TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
25 SEPTEMBER 2022
This
is the only parable in which Jesus names someone: Lazarus, which means “God
helps.” But, could there be a person
less “helped” than this beggar? He sits
outside the gate of a rich man’s house, hoping for the scraps thrown away after
the rich man’s meal. In the ancient
world, diners do not use napkins.
Instead, they wipe their faces and hands with pieces of cheap
bread. Lazarus does not even get a
napkin. In addition to being hungry, he
is covered with sores. Dogs come to lick
his sores. These are gentle house pets who come to comfort him. Dogs are scavengers on four legs, and they
circle over his body as he loses strength.
They are waiting to finish him off for good. The rich man has a proper funeral when he
dies. There is no funeral for
Lazarus. The implication is that the
dogs offer his body a final indignity.
The truth
is that God does help this poor beggar.
He has given the rich man more than he can ever need. But the rich man ignores Lazarus and neglects
to share anything with him, even the napkins.
Now in eternity, the gate continues to separate him and the beggar. Their roles are reversed. Saint John Chrysostom puts these words in the
mouth of father Abraham: “When you were living in your wealth, when you were
free to see at your own will, you did not choose to see him. Why do you have such keen sight now? Was he not at your gate? How could you avoid seeing him? When he was near you did not see him; and now
do you see him from a distance, even across such a chasm? … The man whom you
passed by a thousand times, whom you did not want to see – now do you seek to
have him sent to you for your salvation?’
The rich man had not listened to the Scriptures about God’s love for the
poor. He remains unrepentant and wants
to order Lazarus around. His brothers
have the same Scriptures.
We have those
same scriptures that speak of God’s love for the poor. We also have the one who humbled himself to become
poor and has risen from the dead. He speaks
to us today through the Gospel of Saint Luke.
He tells us, his disciples, about the place of wealth in our lives. He does not condemn wealth in today’s
parable. Wealth is a blessing from
God. But he makes it very clear that we
cannot hoard our wealth and use it to enrich ourselves only. We must be mindful of the poor and the needs
of others. We must recognize Lazarus
lying at our gate.
The problem
in this age of mass communication is that we see Lazarus every day. We can be overwhelmed by the needs of the
poor and feel that we cannot make a difference.
That is why our Saint Vincent de Paul Society uses the food we bring
each month to distribute to those who need it.
They invest the funds we donate to reach out to Lazarus in our day. That is why our parish tithes 5% of our
income to Saint Adalbert and sets aside another 3 ½ % for those who ask our
help. That is why we are mindful of Fr.
Larry’s Parish in Uganda and will respond to Father’s Arthur’s plea for help for
his work in Uganda next month. That is
why so many of you have chosen your own special charities so that God can help
through you.
Saint John
Chrysostom puts our wealth into perspective.
Father Abraham asks the rich man: “And where are your cup bearers? Where are your flatterers? Where is your vanity? Where is your presumption? Where is your buried gold? Where are your moth-eaten garments? Where is the silver which you valued so
highly? Where are your ostentations and
your luxury? They were leaves – winter seized
them, and they were all withered up.
They were a dream – and when day came, the dream departed. They were a shadow – the truth came, and the
shadow fled away.” Saint John Chrysostom
challenges us to invest our wealth wisely.
He reminds us that we need to recognize the needs of others and share
our blessings with them. We cannot take
our wealth with us when we die. Our
kindness to the poor lives on forever.
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