Sunday Scripture Readings: Studies and Meditations

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2. The Rigidity of the Rich Man- Now you might expect the rich man to be finally repentant and to have a change a heart but he does not. Looking up into heaven he seems Lazarus next to Abraham. Rather than finally seeing Lazarus’ dignity and seeking his forgiveness, the rich tells Abraham to send him to Hell with a pail of water in order that the rich man might be refreshed. He still sees Lazarus as beneath him (even though he has to look up to see him). He sees Lazarus as a “step and fetch errand boy” and wants him to come to Hell. Notice too, the rich man does NOT ask to be admitted to heaven! He is unhappy with where he is but still does not seem to desire heaven and the Kingdom of God with all its values. So he has not really changed. He is regretful of his currently tormented condition but does not see or desire heaven as a solution to that. Neither does he want to appreciate Lazarus’ exalted state. He wants to draw him back to the lower place he once occupied.

Now this helps explain why Hell is eternal. It would seem that there is a mystery of the human person which we must come to accept. Namely,* that we come to a point in our life where our character is forever fixed, where we no longer change*. When exactly this occurs is not clear. Perhaps it is death that effects this fixed quality. The Fathers of the Church often thought of the human person as clay on a potter’s wheel. As long as it is on the wheel and moist it can be molded, changed and fashioned. But there comes a moment when the clay is taken off the wheel and placed in the fiery kiln (judgment day (cf1 Cor 3:15)) and it’s shape is forever fixed and cannot be changed. The rich man manifests this fixed quality. He has not changed one bit. He is unhappy with his torments and even wants to warn his brothers. But he apparently does not intend to change or somehow experiences his incapacity to change. Hence, Hell is eternal since we will not change there. Our decision against the Kingdom of God and its values (a decision which God respects) is forever fixed.

3. The Reproof of the Rest of Us – As already noted, the rich man, though he cannot or will not change, would like to warn his brothers. Perhaps if Lazarus would rise from the dead and warn his brothers they would repent! Now let’s be clear, we are the rich man’s brethren. And we are hereby warned. The rich man wants exotic measures but Abraham says no, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ The rich man replied, ‘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.’” * Of course, this reply is dripping with irony given Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. That aside, the fact is we should not need exotic signs to bring us conversion. The phrase “they have Moses and the Prophets” is a Jewish way of saying, they have Scripture.

And the scriptures are clear to lay out the way before us. They give us the road map to heaven and we have but to follow it. We ought not need an angel or a ghost, or some extraordinary sign. The Scriptures and the teachings of the Church are sufficient. Their instructions are clear enough: Daily prayer, daily scripture, weekly Eucharist, frequent confession all lead to a change of heart wherein we begin to love the Kingdom of God and its values. We are more merciful, kind, generous, loving toward the poor and needy, patient, chaste, devout, self controlled and so forth.

In the end we have to be clear: Hell exists. It has to exist for we have a free choice to make and God will respect that choice even if he does not prefer our choice. You and I are free to choose the Kingdom of God, or not. This Gospel also makes it clear that our choices lead ultimately to final and permanent choice wherein our decision is forever fixed. The modern world needs to sober up. There is a Hell and its existence is both reasonable and in conformity with a God who both loves us and respects our freedom.

 

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Dives and Lazarus: A Story of Personal Relationships — A Biblical Reflection for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

In today’s first reading [Am 6:1a, 4-7], the prophet Amos is quite serious about the complacent folk who pamper themselves at the expense of others and have apparently lost interest in the sufferings of their fellow human beings. Amos is the great champion of the poor. The idle rich are the target of his wrath primarily because their conspicuous consumption of delicacies is always at the expense of those who lack even the bare necessities. The “lambs taken from the flock, and calves from the stall” upon which they feast are supposed to be set aside for sacrifice to the Lord; thus, they add sacrilege to their sins of gluttony. They do not lament the imminent moral collapse of Joseph (meaning the whole people); indeed, they contribute to it.

The entire scene from today’s first reading capitalizes on the stereotypes we recognize even in our own day. But there is nothing exaggerated about the promise of divine retribution – not for mere excess and self-indulgence but for the neglect of the hungry and the poor. While the social revolution inherent in Christianity is scheduled for the next world, it begins here: “God puts down the mighty and exalts the humble.” This reversal is brought about by God: the lowly will be exalted; the exalted will be brought down low.

A study in contrasts

In today’s Gospel, [Luke 16:19-31] the provocative parable of the rich man and Lazarus again illustrates Luke’s concern with Jesus’ attitude toward the rich and the poor. The parable presents a remarkable study in contrasts. The oldest Greek manuscript of Luke dating from ca. A.D. 175-225 records the name of the rich man as an abbreviated form of “Nineveh,” but there is very little textual support in other manuscripts for this reading. “Dives” of popular tradition is the Latin Vulgate’s translation for “rich man.”

Dives’ life was consumed in self-centered living. He is dressed nicely, eats well, lives it up every day. He is clearly on the inside. He has everything in this life that a person could want and yet he had no compassion for the poor or anyone else but himself. His values were based on gaining worldly possessions and wealth. The rich man did not have a desire to serve God nor did he feel a need for God’s guidance. He only felt a need to satisfy his own worldly desires and wants. The rich man knew Lazarus in real life (we know that because he knew his name in heaven) but he ignored him. Treatment of Lazarus on earth revealed the rich man’s true relationship to God. Since the rich man only cared about himself and was not right with God, after he died, he woke up in hell, tormented and frustrated. The rich man was not with father Abraham in paradise like he expected to be.

Lazarus, on the other hand, lived all his life in poverty, yet his heart was right with God because he never gave up his faith in God. He is dressed in rags, hungry, struggling to survive, filled with open sores – therefore unclean, too weak to fight off the dogs. He is clearly on the outside. At his death, the angels took Lazarus immediately to Paradise to be with Abraham and God. Now in Abraham’s bosom – in heaven – Lazarus is very happy as he reclines at the great heavenly banquet with Abraham. He is on the inside!

When they were in this life, there was no chasm between Lazarus and Dives. In fact Lazarus was begging just outside Dives’ gate. The rich man could have gone out and helped Lazarus any time he felt like it. But in eternal life there is a great chasm separating heaven and hell. Jesus uses space to emphasize that this gap is uncrossable and permanent. “Send Lazarus to help me!” Dives pleads! This rich man still believes that he can command and control the situation! Some chasms cannot be crossed. There is a point of no return.

The rich man did not listen to the law and the prophets, which taught about how to love one’s neighbor [Micah 6:8]. He did not love his neighbor. The prophets also predicted that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, be the friend of outcasts, etc. [cf. Micah 5:2f; 4:6, Isaiah 61:1-2]. The rich man rejected that truth also. He was too good to be the friend of outcasts.
**
A parable of personal relationships**

Luke 16 is not just about money or wealth. When we really understand the chapter, the key element in both the parables is personal relationships. Almsgiving is good but involvement is better. Ministering to the financially poor and the spiritually bankrupt develops our potential to enrich others as we are enriched in the process. Our focus must be on the well being of the poor and downtrodden. It is in giving that we receive. And God loves cheerful givers! What are we depending on? Do we think being rich means we are right with God? Do we worry enough about eternity?

Continued below…

 

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**
John Paul II and Benedict XVI on human solidarity**

As I reflect on today’s readings, the teachings of two Popes come immediately to mind. During his historic 1984 Pastoral Visit across Canada, Pope John Paul II delivered a stirring homily in Edmonton, Alberta on September 17, 1984. In a loud and clear voice that rang out across the airport where mass was celebrated, he said:

• The human person lives in a community, in society. And with the community he shares hunger and thirst and sickness and malnutrition and misery and all the deficiencies that result there from. In his or her own person the human being is meant to experience the needs of others. So it is that Christ the Judge speaks of “one of the least of the brethren”, and at the same time he is speaking of each and of all.

Yes. He is speaking of the whole universal dimension of injustice and evil. He is speaking of what today we are accustomed to call the North-South contrast. Hence not only East-West, but also North-South: the increasingly wealthier North, and the increasingly poorer South.

Yes, the South – becoming always poorer; and the North – becoming always richer. Richer too in the resources of weapons with which the superpowers and blocs can mutually threaten each other. And they threaten each other – such an argument also exists – in order not to destroy each other.

This is a separate dimension – and according to the opinion of many it is the dimension in the forefront – of the deadly threat, which hangs over the modern world, which deserves separate attention.

Nevertheless, in the light of Christ’s words, this poor South will judge the rich North. And the poor people and poor nations – poor in different ways, not only lacking food, but also deprived of freedom and other human rights – will judge those people who take these goods away from them, amassing to themselves the imperialistic monopoly of economic and political supremacy at the expense of others.*

Twenty-six years after Pope John Paul II spoke those powerful words in Edmonton in Canada, Pope Benedict XVI addressed these words to the British Government assembled in historic Westminster Hall in London on September 17, 2010:

*The inadequacy of pragmatic, short-term solutions to complex social and ethical problems has been illustrated all too clearly by the recent global financial crisis. There is widespread agreement that the lack of a solid ethical foundation for economic activity has contributed to the grave difficulties now being experienced by millions of people throughout the world. Just as ‘every economic decision has a moral consequence’, so too in the political field, the ethical dimension of policy has far-reaching consequences that no government can afford to ignore. …

In recent years it has been encouraging to witness the positive signs of a worldwide growth in solidarity towards the poor. But to turn this solidarity into effective action calls for fresh thinking that will improve life conditions in many important areas, such as food production, clean water, job creation, education, support to families, especially migrants, and basic healthcare. Where human lives are concerned, time is always short, yet the world has witnessed the vast resources that governments can draw upon to rescue financial institutions deemed ‘too big to fail’. Surely the integral human development of the world’s peoples is no less important: here is an enterprise, worthy of the world’s attention, that is truly ‘too big to fail’.*

**
Humble openness to God is difficult**

The rich, the powerful, and the ‘just’ find it very difficult to be humbly open to God; they are full of confidence in their own treasures and securities. The only real security is the one based on friendship with God and service of God: to be a servant of human beings and of God after the example of Jesus of Nazareth. Exalting oneself is a form of self-reliance as opposed to reliance on God. This makes clear why being rich, prosperous, satisfied almost naturally imply being arrogant, proud, godless. As human beings, we are radically weak and constantly try to cover up our weakness by finding security in power, wealth and status. This deception will ultimately be unmasked by God’s act of judgment. The only way to salvation is to recognize one’s weakness before God and to find one’s security in God alone. To humble oneself does not only mean lowliness and misery, but also a willing acceptance of this misery as an act of service.

Fr. Thomas Rosica CSB,
CEO, Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation

 

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Omission, not Commission

September 25th, 2010 by Fr. Jerome Magat

The juxtaposition of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar is a wonderfully instructive parable regarding the obligations each of us have to our fellow man. The stark contrast between the two characters reveals certain pitfalls we should avoid in order not to meet the rich man’s unenviable position after death.

The rich man is a caricature for the self-indulgent person. He dines sumptuously each day, in violation of the Fourth Commandment. In Exodus 20:9 we read that not only must one keep the Sabbath as a day of rest; one must labor for six days of the week. The rich man spent his days feeding upon costly and exotic foods, rather than work, as the commandment requires.

Lazarus would wait at the foot of the rich man’s table, hoping for scraps to fall from it. In the homes of the rich, food was eaten by hand and the hands were cleansed by wiping them on chunks of bread, which were then thrown out. It is likely that these were the scraps that Lazarus ate. He is a pitiable character. Interestingly, his name is the Latinized version of the name “Eleazar” which means “God is my help.” Moreover, his name is explicitly mentioned, while the name of the rich man is not. This is a sign that the rich man’s luxury was merely earthly and temporal. By contrast, Lazarus’ heavenly riches are for eternity and it is his name that lives in posterity.

What was the rich man’s sin that merited him damnation? Certainly, he did no harm to Lazarus. He did not mistreat him or mock him. He never had Lazarus removed from his property. However, the rich man did nothing for Lazarus — he practically ignored him. It’s not what the rich man did — it was what he failed to do, that condemned him to hell. This is what is called a sin of omission — failing to do good we ought to do. The rich man accepted Lazarus’ plight as a part of his landscape, as if it was perfectly natural and inevitable.

Thus, the rich man’s wealth was not his sin. Rather it was his self-indulgence which blinded him to the basic human needs of his fellow man that warranted his condemnation. For the rich man, it was as if Lazarus didn’t even exist. Christian discipleship does not permit this attitude toward the poor and the weak. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta used to say that the poor are Christ in distressing disguise. In each of them, we must seek to alleviate Christ’s pain in the world.

The denial of the rich man’s request to have his brothers warned of their impending doom seems harsh. However, it is a warning that we have been given every benefit of knowing what God expects of us and that obligation to act virtuously, especially toward the neediest among us is real. May we never become comfortable with the suffering of others. Rather, may we do all we can to alleviate their pain.

Fr. Magat is parochial vicar of St. William of York Parish in Stafford, VA.

(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)

 

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Gospel
Luke 16:19-31

19 “There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz’arus, full of sores,
21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried;
23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz’arus in his bosom.
24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz’arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’
25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz’arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house,
28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’
29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’
30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’”

Interesting Details

* In last Sunday's Gospel, Jesus told the parable of the unjust manager and drew the conclusion from it that one cannot serve both God and money. "The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and laughed at Him" (16:14). They seem to think that their possessions are a sure sign of God's favor. So, here Jesus tells another parable of the rich man and Lazarus to condemn the pride of these people and gives them the answer.
* (v.19) The rich man is nameless while the poor man's name is given as if to reverse the world's opinion. The parable is rather a conventional reversal of fortune. Those who are well off in this life trade places with the poor in the next life. It echoes the blessings and woes in the Sermon on the Plain (6:20,24).
* (v.24) "father Abraham": Mere words do not make one a child of Abraham and an assurance of salvation. John the Baptizer had already indicated that it was not enough to claim "we have Abraham as our father" (Lk 3:8); but one must "produce deeds appropriate to conversion".
* "have mercy on me": The irony of the story is that the rich man now requests "mercy" who did not show mercy in almsgiving to the poor man.
* (v.29) The word of God revealed through Moses and the Prophets makes God's will clear to anyone who seeks it. Jesus has not abolished the Law (16:17), thus the Law about almsgiving is still valid. The rich are not privileged in God's sight. They have the obligation to care for the needy.
* (v.31) Even something as astounding as the resurrection from the dead will not convince those whose minds are closed to God's truth. Addressed to the Pharisees, Jesus' parable is a message of rejection. The obstinate Pharisees would continue on their merry way to perdition, as did the rich man in this story. If the teachings of the Law are shrugged off as unimportant, even the teachings of the risen Lord will have no impact.

One Main Point

Use our possessions wisely, they are on loan from God and have to be used to help the poor.

Reflections

1. How do you feel when you see a street person?
2. How is the Gospel situation true of the present time? In what ways do you identify with the rich person? In what ways do you identify with the poor person in the Gospel?

A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community



**That’s all for this week’s readings. Thanks to all who followed this thread to the end. Hope it was helpful and edifying. God willing, see you next week! **