Gospel helps us to understand what it means to love. In the parable, the rich man has a sickness much greater than that of Lazarus, who was “full of sores”. This rich man has terrible blindness because he cannot look beyond his world, made of banquets and fine clothing. He cannot see beyond the door of his house where Lazarus lies. This worldliness is like a “black hole” that swallows up what is good, which extinguishes love because it consumes everything in its very self.
Strangely enough Lazarus is the only character in any of the parables who is given a name. The name is the Latinised form of Eleazar and means God is my help. He was a beggar, covered with sores, and so helpless that he could not even ward off the street dogs, which pestered him.
Pope Francis commenting on this Gospel, says: “Excluding Lazarus, the rich man has not taken into account the Lord or his law, because to ignore the poor is to despise God! Lázarus represents well the silent cry of the poor of all times and the contradiction of a world in which immense riches and resources are in the hands of few … The rich will be condemned not for their riches but for having been unable to feel compassion for the Lazaruses and to help them… God’s mercy is linked to our mercy towards our neighbour; when we ignore the poor at our doorstep, the mercy of God too does not find space in our closed heart; God’s mercy cannot enter. … If I do not open the door of my heart to the poor, that door also remains closed for God, and this is terrible …Remember the Magnificat of Mary: He casts the mighty from their throne, he lifted the lowly;
Jesus teaches the importance of compassion in this parable. He warns us to be careful about riches that could blind us and close our hearts to the needs of those around us.
The gospel invites us to the conversion of heart and to look for the Lazaruses who await us for they require a helping hand. Beware of the indifference that closes the heart to such situations of poverty and marginality! Be careful not to close the door of our hearts to the sufferings of others. The only credential we have before God will be our works of mercy with the poor! “learning to look at the poor from their poverty, the sick from their illness or the marginalised from their marginalisation is the goal of a well-understood charity,” says the pope.
Let me leave you with two thoughts from St. Basil the Great: The poor are not the ones who have no wealth but the ones who refuse to share their wealth. “He was so poor that he only had money but no heart.” Moreover, the food and clothing you do not need today do not belong to you. “To the hungry belongs the bread that you withhold; and to naked man the jacket that you guard, jealousy, in your treasure box”.
For your reflection:
It is a terrible warning that the sin of the rich was not that he did wrong things, but that he did nothing.
Father Josekutty Mathew CMF
