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.'”
Homily
All of us remember the scenes shown us on the TV of thousands of people fleeing the state of Florida in the face of the oncoming hurricanes. We also see scenes of places like Grenada and the Haiti where during hurricanes people have nowhere to which they can flee. They can only go to shelters which lie in the path of the same hurricanes. Those fleeing Florida found security in other places, those in Grenada and Haiti have nowhere to which they can flee and find security. They have to bear the brunt of hurricanes when these hit the islands. The ability to find security is one of the precious gifts that some of us have and we are called to help others find this gift. In the Gospel given to us for our meditation this weekend, we have a story in which three people deal with suffering, and with the issue of security.
In the parable we have the rich man secure in his wealth and unconcerned for others. He sees Lazarus as someone to be used for his own purposes when necessary. In the story, while he is in Hades he only sees Lazarus as someone to fulfil his wishes. He cries 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.’” And then later on he adds, ‘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.’ Secure in his wealth while alive, the rich man had now lost all his security because of his attitude to those he considered less than himself and only fit to serve him.
Some of the package offers free cialis buy shipping and free bonus pills and consultations. Men who are stressed also suffer best price for cialis from a critical sexual disorder, named as erectile dysfunction. Light meal can help to provide better results within short period viagra sale mastercard of time. Plavix, and the acid-reflux fighters Prevacid and Nexium are other top sellers. opacc.cv viagra samples Then we have the beggar Lazarus, lying at his gate, with no security whatever, wishing for some of the scraps of the rich man’s table. The only security he had was the comfort of dogs who cleaned his sores. And we have Abraham who sees the plight of the beggar, and at a given time takes him to himself, and gives him the security he longed for. Then between Lazarus and the rich man is fixed a chasm, ensuring Lazarus that the one who had hurt him by his lack of concern and neglect, could do so no longer.
As for the rich man, his earthly security was of no worth, when security counted most. He thought he was secure, in fact he was not.
This is a parable of today’s world. When we think that we are secure in our possessions, we are probably not. If nothing else 9/11 teaches us that. The situation in T&T also shows us that possessions do not make us secure. Possessions linked to lack of concern and insensitivity only leads to death and unhappiness as does the inclination to use others for our own pleasure and concerns. It was because of these attitudes that the rich man was tormented in Hades.
The parable ends by showing us a picture of what the world can be. All of us secure in the bosom of Abraham, with a great gulf fixed, to stop anyone who is insensitive and unconcerned about others from crossing over.
The Gospel calls us to remember how good it feels to be secure, and to remember those people who gave us that feeling; Parents, spouses, or perhaps a friend who will never abandon us. It calls us to be secure in the knowledge that God never abandons us. But if we have been blessed with a measure of security, the Gospel also calls us to remember, the poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, lying at our gate who longs to fill himself with the scraps that fall from our table, and there are many Lazaruses or Lazari in T&T. We must remember that we are called to share our security with them. There are many who don’t have the security of knowing where the next meal is coming from, the security of reliable health care, the security of knowing how they will send children to school. The sin of the rich man was his total insensitivity to the needs of Lazarus lying at his gate and his inability to see Lazarus as an equal. As far as Dives, the rich man, was concerned Lazarus was there to be used for his, Dives’, desires and concerns.
As we recognize and applaud and thank God for the great sensitivity that we as a people have shown in helping others in our communities to rebuild after the floods as we have done after natural disasters in other Caribbean islands, let us not forget those close to us, indeed those lying at our very gates.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, your concern for us knows no bounds. It was because of that concern that You sent your Son to be born a human being like us to teach us about your concern for us and to help us to live that concern for others. Unfortunately greed and selfishness often make us forget that we are all brothers and sisters of each other. Give us the grace Father to see all others as our equals before You, and help us to understand that we are stewards of the good things of this earth so that all may enjoy them. Never let us use others or take them for granted. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our mother and Jesus your Son. Amen
