Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Lord our God spoke to us to remind us about how we ought to live our respective lives in this world, so that we do not give ourselves in to debauchery and excesses of life, and not to sell our bodies and our beings to enjoy and be corrupted by the pleasures of the life of this world, which will then lead us into danger of falling into eternal damnation in hellfire.
That is what the passage from the Book of the prophet Amos, our first reading today, spoke to us when the prophet Amos rebuked the people of Israel for their lives lived in wickedness and in disregard of the laws and the commandments of the Lord, following the whims of their own desires and living lavishly and with pomp and grandeur, without regard to God and as what we can assume, without regards for those who were poor and less fortunate as well.
And this is exactly what the Lord also wanted to reiterate to us through His Church when we hear about the parable that our Lord Jesus told to His disciples, about Lazarus the poor and the rich man, which many of us should probably be quite familiar with. We heard how Lazarus the poor man had nothing upon himself, and he had to beg even in order to get food. And yet the rich man who had plenty on himself did not spare anything for Lazarus, and thus that poor man died in agony and suffering.
Yet, as we all heard, Lazarus was given rest from all of his sufferings and pains, and was brought up to heaven to enjoy forever with all the saints and all the holy and people worthy of God, the eternal bliss and joy of heaven. Meanwhile, the rich man also eventually died by an unknown cause, and when he died, he was cast down into the great depth and darkness of hell, where he suffered from the great pain and agony there for eternity.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, what is important is that we must understand that God does not despise the rich nor that He hated these people for having wealth, possession, money and all the things that they have. He does not hate them, for after all, rich or poor, strong or weak, famous or unknown, male or female, all are equal in the sight of God, for everyone are all equally the beloved children of God, our loving Father and Creator.
God does not look at the riches or the strength of mankind when He loves us all. What He sees instead is the heart, the inside of our heart, our minds and our souls. He sees what we have done and committed in our daily lives, and we cannot hide anything from Him or deny Him anything. Yes, that is because He is God Who created us and Who knows everything, omniscient and omnipotent, Almighty in all of His deeds.
Even rich men and all endowed with wealth can be good and generous with their deeds, giving and caring for others who have less or none. There were many examples in the past and present, where generous people have stepped up to the occasion, offering whatever they could to help their fellow brethren to be able to meet their life requirements. In fact, because they had greater wealth and things with them, they could be generous and give more to help even more people to make their ends meet.
On the other hand, there were also people who were poor, but they also oppressed those who were poor as they were, and these people mistreated their fellow men and even made profit out of the situation. In God’s eyes, those who are rich and yet give generously and act kindly and with love and concern for their brethren are better than those who are poor and yet are wicked and oppress their fellows for their own benefit.
God sees our deeds, brothers and sisters in Christ, and He knows everything that we do, and what we have failed to do. The rich man has been blessed with great riches, and he had everything that he needed to lead a comfortable life and even more. And yet, when given many opportunities to help the poor Lazarus, and by assumption, other poor people around him, he failed to do so. He did not lift even a finger to help them or to alleviate their sufferings.
We also have been given many opportunities in this life to care for our fellow brethren, helping them either in terms of material, that they can make their ends meet, or in terms of spiritual needs and love. Wherever we are, we are always encountering those who are in need of our help, of our presence, and even among our friends and families, there are also those who are in need.
Then let us ask ourselves, are we able to devote ourselves to help these needy people? Or do we rather be like the rich man who did nothing to help the plight of Lazarus and perhaps the other poor and weak people as well? God has given us many blessings, graces and sustenance in this life. Some indeed have more and some have less, but that should not be the reason why some would have to suffer and perish just because they have little of what they need to survive.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all devote ourselves from today onwards to be more charitable and generous with our giving. Let us all not be selfish and greedy, which are the things that have brought much misery to the world today, not because wealth and possessions are necessarily evil in the first place, but because we mankind are unable to resist the temptation of greed and desire, which led us into such situations where we cause harm and agony for others.
God knows all of our deeds, and all the things that we have not done in order to help alleviate the suffering of our own fellow men, when we are clearly capable of doing so. It will be accounted from us on the day of judgment, and if we are found wanting in our faith and in our actions, we will end up like that rich man, who is suffering for eternity the consequences of his ignorance and his lack of love for his brethren.
Let us all realise, brothers and sisters in Christ, that the more we have been given, the greater is the responsibility which we have been given. Let us all not be hesitant and be ignorant of the needs of those who are around us, but instead open our hearts and minds to them, and pour out our love for them. Let us all bring the love of God to our fellow men, and make them realise that God is with them, and His love is ever present in our world today, despite all the sufferings and pains that mankind are suffering from.
May God help us all today, that we may be ever more like true Christians in how we live our lives, that we may be filled with love and devotion for our Lord, as well as caring and loving for our fellow men. May He bless us all and keep us in His grace, and may He welcome us all into His heavenly glory, the same glory and joy which Lazarus enjoyed, and which will be ours as well, if we are ever always faithful to our loving God. May God be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 