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.
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