Father Rick Bolte's Homily

C: Twenty Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time              2007-09-30

Today’s readings are again difficult to hear.  We’d feel more comfortable if we were to hear that the reason for Amos’ anger in the first reading and the rich man being in torment in the Gospel is that they did something clearly wrong.  Our music issue implies that they were lazy, greedy, and unjust.  But that is not the case.  We are told by Amos that the rich were complacent at the collapse of Joseph.  Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, interpreted the Pharaoh’s dreams that there would be seven years of good harvest and seven years of famine.  Joseph stored all the surplus grain the first seven years and distributed it to those in need in the last seven.  Amos is angry that the rich simply enjoy their wealth and ignore the needs of others.

We get a clue at how differently Jesus views the world as soon as he introduces the two characters.  The rich man has no name but Lazarus, the poor man, does.  In our world we know the Donald Trump’s and Bill Gates’ but not the poor.  When we hear the story, we typically imagine the gate or door to be there to keep Lazarus away from the rich man.  But I think in Jesus’ view, it is the way of hope for the rich man.  In the after death part of the story, there is an abyss between the rich man now being tormented and Lazarus who is with Abraham.  Jesus teaches us that whatever we do to the least we do to him.  The rich man, even from his place of torment, doesn’t understand what he missed.  He still expects Lazarus to be ordered around (now by Abraham) and not seen as a real person.  While he was alive, the door or gate was an opportunity for the rich man to encounter Christ, he chose no to.

Our challenge is to meet Lazarus in our lives.  Most of us, I’m sure, are quite generous in giving to the poor by writing checks for various needs.  That’s good.  But to really meet Lazarus is more than feeling good about ourselves, it is about finding the freedom to really be a part of God’s kingdom.  Lazarus is named because we need to know the poor by name, we need to know their situation and allow them to know us.  They can liberate us from the tyranny of thinking we need to have and do so much.  They can invite us to appreciate who we are more than what we can do.  When we can look the poor in the eye and without guilt or shame explain how we have chosen to use what God has given us, then we are finally poor in spirit and free.