26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

LUKE 16:19-31
THE STORY OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS HAS BEEN TROTTED OUT TO SUPPORT THE IDEA OF HELL AS A PLACE OF FIRE AND TORMENT; IT HAS BEEN USED TO MAKE THOSE WHO HAVE THINGS FEEL GUILTY ABOUT ENJOYING WHAT THEY POSSESS. SOME PEOPLE THINK IT IS A TRUE STORY. BUT MAYBE WE NEED TO HEAR IT AS THOSE WHO LISTENED TO JESUS MIGHT HAVE HEARD IT. IT IS A MARVELOUS STORY, AND JESUS IN A FEW WORDS MANAGES TO PAINT COMPLEX AND MANY-LAYERED PICTURES.
A RICH MAN, CLOTHED IN PURPLE AND LINEN. WHY PURPLE, WHY LINEN? ONLY THOSE OF ROYAL BLOOD COULD WEAR PURPLE. AND ONLY PRIESTS CUSTOMARILY WORE LINEN, WHICH WAS EXPENSIVE AND DIFFICULT TO MAKE. SO THE RICH MAN IS BOTH ROYAL AND PRIESTLY – HE IS PART OF A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD. SAINT PETER TELLS US, “YOU ARE A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE SET APART BY GOD TO DECLARE THE PRAISES OF HIM WHO CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS.” THE RICH MAN HAS BEEN GIVEN GREAT GIFTS AND GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES.
THEN THERE IS THE BEGGAR, LAZARUS. THE NAME MEANS “GOD IS MY HELP”, BUT HE IS HELPLESS, HE IS LYING AT THE DOOR OF THE RICH MAN'S HOUSE.
IN JESUS' TIME, YOU ATE WITH YOUR HANDS, AND WIPED THEM ON PIECES OF FLAT BREAD. IF YOU WERE POOR, YOU ATE THE BREAD, AND IF YOU WERE RICH, YOU WADDED UP THE BREAD AND THREW IT TO THE DOGS. REMEMBER THE WOMAN WHO SAID TO JESUS, “EVEN THE DOGS GET TO EAT THE BREAD THAT FALLS FROM THE CHILDREN'S TABLE”. LAZARUS WOULD HAVE GLADLY TRADED PLACES WITH THE DOGS. THE PRODIGAL SON WOULD HAVE GLADLY TRADED PLACE WITH THE PIGS THAT HE FED. ISN'T IT A TERRIBLE THING WHEN A HUMAN BEING, A CHILD OF GOD, IS IN SUCH TERRIBLE STRAITS THAT HE WOULD TRADE PLACES WITH AN ANIMAL?
THE PEOPLE OF JESUS' TIME DIDN'T THINK MUCH OF DOGS. THEY WERE TOLERATED, BECAUSE THEY WOULD CHASE AWAY WILD ANIMALS, AND THEY COULD HERD SHEEP. BUT THEY ATE ANYTHING, AND ROLLED IN THE DIRT, AND HAD NO SENSE OF SHAME. IN FACT, IF YOU WANTED TO REALLY INSULT SOMEONE, YOU CALLED THEM A DOG. AND JEWS REFERRED TO GENTILES, ESPECIALLY SAMARITANS, AS DOGS. AND VICE VERSA.
EVERYONE KNEW ONE GOOD THING ABOUT DOGS. WHEN THEY LICKED AN OPEN WOUND, IT SEEMED TO HEAL FASTER. IN FACT IN SOME PARTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, DOGS WERE KEPT FOR THAT PURPOSE. LAZARUS HAD OPEN SORES, AND THE RICH MAN STEPPED OVER HIM, BUT THE DOGS, ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE HONORABLE THEN PIGS, DID SOMETHING FOR HIM. THEY TRIED TO HEAL HIS SORES.
WHEN THEY DIED, LAZARUS FOUND HIMSELF IN THE BOSOM OF ABRAHAM. IN JESUS' TIME, WHEN PEOPLE HAD A BANQUET, THEY WOULD LIE DOWN ON THEIR SIDES AND REST THEIR HEADS ON THEIR LEFT HAND, AND EAT WITH THEIR RIGHT HAND. THE HONORED GUEST, THE ONE WHO RECLINED NEXT TO THE HOST, WAS SAID TO BE IN THE BOSOM OF THE HOST. LAZARUS IS THE HONORED GUEST OF ABRAHAM. AND THE RICH MAN IS IN TORMENT. THE GREEK WORD, THOUGH, DOES NOT MEAN WHAT WE THINK IT MEANS. THE WORD REFERS TO THE PROCESS OF USING A CERTAIN STONE TO TEST THE STRENGTH OF METAL. WHEN SOMEONE SOLD YOU A BRONZE VASE, YOU WOULD TAP IT GENTLY WITH A CERTAIN STONE, AND SEE IF THE METAL BECAME DENTED; IF SO, IT WAS FLAWED AND YOU WOULDN'T BUY IT. THE RICH MAN HAD BEEN TESTED, AND FAILED THE TEST. THE GREAT CHASM AND THE FLAME ARE OF HIS OWN DOING, OR LACK OF DOING. THAT IS WHY NO ONE CAN CROSS OVER. THE RICH MAN HAS CREATED A BARRIER HE CAN NOT UNCREATE; AND NO ONE ELSE CAN BREAK THROUGH EITHER.
WAY TOO LATE HE BEGINS TO THINK OF OTHERS-- NOT LAZARUS, WHO HE STILL SEES AS A THING, AS AT BEST A SERVANT. SEND HIM TO ME WITH A DROP OF WATER; SEND HIM TO MY BROTHERS. BUT THE BROTHERS, AND YOU WILL NOTE THAT THERE ARE FIVE BROTHERS – BECAUSE THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, THE REMNANT OF THE JEWISH NATION, CONSIDERED THEMSELVES DESCENDED FROM JUDAH, ONE OF THE SONS OF JACOB, WHO HIMSELF HAD FIVE SONS. JESUS MEANT THE FIVE SONS TO MEAN ALL THE JEWISH PEOPLE, WHO HAD EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED TO AVOID THE FATE OF THE RICH MAN.
“THEY HAVE MOSES AND THE PROPHETS,” ABRAHAM SAYS.
THE PEOPLE WHO HEARD JESUS TELL THIS STORY KNEW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT. THE RICH MAN WASN'T EVIL, AND LAZARUS WASN'T GOOD. THE RICH MAN WAS THE JEWISH LEADERSHIP, CHARGED NOT ONLY WITH DISPENSING THE GIFTS OF GOD TO THE PEOPLE, BUT ALSO, IF WE READ THE PROPHETS, CHARGED WITH SPREADING THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD TO THE GENTILES – REPRESENTED BY LAZARUS, THE MAN WHO HAD NOTHING, THE MAN WHOSE ONLY HOPE WAS GOD. AND THEY FAILED, AND THEY WOULD NEVER AGAIN HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED; THEY HAD BECOME USELESS, IRRELEVANT. AND THE PEOPLE OF JUDAH WERE WARNED.
WE ARE NOW THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD. OUR MISSION IS TO BRING THE LIGHT OF CHRIST INTO THE WORLD. WE HAVE THIS ONE CHANCE, THIS ONE LIFETIME. AS WE ALL KNOW, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN IN GREAT PAIN, OR WHO HAVE BEEN DISABLED, PHYSICAL THINGS LIKE FIRE, LIKE THE PICTURE WE HAVE IN OUR MIND OF HELL, CAN ONLY HURT US FOR SO LONG. PEOPLE CAN GET USED TO ANYTHING. BUT REAL PAIN, ETERNAL PAIN, IS TO KNOW THAT WE HAVE FAILED IN WHAT WE WERE MEANT TO DO, AND THAT WE WILL NOT HAVE A SECOND CHANCE. AND JESUS GIVES US FAIR WARNING – THIS LIFETIME IS OUR CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, TO PROMOTE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, TO BE INSTRUMENTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN RE-CHRISTIANIZING THE WORLD – STARTING WITH OURSELVES, MOVING TO OUR NEIGHBOR, AND THEN OUT TO THE WORLD. IF WE ARE GIVEN SO MANY GIFTS AS CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS, AND WE IGNORE THE SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL NEEDS OF OUR NEIGHBOR – IF WE ARE EVEN LESS HELPFUL THAN THE DOGS OF THIS WORLD, WE WILL HAVE FAILED THE TEST.