Twenty Sixth Sunday of the Year (C) 29 September 2013

 Twenty Sixth Sunday of the Year (C)

29 September 2013

 Luke 16, 19 to 31

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.  At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores  and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.  “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

  In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house,  for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’  “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’  “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’  “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

José Antonio Pagola 

Break down the indifference

According to Luke, when Jesus cried out “you cannot serve God and money”, some Pharisees who were listening to him and loved money, “laughed at him”. Jesus was not cowed down. Soon after, he tells a harrowing parable so that those who were enslaved by wealth would open their eyes.  

    In a few words Jesus describes a brutal situation. A rich man and a poor beggar who live next to each other, are separated by the abyss there is between the life of insulting opulence of the rich man and the extreme misery of the poor beggar.   

   The story describes the two characters by strongly emphasizing the contrast between them. The rich man is dressed in purple clothes and the finest linen, the body of the poor man is covered with sores. The rich man dines lavishly not only on feast days but everyday. The poor man lies sprawled at his doorway, unable to bring to his mouth what falls from the table of the rich man. Only the dogs who look for scraps in the dustbin, come up to him to lick his wounds. 

   Nowhere is it said that the rich man exploited the poor one, or that he ill-treated or despised him. It could be said that he hadn’t done anything wrong. And yet, his whole life is inhuman, because he only lives for his own well-being. His heart is made of stone. He ignores the poor man totally. He has him in  front of him but does not see him. He’s right there, sick, hungry, and abandoned, but he is not able to walk across the door to take care of him.

   Let’s not deceive ourselves. Jesus is not only denouncing the situation of Galilee in the thirties. He is  trying to shake the conscience of those who have got used to living in abundance having at our gate, a few hours flight away, entire peoples living and dying in absolute misery.

   It is inhuman to enclose ourselves in our   “prosperous society” while totally ignoring that other poverty stricken society. It is cruel to carry on fomenting that secret “illusion of innocence” which allows us to live with an easy conscience thinking that the fault lies with everyone and with nobody. 

   Our first task is to break down the indifference, to resist the temptation to continue enjoying our well=being devoid of compassion. We must not continue to mentally isolate ourselves so as to shift the misery and the hunger that exist in the world to an abstract remoteness, in order to be thus able to live out of the reach of any cry, groaning, or weeping.

  The Gospel can help us to live alert, without becoming increasingly insensitive to the suffering of those who have been abandoned , without losing a sense of fraternal responsibility, and without remaining passive when we can act.