MY daily reflection and prayer:
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. Luke 16:19-31
Jesus said to the Pharisees “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 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. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 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.’ 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. 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.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 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 Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
What can we learn from the story in the Gospel today? What was the rich man’s sin that he had to be suffering torment in the flames after his death?
He lived in isolated luxury and he did not run Lazarus off his property. He didn’t mind Lazarus hanging around his table for the leftovers. He ignored Lazarus day after day. Even, he didn’t treat Lazarus as a person. When Lazarus was lying at his door as a poor man, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table; he didn’t care of him at all. Only his dogs came to lick his sores.
He forgot his destination. He forgot that the law of heaven is self-giving to God and others. He received what was good during his lifetime, in Abraham’s words, and he let wealth and pleasures distract him from his true mission in life: to love God and neighbor. Day after day, he closed his heart to a neighbor who was in dire need of help. He spent his life becoming an expert in self-centeredness. He didn’t make commitment for helping others.
He was too late to change his life; but we have been given the best chance that this rich man in the parable never had. Jesus Christ has revealed to us the whole story. We know how life ends and what it’s all about.
So, again, what can we learn from the parable in the Gospel today? Jesus Christ warns us to avoid the deadly sin-of-omission mentality and then to use every second of our lives on earth to build up the Kingdom of Heaven. He calls us to respond his love by giving ourselves entirely to him, by putting all we have and all we are at his service. We must keep our eyes open for opportunities to serve those around us. We have to use all our resources: money, wealth, talents, and relationships to serve God and our neighbors.
Trully, Jesus Christ has always cared of us by giving himself entirely to us in the Eucharist. All is his entirely love for us. We accept him in the Eucharist and adore him in the Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist. In fact, the Eucharist and Adoration must change our life that we can see as Jesus sees, love as he loves, and serve as he serves.
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, you give us a chance to look more seriously at ourselves and to examine if our heart are set on you, that you are our treasure. Fill us with yourself, so that we may radiate you. Anything that is not you cripples our efforts to give you to others. Help us to be generous and serve the needs of our neighbors now and forever. Amen.
Kredit foto: Ilustrasi (Ist)
