Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR C TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - 26.9.04 Amos 6,1.4-7; 1 Tim 6,11-16; Lk 16,19-31 Rich & Poor Details
of Parable.
While poor man has a name (Lazarus means ‘God helps’) rich man remains nameless to indicate that he represents
‘Every-Person’. Abraham is the person who first in the Bible (Genesis 12)
put his trust in God & became model of righteousness. To rest in the bosom
of Abraham was a metaphor for eternal happiness. The parable tells about an
age-old dream: to bridge the gap between rich & poor, all brothers & sisters in God’s family, all equally at
rights with God & each other. The story has 2 parables: 1st, comes the
reversal of fortunes between rich & poor. This part is not original to
Jesus. It was known in a much older legend from an Egyptian folk-tale. The 2nd
parable is unique to Luke. It talks about rich man & his five brothers, and
it contains a sobering lesson: in the Bible (Moses & Prophets), the will of
God about rich & poor is spelled out. Rich & poor are locked together;
they need each other While rich & poor are here to stay, the rich will go to
heaven only in as much as they help the poor. Around Year 40AD, lived
contemporary with Luke, two authors, who wrote a similar story: Lucien of Samosata, (wrote Cataplas = Trip to Hades), and
Menippus, (wrote Nekyia = also Trip to Hades). In their stories, both rich &
poor received their lot in this life - both died and went to Hades = the abode
of the dead, where the reversal of fortunes took place. In Hades rich man tried
his futile attempts at changing his miserable state, & was reminded that his
former fine clothing and sumptuous banquets are now a tacit condemnation of his
hedonistic and immoral living. In Luke, the detail of Jesus’ resurrection is
vital: rich man is condemned not for neglecting Lazarus, but for allowing his
wealth to dominate his life, and Lazarus is fortunate by the very fact that
poverty kept him close to God, purity of heart & virtue. Ostentatious
arrogance.
The crux of today’s parable is that there is more to life than simply the
present situation we are in, namely that in our Society & our Church, there
are rich & poor alike, and nothing can be done about it. The parable is not
addressing only material wealth: every form of power, in and out of the Church,
is included, since the awareness of power breathes arrogance, which in turn
makes us lord it over other people. The abiding lesson is this: whoever we are,
Rich & Poor - Powerful & Powerless, we must discern -through the study
of Scripture- our position before God & our way to Him. The words of the
parable contain a sober warning: ‘we have Moses (Torah) & Prophets to
listen to; if we don’t listen to them we will fail to listen even to the One
who has risen from the dead, Jesus our Lord’. If we are blessed with riches
and talents, let’s be grateful to God and help the poor who in turn will get
us to heaven, Yes they will give us heaven. Let’s become detached from both
lure of wealth & lust for power; let’s become a bit poor, following the
example of God’s Son, who became poor & powerless when he came to live
among us. Let’s never use wealth & power for self indulgence, or worse, to
cut off from others, & become insensitive or arrogant towards the less
privileged. Instead, let’s use our resources to benefit those who cannot help
themselves. We all have a duty of care towards those, who are covered with sores
& long to fill their bellies with our scraps. Feeding the hungry is more
than doing a ‘good deed’. .. And if in this life, we are poor for a short or
long time, let’s rely & trust in God as Lazarus did (his name = ‘God
helps’). In life, rich & poor are locked together: and the poor get the rich
to heaven. Today,
Social Justice Sunday, pray for
those who need help; for those who fail to help; pray for each other. ______________________________________ |
