My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I would like to invite you to meditate on today’s Gospel about the rich man and poor Lazarus. What spiritual lessons can we learn from this parable?
Look at each main character in the parable: On the one hand, the rich man had everything that a man could desire on this earth and he set his heart on this wealth, to such a degree that he excluded all thought of God or of what followed after death. It was not that he was ignorant of God or of a future – he admits that he had Moses and the prophets – but he paid no heed to them. He was too busy trying to squeeze the last ounce of pleasure out of his few years on earth. On the other hand, we have a beggar, a man not only in dire destitution, but suffering bodily pains as well. He bore his lot patiently. He was quite content to get the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. He must have been disappointed that this rich man never thought of giving him a helping hand, but there is no mention of his ever criticizing or blaming him. He left these things to God.
Both men eventually die. The beggar goes straight to heaven to a state of endless happiness. His bodily sufferings have ended forever, and he will never be in want again. The rich man fares very differently. His enjoyments are over forever. He is now in torment and is told that he can expect no relief. They will have no end. Abraham tells him why he is in his present state: he abused his time on earth. He sees the truth of this. He knows that he has no one to blame but himself, which must add greatly to his torments. It is also a cause of additional grief to him that his bad example might lead his brothers to a similar fate.
Thus, the ultimate lesson that we should learn is the lesson of doing charity. We must acknowledge what we have in this life and give God thanks and praise for it. Then we should learn how to share whatever we have with the needy and the poor. The biggest sins are not the sins that we have committed but rather the good that we fail to do for others. It seems that the rich man did not commit any sins except the sin of ignoring poor Lazarus at his own gate.
We should commit ourselves to listen to Jesus and His word. Our responsibility is to share and to give because whatever we give away now, we will gain later – not only a hundred fold but most importantly in eternal life. May God teach us how to put our faith into action.
With love,
Fr. Thuong Hoai Nguyen