Gospel of the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus said to the Pharisees: 19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. 20 And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. 22 When the poor man died, he was carried away by Angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ 25 Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. 26 Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ 27 He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ 30 He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead’” (Lk 16:19-31).
I – The Root of Attachment to Money
As children come into contact with the reality surrounding them, at the dawning of the light of reason, they feel small and powerless before a universe that seems immense and unfathomable. Accordingly, children readily believe that other beings are superior to them, assume a position of dependency towards older people, and have complete trust in the protection of their parents. This attitude of innocence allows children to accept without difficulty the existence of a world beyond the reach of their senses, which can be neither seen nor touched. Thus, they are predisposed to live in openness to the supernatural.
With the passing of the years, however, a strong tendency to be self-sufficient shows itself in the human soul. Then, especially when virtue is lacking, the soul becomes impenetrable to all that is beyond its nature and which it cannot control, such as the principles of the Faith. As a result, people will prefer to deal with concrete things that call for management skills, such as money, work, studies and family. They imagine themselves secure by being able to dominate in these areas.
Thus, as the heart distances itself from God and follows the path of pride, giving vent to this tendency to control everything, a “religion” begins to emerge, in which the five senses are considered absolute: it is the worship of the palpable, of the sensible, of the material, of that which provides a person with apparent stability.
From this perspective, in every age, ever since the first monetary trade in history was established, no other good has been coveted as much as money. It is seen as the chief means for navigating life with security. Everyone dreams of winning the lottery, finding treasure, receiving a large inheritance or some other way of having fortune suddenly knock at their door. However, while it is true that the abundance of possessions favours a carefree life, “he who loves money will not be satisfied with money” (Eccl 5:10), and will never obtain inner peace.
This problem is the backdrop against which the eloquent parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus unfolds. St. Luke presents it as the culmination of a sequence of teachings given by Our Lord on the use of wealth.
II – A Parable for the Pharisees
The Gospel for this Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time features one of the sermons Jesus delivered while on His way to Jerusalem during the third year of His public life. Just prior, He had narrated the three parables of mercy to illustrate how entirely ready God is to receive everyone. Immediately following this, the Evangelist records the parable of the unfaithful administrator, which was addressed to the disciples in a discourse that concluded with the categorical statement: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Lk 16:13).
Among the listeners present were “the Pharisees, who were lovers of money […] and they scoffed at Him” (Lk 16:14). Much put out by these considerations on dishonest money, they doubtless murmured against Jesus and labelled His doctrine as insane and absurd. The Saviour then turned to them and, after rebuking them for their falseness, went on to paint a scene in vivid colours that focused in a very specific way on human pride and greed. He most likely would have told it with a wealth of detail not found in the text of St. Luke. Perhaps He took as much as half an hour to build up such a well-knit, formative and convincing plot.
God forgets the proud
Jesus said to the Pharisees: 19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. 20 And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, …”
From the outset, a detail catches our attention and indicates the keynote of this passage: among the characters that appear in Our Lord’s parables, this poor man is the only one to receive a name: Lazarus. The other, in turn, receives only a designation that applies to all those who rest their assurance on creatures, a “rich man.” This detail is meaningful, and teaches us that God forgets the proud, but forever conserves the name of the humble in His memory.
There is no harm in owning many goods, or in dressing in fine and elegant clothes, as long as no pretentious exaggeration enters. The simple fact of dining sumptuously every day is not justified, because a banquet is something that calls for certain circumstances and a supernatural tone; otherwise, it becomes an occasion for intemperance and a pretext for fleeing from suffering. This man, moreover, is indulgent with himself and averse to any kind of pain, including that of his neighbour, showing no compassion for the unfortunate man who lives at his door.
All those who follow the ways of selfishness and are concerned only for their own interests, deny themselves and others the happiness of practising virtue and participating in the life of God, and risk sharing the same fate as this greedy man.
A poor man assisted by grace
21 “…who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.”
Endowed with a good heart, Lazarus is resigned, humble, and willing to accept whatever comes to him from God. He is poor not only in resources, but also in health, but he demands nothing and lives out his days without solace: no one tends to his illness or helps to alleviate the terrible need he is facing, to the point that he has no protection against the dogs that come to lick his wounds. Even so, he does not revolt against the rich man and is content to eat the scraps that fall from his opulent table.
This conformity, equanimity, and peace of soul in face of so much suffering and disregard is what most stands out in Lazarus, and it can only be the result of grace. He has his hope set on God, and so he does not lose heart in this situation of pain and adversity. He refuses to give in to lamentations and self-pity.
Let us not lose sight of the fact that the Author of this story is Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity Incarnate, and therefore His words are perfect and unsurpassable. All the points He has sketched out are intended to move those hardened hearts and to put them in the grave perspective of eternal salvation. They contain no literary overstatement intended merely to impress His listeners.
The reward of the humble and the burial of the egoistic
22 “When the poor man died, he was carried away by Angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, …”
Lazarus, who had dogs for his only companions, now enjoys the utmost honour, being led by Angels to happiness. Of the rich man it is only said that he was “buried”: all of his fortune is covered with a cloak of earth! Such is the end of those who glory in their own qualities and seek to draw the attention of others to themselves: they receive their pay during this life and in the end are buried in oblivion.
A superficial conclusion from reading this passage would be to think that poverty is the most favourable condition for attaining eternal blessedness. In fact, when money, health and even natural gifts are wanting, it is easier to fold one’s hands and pray. Conversely, when one has vigour, resources, intelligence, and prestige, prayer is easily neglected and the tendency to earthly attachment is stronger. However, sometimes a person who has nothing becomes resentful, and one who is lacking nothing is generous and lives in friendship with God.
Clearly, then, the heart of the problem set out by Our Lord is not want or plenty, but rather the attitude one takes in relation to God, neighbour and all that one may have, whether of a spiritual or material nature. Lazarus obtained mercy after his death and achieved the extraordinary success of eternal happiness because he was unselfish and innocent, accepting the torments and privations of this life as proportionate to what he deserved for his faults.
A pale idea of the humiliation of the condemned
23 “…and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’”
To describe what eternity is like for the righteous and for the condemned, respectively, Our Lord uses conventional images from the Hebrew tradition concerning the mysteries of the afterlife. According to these conceptions, Abraham’s bosom and hades corresponded to two distinct parts of the abode of the dead, separated by a deep abyss.1 Since Heaven was closed to humanity after original sin, the holy souls remained in Limbo awaiting the Redemption, reposing with the great patriarch. 2 The wicked fell into hell, whose gates have always been open and will only close at the end of the world.
In telling this parable, Jesus adds some vivid particulars to increase its didactic value. For instance, the reprobate, to their greatest torment, see the happiness of those who have been saved. Thus, while the rich man suffers with despair amidst fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth, Lazarus is at peace, in expectation of the day in which he will attain beatific vision and contemplate God.
Our Lord makes no mention of the pain of loss experienced by the damned, which consists in their feeling drawn to God and knowing that their happiness is found in Him, but at the same time feeling His hatred and repudiation. This pain is far worse than fire, but there was no use speaking of it to the Pharisees, for those who are hardened in greed and pride are moved only by the thought of a direct and tangible pain.
In another interesting nuance painted by Our Lord, the condemned man calls out to Abraham to ask for a drop of water. But those who are in hell are incapable of wanting anything but the destruction of everything, even of God Himself. The condemned hate Him, and because they cannot make Him disappear, they wish to annihilate themselves. Since this, too, is impossible, they drag themselves along for all eternity in unmitigated despair. And even if, by some absurdity, a reprobate could want to slake his thirst, his pride would be such that he would never request this favour of anyone.
What, then, was Jesus’ intention in saying these words? He wanted to give the Pharisees one more chance of conversion by offering them a pale idea of the humiliation into which the proud sink. The one who feasted daily and despised the poor man now lowers himself to beg another to wet his fingertip so as to cool his tongue.…
The impassable separation between the just and the condemned
25 “Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. 26 Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’”
In order to make this lesson more clearly defined in the minds of the Pharisees, Our Lord places it on the lips of Abraham, whom they venerated as the maximum figure of the Jewish race and therefore one worthy to be heard. Although fictional, the dialogue conveys a notion of the immense and eternal separation between those who are saved and those who are lost.
Abraham calls him “my child,” which evokes the kindness of the patriarch, but also increases the torment of the condemned, by reminding him of the bond that had once united him to Abraham, in his place of happiness, but was now broken by his own fault, never to be restored.
27 “He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’”
Those who suffer in hell do not intercede for anyone; they are in complete despair and have no compassion for others. But if it could happen, by chance, that a reprobate should want to help someone, he would prefer one of his own relatives, out of selfishness. Even in this extreme situation, attachment would prevail.
Our Lord thus showed the Jews, always very solicitous of blood ties, that if their esteem for their relatives was to be authentic, they must first of all pray for family members and endeavour to save them during this life.
Nothing convinces an egoist
29 “But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ 30 He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’”
Again, the rich man pleads in his family’s interests, perhaps in the illusion that a relative on the other side might be able to pull him out of those flames…
Abraham’s answer is clear and conclusive: These people lacked no means of knowing God’s Law and His promises, transmitted by Moses and the prophets. They needed only to hear the latter with open hearts in order to convert. The same applies to all of us who have the possibility of being instructed in the doctrine of the Church and, aided by grace, of living in accordance with the Commandments.
31 “Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’”
This is the problem with those who hold fast to the goods of this world: they no longer hear the Word of God. The voice of grace and the warnings of others no longer penetrate their souls. When one surrenders oneself to lust for wealth, the pleasures of life, and sin, not even a stupendous miracle, such as the resurrection of someone from the dead, will have effect. This is proven, in fact, in the Gospel itself. When Jesus brought the brother of Martha and Mary back to life after four days in the tomb, the Pharisees were not won over, nor did they want to hear the testimony of the resurrected Lazarus. On the contrary, they decided to kill Our Lord.
Nothing moves an egoistic, self-sufficient, pretentious person. Even if a demon were to appear to him, filling the air with a horrible smell of sulphur, and, with laughter, were to predict his eternal perdition if he did not change his ways, it would be of no use. In the spiritual life, the attitude of the heart is what determines everything.
III – What I Most Value Is What Will Decide My Eternity
Much more than two contrasting pecuniary situations, this parable clearly points out two different states of soul: one of humility, the other of pride. Both rich and poor will be judged after death on the basis of their love for God or for self – of the detachment or the attachment that they displayed in relation to their life situation.
Now, we shall all die, just as the rich and the poor man died, and we shall be judged. Therefore, we must focus our attention on our final destination, eternity, where there are two “ports” of arrival: Heaven and hell. Do I want to descend into the latter, where I will have demons for my companions, to torment me forever in a blazing furnace of an intelligent fire, created and maintained by God? Of course not!
Rather, I long to enjoy the company of the righteous in the heavenly homeland, where my intelligence, my will, and my sensibility will be at the peak of their well-being. There, God will give me light to understand Him as He understands Himself, and will give me strength to love Him as He loves Himself; my happiness will be complete and my virtue permanently secure.
The value of daily Communion
To attain this eternal joy, we must prepare ourselves by seeking not the satisfaction of fleeting pleasures, but the joys that unite us with God. Above all, we must value something that poor Lazarus and the rich man did not have: daily Communion. Our Lord said, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life” (Jn 6:54). We have been given the opportunity to approach the Eucharist every day, a pledge of salvation, a feast envied by the very Angels!
We, the baptized, are called to do good to others. To this end, it is indispensable for us to first enrich ourselves by drawing graces from our intimacy with the most Blessed Sacrament, by practising virtue with His help and by seeking to deepen our knowledge of our Faith. Only after we have reaped these treasures will we be enabled to teach, to help, and to counsel others.
The Church has, for centuries, repeated a request which is highly relevant to the Catholics of our time: “Send forth Thy Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.” If we want to convert as many people as possible and bring about the triumph of Our Lady over hearts that She promised in Fatima, we must first seek our personal sanctification.
“Those who pray are sure to be saved”
Moreover, if we are to walk the path of complete detachment, we will need much grace and therefore much prayer. To be so absorbed with material things that one has no time left to pray can endanger the salvation of our souls. After all, it is in this contact with God that we obtain special graces to persevere in our commitment to the good and avoid hell. As St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori taught, “He who prays is certain to be saved, while he who prays not is certain to be damned.”3
In this vein, it is fitting to recall the words of Pope Benedict XVI to a group of recently appointed Bishops: “the Apostles understood well that prayerful listening and the proclamation of what they had heard were to take priority over the many things to be done, so they decided: ‘We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word’ (Acts 6:4). This apostolic programme is more timely than ever. In a Bishop’s ministry today, the organizational aspects are absorbing, the commitments many and the needs always numerous, but the first place in the life of a successor of the Apostles must be kept for God. Especially in this way will we help our faithful.” 4
Our heart must be so filled up with the extreme value we place on Heaven that the affairs and goods of this world interest us only insofar as they are useful for the apostolate and to maintain us in our desire to be holy. Total detachment is the essential prerequisite for us to be able to contemplate the wonders of our Faith and to live with our eyes fixed on the supernatural.
If we are not detached and compliant like poor Lazarus, and we find in ourselves some of the defects of the rich man, what should we do? We should pray, asking Our Lady for strength to combat vanity, attachments, and egoism, and completely change our mentality. In this way we will one day take our place in the company of the Saints, the poor in spirit who today are in the splendid richness of eternity. ◊
Notes
1 Cf. FILLION, Louis-Claude. Vida de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo. Vida pública. Madrid: Rialp, 2000, v.II, p.412.
2 Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa Theologiæ. Suppl., q.69, a.4.
3 ST. ALPHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI. A oração, o grande meio para alcançarmos de Deus a salvação e todas as graças que desejamos. Aparecida: Santuário, 1987, p.42.
4 BENEDICT XVI. Address to the participants in the meeting for Bishops ordained during the past year, 22/9/2007.