rich man

by

Sunday, 29 September 2013 : 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the well-known parable on the story of Lazarus the poor beggar and his counterpart, the rich man. We listened to the perils of Lazarus in this life, and after the deaths of both him and the rich man, we again listened to the suffering the rich man endured for eternity in hell.

The story shows the considerable contrast in the reality in our society, both at the time of Jesus and even today in our modern world. The rich lived in great wealth and great comfort, and the poor lived in suffering and a life of deficiency. The rich tends to get richer while the poor tends to get poorer. That is the reality, brethren, even today.

However, it is important to note that, Jesus did not condemn the rich and neither did He condemn their wealth, their money, and their possessions. What He condemned is inaction, the failure of one, whether he is rich or poor, strong or weak, to act, with love, when someone or others around them face difficulties or challenges, which we can help overcome through our actions.

The Lord our God desired that through our actions, we can look at our brethren in suffering, and offer to them a helping hand, and also, our love. That is what He truly wants from us, that we can share the love that He had given us, with one another. This is what the rich man had failed to do in his life. He failed to notice the plight of Lazarus the beggar, the poor man, leaving him to die of hunger, while he feasted every day and every night on endless flow of food and drinks.

Lazarus received his compensation in heaven, for in his suffering, he had built much wealth in heaven, by persevering through life, and presumably, doing what is good in the eyes of the Lord. He was given rest and happiness, in the company of the saints and the angels. On the other hand, the rich man, who feasted without end, and cared nothing on others, received his due, that is eternal suffering in hell.

Therefore, brethren, we are really urged to do something for others, especially those whose suffering and plight can be lessened through the touch of our love, be it in our words or our actions. Let us not be like the rich man, who ignored the plight of the weak, the poor, and the ostracised, and instead let us love them and open our hearts for them.

Today’s readings in fact highlight another important facet of our faith, brothers and sisters in Christ. In line with the first reading, and the psalm, while we have been cast out of the heavenly glory of God, all because of our sins and faults, He came to give us a new hope, in His saving power, through Jesus His Son, suffering and crucified.

Ever since our ancestors sinned against God, disobeying Him and instead, obeying the words of Satan the deceiver, we have been cast out from the presence of God, because we are unworthy, and because we have hardened our heart against God and His love. His enduring love for us however, continues to burn, with the hope that we may repent our ways and return to Him.

An infinite and uncrossable chasm existed between us and the Lord, and no one could cross this chasm, and we thought that we were doomed to hell prepared for the devil and his fellow rebels, the fallen angels. But God did not intend the hell for us, nor for any of His beloved creations. Yet, many of us throughout the ages failed to escape the snares of hell, falling into temptations of the world and its pleasures, as the rich man had done.

The great suffering in hell is in fact not the flames and heat that torture for all time, as the rich man had endured. That heat is a consequence and a part of the unending suffering that one has to go through, if one does not repent for his or her sins. The main part of the suffering is actually the complete sundering and separation of one from God, of one from the divine love that God has for all of us. That love, which sustains all of us in this world, is no longer there for those who have rejected Him and consequently fall into hell.

Without God’s love and the eternal period of one has to suffer in hell, knowing fully that there is no hope at all to redo what they had done wrongly and what they had failed to do, when they still walked this world. This hopelessness and thus despair, combined with the total separation from God and His graces, are the things that make hell so painful, so unendurable, and so despicable. Brethren, our every breath, and every good things we have, come from the Lord and His love. Can you imagine a state where we are entirely and totally devoid of any form of God’s love, for eternity, and that is hell?

That is why God constantly tried to help us, by sending His messengers through the prophets, to remind mankind of the need for repentance and purification, from the evils and the impurities of the devil inside our hearts. And yet, many of us and our ancestors turned a deaf ear to these reminders, and even slaughtered the prophets of God, spilling innocent blood, and mankind still fell into damnation.

That is why, brethren, He sent Jesus His Son, to be the great deliverance of His beloved children, from the slavery of sin and death, and from their fate of eternal punishment in hell. Jesus is the bridge, the narrow bridge that bridged the infinite chasm existing between us and God, that through Him, we may cross that chasm towards the Lord, our most loving God.

The Lord Jesus Christ  made our crossing towards the Lord possible, but as I mentioned, as much as He is the only bridge, that is the only way to salvation in God, that bridge is also very, very narrow at the same time. As such, the way to the Lord is not an easy one. We tend to face difficulties and challenges along the way, that would make us to detour from our true path, and fall into damnation, if we are not careful. After all, that path is really narrow indeed.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, once again, it must be reiterated that, God loves everyone and cares for everyone, be it that they are poor or rich, weak or strong, beggar or prince, all have a place in the Lord’s plan of salvation. God does not condemn the rich nor their wealth nor their privileges. What He condemns is the lack of charity, by anyone, even among the weak and the poor, for others.

It is these shortcomings, the lack of charity, the lack of love, and the lack of care for one another, which dooms us to failure, as we walk across the cross of salvation, that is the bridge Christ had made upon His death, to bridge the gap between mankind and their Father in heaven. In fact, as Christ had told His disciples, that to those who had been given much, much will also be expected from them. Therefore, as those who have more in terms of possessions and monetary well-being had been given a greater share of grace by the Lord, much is also expected from them, to share their joy with those who lack them, that in sharing, all the children of God will rejoice together as one.

We certainly do not want to suffer as the rich man had suffered in hell, for eternity. The way to the Lord is there, brethren, through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, but it is narrow. Let us resolve then to proceed on our way towards God without delay, and ensure that we stay on that path, by our faith in the crucified Christ and the Risen Christ, and that faith which is made alive through our love, reflected in our words and actions.

Let us therefore offer a helping hand to anyone around us who are in need of help, giving them the love, care, and attention, following the example of Christ Himself, who had given His complete and perfect love to everyone, to all of us sinners, to even His enemies who cried for His death and those who persecuted Him and the people of God.

May the Lord nurture in all of us, within our hearts, the enduring love and compassion, that from now on we will give our love to our brethren around us, sharing with them our joy and love. And the Lord who sees our obedience and faith, will reward us, with nothing else than eternal life in the presence of God, filled with joy, in the same way as Lazarus the poor beggar, had been treated. God bless us all and remain with us, within our hearts forever. Amen.

by

Sunday, 29 September 2013 : 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 16 : 19-31

Once there was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted every day. At his gate lay Lazarus, a poor man covered with sores, who longed to eat the scraps falling from the rich man’s table. Even dogs used to come and lick his sores.

It happened that the poor man died, and angels carried him to take his place with Abraham. The rich man also died, and was buried. From hell, where he was in torment, the rich man looked up and saw Abraham afar off, and with him Lazarus at rest.

He called out, “Father Abraham, have pity on me, and send Lazarus, with the tip of his finger dipped in water, to cool my tongue, for I suffer so much in this fire.”

Abraham replied, “My son, remember that in your lifetime you were well-off, while the lot of Lazarus was misfortune. Now he is in comfort, and you are in agony. But that is not all. Between your place and ours a great chasm has been fixed, so that no one can cross over from here to you, or from your side to us.”

The rich man implored once more, “Then I beg you, Father Abraham, to send Lazarus to my father’s house, where my five brothers live. Let him warn them, so that they may not end up in this place of torment.”

Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.” But the rich man said, “No, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.”

Abraham said, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.”

by

Thursday, 28 February 2013 : 2nd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

We heard today, the well-known story of Lazarus the poor and the rich man. One who suffered in this life and received his reward in the afterlife, while the rich man who enjoyed in this world, suffers  grievously in hell. Do not be confused though. God does not hate the rich, and neither that He hates those who have more. It does not mean that if you are poor then you are guaranteed entry into the kingdom of heaven.

No, indeed, what matters is the state of the soul, and how are we aligned with God in our hearts. Wealth and property can be a hindrance in our path to God, but they can also be an asset that helps us in our path. What matters is how we use them, and to whom we depend on. We have a choice, either to place our trust in the eternal and undying Lord our God, and in His love, or to place our trust in mortal man and temporal wealth.

Wealth though useful, as indeed, we cannot live in this world today without money at all. Money makes the world spinning, and it allows many things to be done. But, as we have seen in many people today, many are ensnared and trapped in the futile thirst for wealth, possessions, affluence, and wanting for more of each of them, that they plough forward thinking only on the best way to get these, and immerse themselves so fully in their career and work, so that they can earn all these. Such is the kind of damage to our soul and our being, that materialism and commercialism in our world has brought us.

Just as in the first reading, in what the Lord said to the prophet Jeremiah, that these men who placed their trust in mortal and temporary things will be cursed and rejected just like the rich man. You can party all you want all day, and have a very enjoyable life in this world, but in too many cases, because of such pleasure, enjoyment, and fulfillment, we became blind to those around us, we became blind to the condition of the world outside our comfort zone, and we ignore the cry of the poor and the less fortunate for help.

We do not need to give all our wealth and possessions to the poor. We do not need to sell our homes and live like a poor ourselves, denying ourselves any property. For what is important is that, to listen. Just as Abraham said to the rich man in hell, that there is a need to listen, to listen to the teachings of God through the Law and the prophets, and listen to the word of God, which today we read and listened to in the readings. But to listen is also to sharpen our minds and our senses, to open our eyes and ears to see and hear the plight of the less fortunate around us.

That beyond all those ceaseless partying, happy life, and all, there is a way to achieve true happiness. Because, happiness that is built on these materials, possessions, and all mortal things will eventually be swept away, and although it is real happiness, but it is not true happiness. What is true happiness is to follow what God has constantly taught us through Christ, to follow His commandments of love.

To love our neighbour as we love ourselves, and to love God Himself with all our strength, and with all our being. In doing so, we will gain true satisfaction, and with the knowledge that God loves what we are doing, if we do so, we can be rest assured that we will not suffer the same way the rich man did. For the rich man had many opportunities in life to help Lazarus in life, who always present at his gate, and therefore must be well known to the rich man. Yet, instead of giving him help, the rich man lifted no finger to help and abandoned him to his death.

Indeed, again we heard about the sin of omission, that is, failing to do what we are supposed to do, and failing to do what is good, when we are able to. To sin is not by just doing what is bad and evil in the eyes of God, but we also have committed sin, if we are fully capable of doing good, and have the power and capacity to lessen the sufferings of others by sharing what good we have, but have chosen to ignore, and do not use what we have, the opportunity that we have. Such is the sin of omission, that the rich man had done, in addition to whatever bad things he might have done in his life, that made him deserve hell.

For in hell, the sufferings that the rich man suffered is in fact not physical fires and torment, as what many would have thought and portrayed as the burning hells. Instead, what is hell? Hell is the ultimate separation between God and man, where man has no hope of eternal life, but eternal death and separation from God who is everything. For God encompass everything and loves all of His creation, that it is incomprehensible to be left out of His love and presence.

Hell is when we have totally rejected God, and have turned our back entirely from Him, and shunned His divine and infinite love. The suffering of the rich man is the suffering of the soul, the internal fire, a fire that is the absence of the love and presence of God, that burns the person so greatly that they suffer. Imagine a world where you cannot reach out to God, and where you have no hope of escaping, and imagine the place where it is too late for you to ask the Lord for forgiveness, because we ourselves have rejected Him. That is the true hell.

We have the privilege today to listen to the Word of God through the Scripture, just as the rich man had the opportunity to listen to the Moses through the Law, and the prophets. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is now up to us to choose, whether we want to listen to the Word of God, and begin to change our ways and our life, that we may live in charity and love, or to reject the Word and continue to revel in our own pleasurable life, that is not true happiness.

Let us pray for one another that all of us will grow ever more in faith, hope, and love. That all of us can do in our own ways, charitable acts and acts of love, to help those less fortunate around us, and not limited to just that, but also to comfort the sorrowful and to accompany the lonely, and many others things that we indeed can do, and we have the potential to do. Let us pray for our Church, that it can continue to do its numerous act of charity, which all of us can also participate in, for the good of our brethren throughout the world, suffering from hunger, injustice, prejudice, and even persecution. May God bless us all, always. Amen.

by

Thursday, 28 February 2013 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Luke 16 : 19-31

Once there was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and feasted every day. At his gate lay Lazarus, a poor man covered with sores, who longed to eat just the scraps falling from the rich man’s table. Even dogs used to come and lick his sores. It happened that the poor man died, and angels carried him to take his place with Abraham.

The rich man also died, and was buried. From hell, where he was in torment, the rich man looked up and saw Abraham afar off, and with him Lazarus at rest. He called out, “Father Abraham, have pity on me, and send Lazarus, with the tip of his finger dipped in water, to cool my tongue, for I suffer so much in this fire.”

Abraham replied, “My son, remember that in your lifetime you were well-off, while the lot of Lazarus was misfortune. Now he is in comfort, and you are in agony. But that is not all. Between your place and ours a great chasm has been fixed, so that no one can cross over from here to you, or from your side to us.”

The rich man implored once more, “Then I beg you, Father Abraham, to send Lazarus to my father’s house, where my five brothers live. Let him warn them, so that they may not end up in this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.” But the rich man said, “No, Father Abraham; but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.”

Abraham said, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.”