September 25^th 2016.Twenty Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Luke 16:19-31

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

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 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: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . When confronted with the notion of hell, there are two temptations. The first is to live the externals of the Christian faith in a blindly obedient way, out of the terror of the possibility of perdition. Here there is no true conversion or possibility of real love. The second temptation is to deny the possibility of hell and to claim that God’s great mercy will mean that all of us will be accepted into paradise. But this clashes with the clear teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. Our Lord clearly reveals that we have the possibility of eternal damnation. The parable about Lazarus and the rich man highlights the importance of living a reflective life, a life that is conscious that our actions have eternal consequences. How many of us live dissolute lives! Lives that do not look beyond the present significance of our behaviour! How many of us are inclined to think that in the future a special “boat” will arrive that will carry me to salvation! This parable reveals that the boat of salvation is passing me by right now, today. The rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to tell his brothers to change their lives. But Abraham replied that they already had Moses and the prophets to instruct them, and they would not believe even if someone were to rise from the dead. We too have Moses and the prophets, and we also have had the resurrection of Jesus announced to us, but we still carry on living dissolute lives! The message of this Sunday’s Gospel is that God is giving us his grace, right now, for our salvation. Let us open our eyes and accept the graces that are being put in front of us this very day. Let us not waste the opportunities the Lord has sent me in the present moment that lead me to true and authentic life.

Our actions have consequences, not only in this world, but also for our eternal salvation

This Sunday’s Gospel presents us with the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. There are many themes in this Gospel, but the first reading from the prophet Amos draws attention to one of them: the scandal of those who live in opulent comfort and have no heed of those who are deprived. In the story of Lazarus, the poor man lies starving at the rich man’s door and is carried to the bosom of Abraham when he dies. The rich man dies also and ends up in hell. We are told that there is an unbridgeable chasm between the two realms. This last point is very important and it highlights the fact that our actions have consequences and that these consequences are serious. During our earthly lives we can experience conversion and embrace the mercy of God. In this sense our actions can be “reversible”, but our actions in general also constitute a global “yes” or “no” to the love of God, a “yes” or “no” to the call to serve God’s love and truth. We can rebel and refuse to submit to him as his creatures, and this can lead to a terrible outcome. There has been a lot of debate in modern times about the existence of hell, but if we were to deny its existence then we would be going against the Gospels: it would be difficult to find anyone speaking as much about hell as Jesus does in the course of the Gospels. He clearly states that we have the possibility of perdition. Jesus died for us; he is love incarnate; the face of the mercy of the Father; the one who prays for us from the cross while we are crucifying him. But our freedom is real and we can reject what he has done for us.

We can be tempted to obey blindly out of the fear of hell, or we can be tempted to dismiss the possibility of damnation entirely. The correct response to the notion of hell is to take the consequences of our actions seriously, to try to act in a dignified and righteous way

When confronted with the notion of hell there are two temptations. The first was more prevalent in the past. We can focus on the possibility of perdition, leading to acts of submission and obedience out of terror. But St John tells us that there is no love in fear. Fear does not produce real sanctity. It leads to acts of external conformity that are wholly oriented to one’s self-preservation. Such acts do not derive from love or from true conversion. The second temptation in the face of the belief in hell is one that we find more commonly nowadays. We flee from the notion of damnation and deny it. All behaviour is ultimately excusable in some way or other. We develop the hypothesis of an “empty hell”, speculating that each of us will be allowed into heaven regardless of our misdemeanours in life. But I think we profit little from useless speculation as to whether hell is empty or not. What is more essential is to entrust all our loved ones, as well as those who have sinned greatly, into the merciful arms of God. But apart from the temptations to live in terror of hell. or to live life whilst denying it completely, there is a middle way. This involves the recognition that I am responsible for my own actions. I shouldn’t live so much in the fear of the eternal consequences of my own actions as in the concern for the dignity and uprightness of my actions.

What is the correct response in the face of the problem of evil and suffering? It is not fatalism but the recognition that my actions have consequences. The parable reminds us to live reflective lives, lives that are mindful of the meaning of our own actions

Sometimes it is said that the final judgement is not so much about God asking humanity to account for its actions as humanity asking God for an explanation of the terrible things that have happened in the course of history. Enormous multitudes of people have been tortured and killed. Is all of this nothing in the eyes of God? No, it is not nothing! All of this is present to God. If we have concern for other people who are suffering, then God has a thousand times more concern for the creatures that he has loved into existence. The Lord does not give anyone the right to inflict suffering on others and we should never resign ourselves to fatalism in the face of evil. God did not will the evil that is in the world. Humanity must take responsibility for this evil, with all of the excuses that the heart of God will discover in order to show us mercy. But how does this Gospel passage help us to confront the problem of evil and suffering? It highlights the thoughtlessness of the rich man. We too carry on without asking ourselves where we are going. We live dissolute lives, which means that we behave without consideration for the final end of our actions. The dissolute person does not care that his life is short, that his youth and strength are disappearing. He does not realize that his independence is illusory and that he will soon need the care and mercy of others. The rich man in the parable does not bother examining the outcome of his behaviour. One of the fundamental principles of discernment of the human heart is the question: “Where is this leading me?” We must never evaluate things solely for their actuality but also for their consequences.

Am I inclined to think that my present behaviour is ok, and that in the future some special “boat” will arrive that will take me to salvation? The boat of salvation is already passing me by! God gives me the grace every day to be saved. I must grasp it. The message of this parable is to grasp the grace that the Lord gives me today.

The rich man asks that Lazarus be sent to his brothers so that they may become aware of the errors of their ways. This seems a noble desire, the urge to save his family. The response of Abraham is surprising. He says that they have the teachings of Moses and the Prophets to instruct them: let the rich man’s brothers listen to them! But the rich man replies: “No, they will listen if someone from the dead goes to them”. Abraham says, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then they will not be persuaded even if someone were to rise from the dead”. This statement is relevant to all of us because Jesus has risen and his resurrection has been announced to all of us. Have we changed our behaviour as a result? The parable reveals to us that the ways of salvation are always at hand’s reach. They were already available to the rich man and his brothers and they are available to us today. We have the inclination to think that it is ok to carry on behaving as we are now, and that in the future some special “boat” will arrive that will carry us to salvation. The boat of salvation is already passing us by, right now. It is essential that I ask myself, “What must I do today in order to be saved? What is present in my life right now that must be embraced in order to be saved?” To carry on living in an unreflective way is not good. I can destroy my own existence and it is essential that I grasp the opportunities that come my way today for salvation. I must make use of the helps that are placed in my way today because they are the graces that the Lord gives me. The teachings of Moses and the prophets are graces that the Lord gives me for my salvation. He always gives us what we need for salvation. It is good and right to always ask for God’s help, but let us recall that he is already helping us. Let us open our hearts and fix our eyes on what he has given us. Let us not live our lives dissolutely, wasting the grace of God.