THE “RICH” POOR MAN AND THE “POOR” RICH LAZARUS: HOMILY FOR THE 26TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR (C). Rev. Fr. Boniface Nkem Anusiem PhD

There is no guess as to who wants to be rich or not; everyone desires it consciously or unconsciously. On the other hand, nobody wants to be poor. In fact for many people, poverty is a disease which should be avoided. In any case, the disarming truth is that there will always be the rich and the poor (Mark 14:7) we can only work on closing the gap as much as we can.

The gospel reading today has so much drama in it that it could make an interesting movie with sights and sounds of the rich, the poor, animals, cemetery, angels, Abraham, heaven and hell etc. The narrative opens by telling us about a rich man who was gorgeously dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. However at the man’s gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, who was covered with sores and desired to feed from the scrap from the rich man’s table but had no access. Next, dogs came to lick up his wounds.

 Taking an active look in this first part of the narrative we discover so many things .The rich man’s name was not given. Biblically when a name is omitted there is always a reason. In this context he can represent anyone of us. Next he was dressed gorgeously in purple which is the colour of royalty and fine linen which indicates high taste. Next, his menu was exceptionally packed every day that means he never lacked food supply. On the other hand we are presented with a poor man who is fortunately named Lazarus (Eliezer) a name which means “God will help”; the name actually anticipates what will become of him at the end of the story. He was found at the gate of the rich man (that means outside the premises). Though there was surplus food in the rich man’s house he could not get even a scrap of bread from the rich man’s table. He was not only poor he was also sick as he was covered with sores and that too was not attended to by anyone except that the dogs who were his close associates would occasionally come around to lick the sores which could have also infected the sores.

In the next section of the narrative, death creeps in. We are told that Lazarus died and he was carried off by angels to the bosom of Abraham in heaven. Next the rich man also died and was buried but found himself in Hades (hell). There in torments he looked up and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he asked Father Abraham to have mercy on him and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool his tongue in his anguish in the flames. Abraham answered him and reminded him that during their lifetime on earth he received good things while Lazarus received evil things but now the situation has reversed; Lazarus is comforted and he is in anguish. Furthermore Abraham made it clear to him that there is a big gap (chasm) between him and them that prevents movements from either side.

Looking at this second section, we immediately come in contact with the phenomenon of death. That both Lazarus and the rich man died is an indication that death is a facility that is open to everyone both poor and rich alike. Lazarus could have died out of his poverty stricken condition and his deteriorated health condition and the rich man could have also died on account of any of the high standard illnesses like high blood pressure, cancer, heart failure and so on. The fact is that something must bring us to death at some point. From the narrative there was no mention of burial organized for Lazarus. May be when he was found dead, his body was shovelled and thrown into a forest or a valley. But his soul was not thrown away as he was peacefully carried by angels to the bosom of Abraham in heaven. The word of God assures us that the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them (Wisdom 3:1-6). Another striking fact here is the inclusion of Abraham in the narrative. The person of Abraham is significant in the whole of the bible as he is seen as the father of all and a man of unwavering faith in God (Heb.11:17-19). Furthermore when he was on earth Lazarus had nobody by his side but now he is blessed with the enviable company of Abraham.

Still on the second section of the narrative, the rich man also died and was buried. He must have been given a lavishly stunning State burial with all the high and mighty in attendance. However behind the scene he was found in Hades (hell) and in great torment. While receiving eternal burning the rich man looked up and from a far distance he saw Abraham and Lazarus in his bosom. We can in spite of all admire this rich man for being circumspective and articulate. We can see that he could recognize Abraham and Lazarus from a far distance and could even hold an active conversation with them in his anguish. He requested for a drop of water from the tip of the finger of Lazarus which he could not receive because of the gap between the two parties.

We can actually dwell more on the gap (chasm) between the rich man in hades and Lazarus and Abraham in heaven. The gap was actually the same gap that the rich man created between him and Lazarus while they were still on earth. On earth Lazarus could not gain entrance into the Rich Man’s house. From outside the gate he could see people eating and making merry but nobody offered him even a scrap of bread; though we never heard that he begged. Now in the hereafter the situation turned around. The rich man is now the one outside the region of happiness and very much unlike Lazarus he was found begging.

In the last section of the narrative the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brother to warn them about the place of torment but Abraham told him that they have Moses and the Prophets but he insisted that someone coming from the dead may make them to have a change of heart, but Abraham authoritatively told him that if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets someone coming from the dead would not make a difference.

In this section we see the rich man going evangelical. When his plea for a drop of water could not be met he started making a plea for his five brothers who are still living in the world. Insightfully we can still see some trends of rich-man-attitude of giving order still existing in the man. He still believed that he could still give orders even in that place of anguish. He had asked Lazarus to bring water to him. The implication would be that Lazarus would have to leave heaven to hell to experience some of the burnings; he could have wished that Lazarus should exchange places with him. Next he asked that Lazarus should go back on earth as a messenger to his family.

Many commentators and biblical scholars have taken so much time trying to analyse what the sin of the rich man could have been. He was not a thief, he did not kill, and we didn’t hear that he was immoral. But upon deep reflection one can see that the man’s problem was himself; if you like his excessive love for himself that made him not to see the need of others. For instance the narrative began by telling us about his wealth, wardrobe and diet. It was all about him and what will be of benefit to him and we can conveniently say that he was challenged by self-love leading him to negligence and omission.  Hence the rich man was punished at the end of his earthly life because he was unable to show love and care to Lazarus. His sin was not what he did but what he failed to do.  

 At the end of the narrative we discover that there was a reversal. The rich man became eternally poor while the poor Lazarus became eternally rich. Very often we are too comfortable with ourselves and what we have that we don’t care about what becomes of other people around us. That is actually why the oracle of Amos (6:1a;4-7) today announced woe on those who are at ease in Zion and giving themselves exceptional treat while things go wrong for others (the ruin of Joseph)

From the gospel today we come to understand that riches  come with grave responsibilities. Indeed God made it possible for some people to be rich so that they can assist those who are less privileged by becoming the hand of GOD at the service of such people. God does not care about how much you own but how much you care. It is based on this that our Lord Jesus Christ advised that our entrance into heaven would depend on our attitude to people we meet because such people like Lazarus represent Jesus Christ (Matt. 25:40).

 It all depends on our choices. Whatever choices you make today will determine the outcome of your tomorrow. We can, like the rich man choose to take absolute care of ourselves by eating the best meals and wearing the most expensive clothes and overlook the need of people around us; but we can be sure that like the rich man we shall be giving account of that too. Life should never be determined by how much we have but how much we are able to give.

Have a blissful Sunday and a blessed week ahead!

Fr. Bonnie.

Jesus the Sharer: Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time year b. Fr Bonnie Anusiem

JESUS THE SHARER: HOMILY FOR THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR (B)

BY REV. FR. BONIFACE NKEM ANUSIEM PH.D

The word sharer reminds me of my junior and senior Seminary days. During meals someone from each table was expected to pick the pot of food from the pantry and then share out to the members of his table. This exercise actually calls for caution, right thinking and equity. This is because the sharer may fall into the table fallacy of partial or biased sharing or worst still starving someone out rightly. Actually to starve someone from a higher class to that of the sharer is an offense with multiple consequences.

Beyond food sharer in the Seminary, it is a good and worthwhile thing to share with others, especially what one possesses. There are many things we can obviously share with others; they could be tangible or physical (like materials things), they could also be intangible (like moral and spiritual support).

Today our Lord Jesus Christ is presented to us as a sharer; in fact he is the ideal sharer, the sharer per excellence. Sharing summarizes why he came into our context. He came to share not only the word of God with us, but also his total self: “body, blood, soul and divinity”. Last Sunday we were told that our Lord upon seeing the devastated crowd who came in search of him, set out immediately to share the word of God with them and he did this at length because he taught them many things (Mark 6:34).

The gospel today from John (6:1-5) is actually a continuation of the event of last Sunday. At the end of his sermon it was late and the people were clearly famished from the long trek in search of him as well as the long but interesting sermon on many things. The session over, the apostles were eager to send the people away so that they could actually get a rest. Remember they were still to get rest after their apostolic work last Sunday. They were not done yet with work; Jesus asked Philip where they could buy bread to feed the multitude. After the feeding with word of God, Jesus is now extending his care from the soul to the body. This tells us that God has comprehensive care over us. Remember His words in Psalm 27:10.

The request made by Jesus to Philip in view of buying bread was like a difficult and unrealizable task. This reminds us of his question earlier in the crowd: “who touched my clothes” (Mark 5: 30). Philip gave a very straight and simple answer it is impossible to get such supply above all we don’t have such amount in the purse. Philip here sounded like the financial secretary, we know that Judas kept the money anyway. However Jesus was trying to find out what Philip would say because he already knew what he would do. Often when faced with some situations in life, we behave like Philip. We say it is not possible, we claim and assume that nothing can be done about the situation. Philip actually represents most of us who cannot see beyond what human power and resources can do. We often like Philip see fear where we ought to see faith.

But in all these Jesus knew exactly what to do. In your life God knows exactly what to do. In your challenges and hazels, God knows exactly what to do. Philip thought that money can answer and address the situation, but this happened to fall beyond the region of finance to the region of faith. It was at this point that we saw a flicker of faith coming from Andrew. He said that he could see a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish, but that will not be enough for the crowd.

I am particularly moved by Andrew’s statement. Andrew stands for hope, Andrew stands for optimism, Andrew stands for positive challenge unto God. Andrew understood the fact that God needs something from you before He came bring about multiplication. Something has to go forth before something comes forth. If you search the bible very well you will understand this underlying principle. You must bring something before you can get a whole lot. In Exodus Moses and Aaron had to bring something (their staff) for miracles to happen (Ex.4:3-4; 7:9,19;). In 1^st  Kings (17:12) the widow had to bring her last oil and flour before she got the miracle of abundance. In 2^nd  Kings (4:2) the widow had to bring her last oil before she got the amazing “oil well” in her room. In the First reading today too (2^nd Kings 4:42-44) the servants of Elisha had to bring some bread which he multiplied. Often times we come with nothing while asking God to grant us increase. You sure must bring something no matter how small it may be. Jesus had challenged us in Mark (11:22) that no matter how small our faith could be, it is capable of moving mountains.

I am moved also by Andrew as an INTRODUCER. That was his function throughout the gospel. He introduced Simon Peter to Jesus from the gospel account of John of their call to become apostles (Jn.1:40-42). When some Greeks came to look for Jesus he was the one that took them to the Lord (Jn.12: 20-22). He did also introduce the good news to the people of Asia Minor and Greece and was martyred at Patras in Achea in Greece. Like Andrew we are called by virtue of our baptism to become introducers of the good news to people. We are called to see and introduce good things to others and not bad things. We know John to be the one always staying close to the heart of the Lord but I believe that Andrew knew more what was inside that heart.

Back to the situation, Andrew practically challenged the Lord to multiply the five loaves and two fish; a small boy’s lunch (may be for him and his siblings or may be what he came to sell at the “religious rally”). One striking thing was that the boy agreed to let go the five loaves of bread and two fish. He was extremely altruistic and charitable. I wonder what was going on in his mind as he was giving out all he had. How needful it is for us to let go especially when we genuinely have and there is legitimate need. Yes, Jesus multiplied the loaves of bread and the two fish, but this could only happen with the disposition and good will of a small boy who was willing to give. The miracle was performed by Jesus Christ but it was made readily possible by the small boy. From the five loaves of bread and two fish a great multitude was able to have dinner. From the benevolence of a small boy a great crowd went home satisfied. Sometime ago in a Children mass while reflecting on this passage a child asked me: “Fr! What happened to the remaining twelve baskets”. My answer was spontaneous: “they were given to the small boy and his family”. Though we were not told who took the remaining basket, but it is reasonable enough to establish that the small boy was given the remaining basket or shared them with the apostles who still had not eaten because they were busy sharing.

Sharing is an expression of Love. When we hear that we are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26 ), we are simply being told that God gave us a share of His being. When we hear that God loved the world so much that he gave his son for our salvation, we are being told that God shared that which is so precious with us. The kingdom of God is where we can be through an attitude of sharing. Jesus shared the word of God, he shared bread and finally shared his life so that we can live not just now but forever. If Jesus Christ is a sharer of the things listed above and we are his followers, it follows then that we should be sharers of his word, sharers of his life, sharers of our blessings and material possessions.

According to the Millennium Development Goals annual report more than 850 million people go to bed every day without food and a child dies of hunger every 3 seconds around the world. The question is this: “don’t we have food to share?” Obviously there are many people out there who have so much to throw away and on the other hand there are so many others you have nothing to eat. Our refuge collection points boasts of loads of discarded food items and other commodities while so many stomachs are starving. There is call on us today to reproduce the caring and sharing Jesus and the small boy with five loaves of bread and two fish. There is a clarion on us to reflect the faith and optimism of Andrew while eschewing the “impossibility state-of-mind of Philip. Our world can be a better place we decide to share