The parable in today’s Gospel (Luke 16:19-31) is one of contrasts, contrasts that should make us feel very uncomfortable and move us to action. On the one hand we have the rich man whose lifestyle is opulent. He wears expensive clothes and dines sumptuously with his friends every day. In sharp contrast there is Lazarus, the poor beggar, sitting at the rich man’s gates, vainly hoping to receive the scraps from the rich man’s table. The poor man is covered with sores and is so weak that he was unable to fend off the dogs that came to lick them.
So, what is the rich man’s fault? He doesn’t do Lazarus any harm or even drive him away from his house. In fact, he doesn’t do anything about Lazarus. He doesn’t notice him; still less does he care for him. He lacks compassion and does nothing. THAT is his fault. The closed door of the rich man’s home, that separates him from Lazarus, represents the rich man’s heart that also is closed to the needs of the poor man.
But death reverses their roles. While the beggar, Lazarus, now enjoys the happiness of heaven, the rich man, who had dined sumptuously, now longs for a drop of water to quench his thirst. Now, at last, he recognizes the beggar, but only to use him as a servant to bring him some water. He, who had done nothing to assist Lazarus in his need, now wants the beggar to come to his rescue. The rich man wants Lazarus to show him the compassion that he himself had refused to give Lazarus.
But the rich man is told that now it is too late. The gulf between them is too great for Lazarus to come to his aid. Not death, but the rich man’s lack of compassion during his earthly life that created that gulf. Even so, the rich man is still totally absorbed in himself. He only sees Lazarus as a servant, whom he could use to relieve his thirst. It never occurs to him that the poor beggar is his brother, for whom he was responsible.
But at last, the rich man does feel concern for others–but only for his own family. Since his five brothers are as self-indulgent as he had been, he wants Lazarus to be sent to warn them against making the same mistakes that he had made, so that they could avoid the suffering of his own punishment. Notice that, even now, the rich man sees Lazarus as a servant whom he can use. But the rich man is told that his brothers have had all the warnings they need. If they refused to obey Moses and the prophets, they would not heed a messenger, even one sent from the dead. See the correlation with Jesus? Their problem was not ignorance, but hardness of heart.
This parable is a solemn warning for us. Some of us live in affluent societies, with large surpluses and great waste. The media proclaims the desperate need of the starving and homeless. We can even see them on our streets. We can’t plead ignorance of their need, nor of our obligation to come to their aid. The Scriptures, and above all, Jesus Himself, who has risen from the dead, proclaim our duty to help them. In St. Matthew’s Gospel Jesus tells us that He identifies with the needy. In neglecting them, we neglect Him and He will disown us if we disown them. We don’t need any further warnings to jolt us out of our complacency, which Pope Francis condemns as self-centered global indifference.
But we can easily become like the rich man. Like him, we’re probably not cruel or vicious to the poor, instead we simply fail to do anything positive to help them. We sin by omission, rather than commission. As we hear of so much destitution in the world, we can develop compassion fatigue. May we never be condemned by the words of the psalmist, ‘I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none,’ (Psalm 69:20).
The Order invites you to become involved in our Programs that help the poor and needy. Visit our website (www.sjp2.org) to get more details. Help us to help you find yet another way that you can avoid the fate of that rich man in today’s Gospel.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!