Homily for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, September 25, 2022. Amos 6:1-7; Gospel of St. Luke 16:19-31. Theme: ..And In What I Have Failed To Do…
At the beginning of Mass we prayed the Confiteor, admitting that we have sinned in the things that we have failed to do. And this admission of our guilt brings us directly to the heart of what Jesus wants us to remember and carry away with us through today’s Gospel: that the things we do - or fail to do - in this life have a direct connection to where we will spend our eternity. Because you see, true religion as taught by the Bible and our Faith, is not a matter of just “God and me”. It’s a matter of “God, me and my neighbor”. It was precisely because the Rich Man in the parable failed to do good to his neighbor in need that he found himself in a terrible and eternal predicament.
Jesus begins the story by making a point that the man was dressed in purple and fine linen. This isn’t a fashion statement but informed the original hearers of the parable that the man was extremely wealthy, what we might call “filthy rich”. Purple cloth was the most expensive fabric in the Roman Empire and linen came from Egypt at exorbitant prices, so these were worn only by the nobility. Our Lord is telling us that the man could have done whatever it took, whatever was needed to help Lazarus. He had all the means at his disposal. But he chose to do nothing.
Suffering humanity was right there before his eyes daily but he refused to see it. Lazarus was literally at the man’s front door but he simply didn’t care. He could have sent a meal out to him or even just had one of his servants go and check on the poor man’s condition. Instead, he just left him there to suffer alone. And I would imagine that Lazarus’ pain was increased by the fact that he could hear and smell the food and festivities just a few yards away in the mansion. That man was like the self-indulgent and complacent rich in our first reading who were condemned by God through his prophet Amos.
Jesus speaks this parable to shake us out of our own self-focus and complacency. He calls us to examine ourselves on what we are doing for the Lazaruses who sit at the front doors of our stores, on the sidewalks of our streets, and throughout our towns and nation. These Lazaruses suffer from various forms of poverty and not just that of the body. There is also a poverty of spirit, a poverty of the very soul, which is deeper and hurts even more because it consists of ridicule and rejection. There are places and people who treat the homeless as if they do not exist or who move them to less desirable locations so as not to disturb the neighborhoods of the rich. But at the same time they don’t even lift a finger to try and help them. They just push them along and out of the way.
As Christians we have a serious responsibility to respond to our neighbor in need as individuals, as a Church and as members of society. As individuals, we need to find a Christian and humanitarian way of responding to the needs of the Lazaruses we encounter as we go about daily life.
A priest who had a lot of experience ministering to the destitute once taught me a simple and very personal way to do this. He said that when seeing a beggar at a storefront don’t just walk past them looking the other way, but extend a greeting to him or her. And when you hand someone a bit of money or some food, don’t just don’t hand it off to them briskly and impersonally, but ask their first name and use it. These basic human interactions cost us nothing extra but lets them know that you see them, that they are not invisible or a meaningless person to you. It’s a simple but powerful way to acknowledge that they are persons with a name, that they still with dignity, and are not just another dirty beggar on the street.
But along with individual action, we also need the combined effort of organized charities like the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Two is better than one and a united group can make a world of difference in the suffering of the poor. The Vincentians extend mercy and rebuild hope in the lives of many who struggle to survive. All of us can be involved in this group response either by becoming Vincentians ourselves or by funding their many never-ending charitable works.
Finally, there is also a third response we all must have in helping Lazarus today and this is one of social justice, of social reform. We need to look at what causes and perpetuates destitution and homelessness in our society so that we can work to fix it. Our Christian consciences must make us ask: “Why is Lazarus in this condition in the first place? What in our culture is perpetuating his poverty? Why is our nation promoting such disregard for human life that even the unborn Lazaruses are rejected and their budding lives terminated?” These are hard questions that we have a responsibility before God to discuss and answer.
As Christian citizens who have the privilege to vote and therefore effect changes, we have a duty to inform ourselves as to the morality of issues and proposed laws in the light of the Bible, in the light of our Faith. Our consciences must not be formed according to a particular partisan platform or by what a popular news program might suggest or according to what our friends and co-workers might think.
When we leave this world and like the Rich Man stand before God, our moral choices will not be judged by politicians or newscasters or our friends. We will have to give an answer directly to Jesus Christ as to how each one of us treated the Lazaruses who came into our lives with outstretched hands asking for our help.
