SEPTEMBER 29^th 2013. TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL                   Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said to the Pharisees: 'There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently every day. And at his gate there lay a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even came and licked his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.

'In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his bosom. So he cried out, "Father Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames." "My son," Abraham replied "remember that during your life good things came your way, just as bad things came the way of Lazarus. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony. But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to stop anyone, if he wanted to, crossing from our side to yours, and to stop any crossing from your side to ours."

'The rich man replied, "Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father's house, since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too." "They have Moses and the prophets," said Abraham "let them listen to them." "Ah no, father Abraham," said the rich man "but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent." Then Abraham said to him, "If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead".

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the parable, a rich man lives a life of great comfort and neglects to help the poor man at his door. He is so caught up with the pleasures of life that he doesn’t even seem aware that Lazarus is there. It is only from the perspective of eternity that the real significance of his life is revealed to him. In the same way, we must constantly evaluate our lives and our acts from the point of view of eternity. Sometimes we are unhappy and unfulfilled because we don’t know how to act; we don’t know what to do with ourselves. But once we start to evaluate the events of our lives from the point of view of eternity, then we begin to see the true meaning of things. There is a light coming from eternity that illuminates the present moment for each of us. The rich man didn’t see that light and utterly failed to discern the emptiness and waywardness of his existence. There is an Ignatian principle of discernment that each of us should make use of on a daily basis: “Does this thing bring me closer to God, or is it something that is directed towards myself only?” The journey that each of us has taken in life has an eternal destination. It is always the destination that gives meaning to each individual step. In this sense, the poor people that we meet every day are a step towards Paradise. They are an open door onto Paradise that we can step through or we can turn away from. Jesus is not trying to coax us into doing good deeds out of a fear of eternal punishment! He is trying to reveal the greatness of our lives, the immense dignity that we possess, the incredible opportunity that each day presents to us to do things that have eternal significance.

The rich man thought he had everything in life, but it is only in death that he sees the real nature of his life

The parable recounts the story of the rich man’s complete neglect of the beggar who lies at his gate. Perhaps the most significant moment in the story arrives when the rich man dies, is tormented, and then looks up and sees Lazarus in heaven with Abraham. This, finally, is the moment of discernment for the rich man. During his life, he dressed himself in fine clothes and feasted every day, whilst Lazarus lay outside hoping for some compassion, but received comfort only from the dogs. It is only in death that these facts are understood in the fullest sense. Our earthly lives are short in comparison with the eternity that awaits us. And the significance of our lives can only be discerned from the point of view of eternity. The critical thing is that the events of our earthly lives determine how we will be in eternity. And these events can only be understood properly by looking at them them from paradise or from hell, by looking at them in terms of their definitive consequences.

It is only from the perspective of eternity that the individual events of our lives have their true meaning

One of the problems of our existence is that we often have trouble discerning what we are to do in life. Our unhappiness derives from mistaken choices that we have made. Our lack of fulfilment is caused by the wrong paths we have taken. When we consider our past, we are struck by the pervasive wastefulness and lack of growth. How can we avoid the abject failure of discernment that characterizes the rich man in the parable? The rich man himself is aware of this danger and asks that Abraham send Lazarus to his brothers so that they will consider their lives in terms of its eternal significance. “If someone comes from the dead they will repent,” he tells Abraham. In other words, it is only someone who has seen the significance of life beyond death that can understand things in a complete sense. The light of truth is something that comes from beyond the barrier between this life and eternity. Every act that I do in life receives its significance from the point of view of eternity. One of the methods of discernment of St Ignatius was the question, “Does this act bring me closer to God, or is it something that is directed towards myself only?” In the context of Jesus’ parable we could reword this as follows, “Does this act bring me to heaven or to hell?” “Is this something that I can present to God with happiness or with shame?”

It is the destination of our journey that gives significance to each individual step

When we embark on any journey, it is the destination that gives sense to each individual step. Whether we like it or not, we must face up to the fact that every act we do is a step with ramifications for our eternal destination. Everything I do has repercussions in eternity. This fact should make us stop and take note of the way our lives are unfolding. The first reading from Sunday (from the prophet Amos) speaks of those who live in great comfort and never give a thought for those who have less than themselves. It is high time that all of us ceased being so thoughtless about the way we act. In the face of the suffering of others, we behave like people who haven’t any duty or responsibility towards our neighbour! We carry on without a care or a thought in the world, like people who are incapable of reason. The poor beggar is looked upon by us as a smelly nuisance at our door! The sooner he is out of our sight the better! How is it that we cannot see that he is the door to Paradise for us? To see his significance we must lift our eyes to eternity, as the rich man does in the parable.

God is standing in front of us in the person of the poor and needy. The beggar I meet is my door to Paradise

Jesus recounts this story to the Pharisees, to the very ones who do not accept the poverty of God that stands before them in the person of Jesus. But this challenge is not just for the Pharisees of two thousand years ago. It is also for each one of us in the present moment. The mendicant nature of God is such that he wanders through humanity seeking a crumb of charity from our hearts. Like the Pharisees we feast on the good things of God, totally unaware that God is right in front of us in the form of the poor person who needs our help. God is knocking at our door but we do not see that it is him. The final phrase of the parable says, “If they did not listen to Moses and the prophets, then they will not listen even if someone were to rise from the dead.” Are we conscious of the extraordinary efforts of God to reveal the truth to us? Are we mindful of the significance of the resurrection of Jesus for our day to day acts?

Jesus is not trying to scare us into doing “good deeds.” He is trying to reveal to us the enormous dignity that we possess, the potential greatness of our lives and the eternal significance of our acts

We are all greedy participants in a feast - a feast not only of material things but also of spiritual things. And we consume these things with little regard for anything beyond the present moment. It is time to open ourselves to the profound significance of our acts. This is not to say that we should take a guilt-ridden perspective on our lives. Jesus’ intention in recounting the parable is not to reprimand us for the little that we have done, but to make us aware of the wonderful things that we can still do. He wishes to make us aware of the greatness of life, of the remarkable opportunities that he has bestowed upon us, of the fact that every act is a door that opens onto Paradise! We can make our lives right now a fantastic journey to eternity. The aim of Jesus’ story is not to make some sort of purely ethical point that we must force ourselves by the power of the will to do good works. The parable, rather, tries to reveal to us the truth of the eternal dimension of our lives. What enormous dignity we possess! How eternal is the significance of our acts! Once we are aware of this truth then we begin to evaluate our lives from a perspective that goes beyond the present moment.