Cycle C - Year II:  

25 September 2016: Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical color: Green)

Gospel: Please read  Luke 16:19-31

A heart of compassion for the poor!

Is the Philippines "a rich country pretending to be poor"? That is an interesting observation.

That our country is "rich" is indeed true, considering that the Philippines is blessed with natural resources, industrious and hardworking people, and even the billions of pesos collected by the government from taxes and foreign borrowings.

The second part of the statement, on just "pretending to be poor" is not necessarily true, because the fact is majority of our people are really economically poor. And sadly, they are poor because our elected leaders pretend to be caring for them while in truth they are screwing them. So that the wealth of the nation is enjoyed only by the very few, while the rest which is the majority make do from "the crumbs that are thrown to them" by the greedy. 

The parable in the Gospel gives us a timely message about the rich and poor people, the two extremes of our society. It is meant to make us think and reflect.

In this parable, our Lord Jesus paints a dramatic scene of contrasts-- riches and poverty, heaven and hill, compassion and indifference, inclusion and exclusion.

The rich man in the story dresses well and dines sumptuously every day, but ignores poor Lazarus lying at his door steps and begging for food.

Jesus describes the poor man Lazarus as covered with sores but

desiring to eat the scraps that fall from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick Lazarus' sores. Obviously, Jesus is revealing His heart, that He sees the pain and anguish of the poor and the sick, and it stirs His emotions.

At the end of their worldly life, the story goes, poor Lazarus was "carried by angels to the bosom of Abraham" in heaven, while the rich man was in "the netherworld, where he was in torment".

So we ask, what was the rich man's sin that merited his damnation? It would appear that he did nothing wrong with Lazarus while in this life. But it was not what the rich man did, but what he failed to do that condemned him to hell. In other words, the rich man's wealth was not his sin. Because there is nothing mentioned in the story that his wealth was ill-gotten. But rather, it was his self-indulgence that blinded him to the basic human needs of his fellowman that warranted his condemnation.

Thus, Jesus uses this story to teach the important lesson that all His followers must have a special place for the poor in their hearts. To be a disciple of Jesus is to have the preferential option for the poor, the sick and the starving of this world. And the Gospel parable makes it painfully obvious that this is a non-negotiable aspect of following our Lord Jesus Christ. That is to say, if we plow through life so concerned only about our own needs and hurts that we cannot see or attend to the suffering of others, then we cannot be Jesus' disciples.

In practical life, Jesus reminds us today that if we fail to see the "Lazarus" around us and do nothing to alleviate his suffering, we will not be happy come judgement day.

In sum, the message of this Sunday's Gospel is really simple: when we are blessed with gifts and wealth, we need to share them with the less fortunate. Because by making ourselves "poor in spirit" we will accumulate riches beyond expectation in heaven.

Our new saint, Saint Teresa of Calcutta used to say that the people are really Christ in distressing disguise. In each of them, we must seek to alleviate Christ's pain and suffering in this world.

Also this Sunday, the Catholic Church in the Philippines celebrates the 21st National Seafarers' Day. Let us include in our prayers the seafarers and their families that they keep their family values in spite of temporary separation from each other due to work.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!