherwise known as the Magnificat, where Mary tells us that “The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.” It also reminds us of Luke’s Sermon on the Plain (similar to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount) where Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours….But woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation.”


The Gospel doesn’t really tell us what, if anything, the rich man did for Lazarus. All we can conclude is that he didn’t do enough for him. For all we now, he may have helped him from time to time. After all, he was right outside his gate. He had to have known he was there. He had to have seen him.


The rich man then appeals to Abraham for help. He calls him Father Abraham (a bit of flattery, maybe?), and asks him to send Lazarus to “dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.” He is still treating Lazarus as a servant! He still doesn’t get it. He is stuck where he is, and there is no hope of getting out. It seems that our eternal life depends on how we live our life here. This should be good news to us. If not, what are we going to do to change?


That’s why I think Purgatory is such a positive idea. According to the glossary at the back of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Purgatory is “A state of final purification after death and before entrance into heaven for those who died in God’s friendship, but were only imperfectly purified; a final cleansing of human imperfection before one is able to enter the joy of heaven.” There are some people (and we’ve all met some) who are saintly and you know will go straight to heaven. There are others who will always turn away from God and anything to do with God and throw away salvation. But what about the ones in between? Those who aren’t saintly or evil? Those who aren’t purified completely but don’t deserve condemnation? Purgatory is God reaching out to us even after death to make us whole and holy.


We talk about living in the mansions of the saints, but we need to send up enough building material to construct our heavenly mansion. There has to be transformation on this side of the grave if we expect to be purified on the other side.


I want to emphasize again this week that we don’t have to give everything away and be destitute in order to be a disciple. Jesus never says earthly things are good or bad, he says people are good or bad. There does seem to be some incompatibility between the accumulation and retention of riches and our serving God.


When one serves riches, one becomes like the rich man in the parable. He had these fine parties, splendid clothes, ate sumptuously, and I’d bet he had a fine mansion. These things would all be important to him over and above anything God asked of him. He seems to have ignored God’ plea to help the poor. Lazarus was at his door and would have “gladly eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.” The scraps from his table would be the leftovers he would throw away, that is, his garbage. Did the rich man share his scraps or did Lazarus have to look in the garbage for them? The rich man couldn’t solve the problem of poverty in his world, but he could have made all the difference in the world to Lazarus, and I’d bet it would barely have put a dent in his bankroll.


If we follow God, I think that we are more willing to share with those in need, because that is part of being a Christian. God calls us to be aware of those needy in our midst and to do something to help them. There is a bumper sticker I like that says, “Think Globally, but Act Locally.” Even though we can’t solve problems globally, we can certainly make a difference locally. Thinking this way helps us to avoid despair and giving up because the problems are too big to solve. Like the young man who is walking along the beach throwing back the starfish that were washed up in the storm. Another man, walking the other way, stops when he gets to the young man, and says, “Look at all the starfish on the beach. What possible difference can you make?” The young man picks up a starfish, flings it back into the sea, and says, “To that one, a lot.”


The following questions should arise in our minds: Am I doing enough to help those in need? Am I doing anything to help those in need? I can’t tell you how much is enough. That is between you and God. When you have young children, a mortgage, car payments, etc., or if you are unemployed or underemployed, you may not be able to afford much. Don’t feel guilty about that, just do what you can. However, I must say, that my experience in previous parishes is that I find poor, struggling, and/or low-income people to be some of the most generous people I have ever met. Not in terms of the amount, but that, many times, they give from their need and not from their excess. When our disposable income rises, we need to rethink the amount of money we donate. Rethink is a bad term – it leaves us an out. Increase is a better word.


Like the rich man and his brothers, we know what we are supposed to do and how we are to live, because we have scripture. We can look in the bible, read it, pray over it, and live as the Lord would want us to live. Or, we can ignore what it says and do our own thing. This is called free will. God gave it to us and respects it in our lives. We are never forced to love God or to live as disciples. Love that is forced or coerced isn’t love. God spells out for us the way to happiness and peace in this life, and to eternal life in the next. He gives us the opportunity to choose. We can choose life, or we can choose death. Our choices in this life determine the quality of this life and where we will spend eternal life.


The rich man and his brothers were all versed in scripture and what God is asking of them. They just chose to ignore it or ‘reinterpret’ it in their own way. We too know what God wants of us, even if it is only in a general way. We can’t use ignorance as an excuse. Someone has risen from the dead and calls us to follow his example. We tend to reinterpret what we hear and read to exclude ourselves from changing. It’s always someone else who sins, never us. We believe imperfectly and we live imperfectly. Once we close our minds to this, we are condemning ourselves, as surely as the rich man in the parable.


The image of the Easter Vigil comes to mind. Here at St. Joseph’s, we build a big fire in the parking lot. We bless the fire and then light the charcoal and the Paschal Candle. Everyone has a small, individual candle that is lit from the Paschal Candle. We then process into a darkened church. The more people that enter the church, the brighter the church becomes. When all are in the church, it is amazing how bright it is; enough to read by.


We are not the Paschal Candle; that is Jesus job. He is the light of the world. We are like that little candle. Our flame of faith is lit from the Paschal Candle, and we keep it lit through living the Christian life. Just as we pass along the flame from the Paschal Candle to one another in church, we should pass along the flame of faith to those we meet.


By ourselves, we are not expected to lighten up a darkened church or a darkened world. Together, however, we can be the light of warmth, friendship, comfort, love and faith.


When we aid those in need, we are bringing light into the world, making it a better place. We may not be solving the worlds or even one person’s problems, but we are making a difference in someone’s life. And all of us together can make a big difference. The Second Coming will transform the world. In the meantime, we do what we can. I think that’s all Jesus asks.



Fr. Phil