The Rich Man and Lazarus
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Imagine this scene. A man dies and arrives before the Judgment Seat of God. The divine Judge goes through the Book of Life and does not find the man’s name. So He announces to the man that his place is in hell. The man protests, he was screaming “But what did I do? I did nothing!” “Precisely,” replies God, “that is why you are going to hell.” You did nothing for the good of others.
Life is like a bus ride. We move forward with our bags packed, hoping that when the bus stops and the door opens; we will be at the right location. We must remember the fundamental truth of Revelation: eternity consists of three states: heaven, purgatory and hell. To deny the existence of purgatory and hell is to deny Christianity. To tell people that everyone is going to heaven is to deprive them of the truth. It is a lie to tell people that everyone is saved.
One day each of us will stand before God for judgment. We will stand before God without a lawyer and without family and friends to support us. We will stand alone before Almighty God. Each day could be our last day on earth. We should each ask ourselves each day, if I were to die today, how would God judge me? Is there any particular sin, attachment, or attitude that might be an obstacle to my eternal salvation?
I know you may be wondering why the rich man had to go to hell! We are not told he acquired his wealth by foul means. We are not told he was responsible for the poverty and misery of Lazarus. In fact we are not even told that Lazarus begged from him and he refused to help. We are not told he committed any crime or evil deed. All we are told is that he was feeding and clothing well as any other successful human being has a right to do. Why then did he go to hell?
The problem we have pinpointing the reason why the rich man went to hell has a lot to do with what we think sin is. We often think that we sin only by thought, word and deed. We forget a fourth and very important way through which we sin, namely, by omission. In the prayer “I Confess to Almighty God” we say these words: “I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.” Yet how readily we forget the sin of omission. Today’s parable reminds us that the sin of omission can land someone in hell. This is what happens to the rich man. If you are not doing what you could do for God and neighbor then it is your sin of omission.
Another problem we have with this parable is why Lazarus went to heaven. In biblical stories of this nature, names are very significant because they often convey the person’s basic character or personality. In fact this is the only parable of Jesus where the character in the story has a name. So the name must be significant for interpreting this parable.
The name “Lazarus” is the Hellenised form of the Hebrew name “Eleazar” which means “God is my help.” Lazarus, therefore, is not just a poor man, but a poor man who believes and trusts in God. This must be why he found himself in Abraham’s bosom in Paradise — because of his faith and trust in God, not just because he was poor.
The good news of this parable is this: If you feel, my dear brothers and sisters, like a Lazarus right now, battered by sickness, poverty and pain, forgotten by society and by those whom God has blessed in this life, continue believing and trusting in God knowing that it will be well with your soul in the end. If you see yourself as one of those blessed by God with the good things of life, open your door and see. Probably there is a Lazarus lying at your gates and you have not taken notice.
It saddens me to see so many people walk around as if they were lifeless, without joy and without meaning in their lives. I have noticed that it is hard to find people who smile, who say hello, who extend the hand of friendship.
There is a story about a pastor who told his parishioners that there was good news and bad news. The good news is that the parish had enough money to do anything that it wanted to. The bad news was that the money is still in their pockets.
You and me, we miss out a lot. We don’t do things that we really ought to do. We fail to bear good fruit. We are not using the talents the gifts our wealth our time for the greater Glory of God. These are sins of omission.
The sin of the rich man was the sin of omission - failing to respond to human tragedy when he could have made a difference. He remained uninvolved, disinterested. His words would have been, “it’s no concern of mine.”
Yes dear brothers and sisters, you and I are part of the Gospel story today. We are the five brothers of the rich man.
God is the creator and the owner of the whole world. "Rich people are the stewards of God's riches," says St. John Chrysostom. How beautiful is the Arabic expression, when someone is asked about his or her possessions: "Al mulq lilLah! Ownership belongs to God." We read in Psalm 24: "The Lord's is the earth and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it." (Psalm 24:1) St. Basil said: "The superfluous money of the rich is the property of the poor." We hear the echo of this same truth in the famous inaugural speech of President John F. Kennedy: The society which cannot care for its poor cannot protect its rich. Even the poor are not exempted from caring and helping other poor. One good image of Christ's charity is "a beggar telling another beggar where to find food." No one is too poor to help someone else in some way.
Let me ask you my brothers and sisters, if you had the choice between being the rich man and the poor Lazarus, what would you choose? Would you prefer to have and spend all the goods, which belong to you in sumptuous living, or be a miser with no place to live in and no food to eat? Fortunately, there is a third choice. I wish I had all the money of the world, so I could share it with those less fortunate than I. If you were in the place of the rich man, would you have helped the poor Lazarus? Poverty as I told you before is not only lack of Money, but of everything: love, compassion, friendship…How much compassion are we showing to them?
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Imagine this scene. A man dies and arrives before the Judgment Seat of God. The divine Judge goes through the Book of Life and does not find the man’s name. So He announces to the man that his place is in hell. The man protests, he was screaming “But what did I do? I did nothing!” “Precisely,” replies God, “that is why you are going to hell.” You did nothing for the good of others.
Life is like a bus ride. We move forward with our bags packed, hoping that when the bus stops and the door opens; we will be at the right location. We must remember the fundamental truth of Revelation: eternity consists of three states: heaven, purgatory and hell. To deny the existence of purgatory and hell is to deny Christianity. To tell people that everyone is going to heaven is to deprive them of the truth. It is a lie to tell people that everyone is saved.
One day each of us will stand before God for judgment. We will stand before God without a lawyer and without family and friends to support us. We will stand alone before Almighty God. Each day could be our last day on earth. We should each ask ourselves each day, if I were to die today, how would God judge me? Is there any particular sin, attachment, or attitude that might be an obstacle to my eternal salvation?
I know you may be wondering why the rich man had to go to hell! We are not told he acquired his wealth by foul means. We are not told he was responsible for the poverty and misery of Lazarus. In fact we are not even told that Lazarus begged from him and he refused to help. We are not told he committed any crime or evil deed. All we are told is that he was feeding and clothing well as any other successful human being has a right to do. Why then did he go to hell?
The problem we have pinpointing the reason why the rich man went to hell has a lot to do with what we think sin is. We often think that we sin only by thought, word and deed. We forget a fourth and very important way through which we sin, namely, by omission. In the prayer “I Confess to Almighty God” we say these words: “I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.” Yet how readily we forget the sin of omission. Today’s parable reminds us that the sin of omission can land someone in hell. This is what happens to the rich man. If you are not doing what you could do for God and neighbor then it is your sin of omission.
Another problem we have with this parable is why Lazarus went to heaven. In biblical stories of this nature, names are very significant because they often convey the person’s basic character or personality. In fact this is the only parable of Jesus where the character in the story has a name. So the name must be significant for interpreting this parable.
The name “Lazarus” is the Hellenised form of the Hebrew name “Eleazar” which means “God is my help.” Lazarus, therefore, is not just a poor man, but a poor man who believes and trusts in God. This must be why he found himself in Abraham’s bosom in Paradise — because of his faith and trust in God, not just because he was poor.
The good news of this parable is this: If you feel, my dear brothers and sisters, like a Lazarus right now, battered by sickness, poverty and pain, forgotten by society and by those whom God has blessed in this life, continue believing and trusting in God knowing that it will be well with your soul in the end. If you see yourself as one of those blessed by God with the good things of life, open your door and see. Probably there is a Lazarus lying at your gates and you have not taken notice.
It saddens me to see so many people walk around as if they were lifeless, without joy and without meaning in their lives. I have noticed that it is hard to find people who smile, who say hello, who extend the hand of friendship.
There is a story about a pastor who told his parishioners that there was good news and bad news. The good news is that the parish had enough money to do anything that it wanted to. The bad news was that the money is still in their pockets.
You and me, we miss out a lot. We don’t do things that we really ought to do. We fail to bear good fruit. We are not using the talents the gifts our wealth our time for the greater Glory of God. These are sins of omission.
The sin of the rich man was the sin of omission - failing to respond to human tragedy when he could have made a difference. He remained uninvolved, disinterested. His words would have been, “it’s no concern of mine.”
Yes dear brothers and sisters, you and I are part of the Gospel story today. We are the five brothers of the rich man.
God is the creator and the owner of the whole world. "Rich people are the stewards of God's riches," says St. John Chrysostom. How beautiful is the Arabic expression, when someone is asked about his or her possessions: "Al mulq lilLah! Ownership belongs to God." We read in Psalm 24: "The Lord's is the earth and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it." (Psalm 24:1) St. Basil said: "The superfluous money of the rich is the property of the poor." We hear the echo of this same truth in the famous inaugural speech of President John F. Kennedy: The society which cannot care for its poor cannot protect its rich. Even the poor are not exempted from caring and helping other poor. One good image of Christ's charity is "a beggar telling another beggar where to find food." No one is too poor to help someone else in some way.
Let me ask you my brothers and sisters, if you had the choice between being the rich man and the poor Lazarus, what would you choose? Would you prefer to have and spend all the goods, which belong to you in sumptuous living, or be a miser with no place to live in and no food to eat? Fortunately, there is a third choice. I wish I had all the money of the world, so I could share it with those less fortunate than I. If you were in the place of the rich man, would you have helped the poor Lazarus? Poverty as I told you before is not only lack of Money, but of everything: love, compassion, friendship…How much compassion are we showing to them?
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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