http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032014.cfm
The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is often
misunderstood as a condemnation of wealth. Rather, it might be considered as a
condemnation of having the ability to help another human being in need, and
choosing not to do so.
This is an easy enough message to understand, and one I can
support and work to be more attentive to in my own life. I believe that most
people are essentially good human beings who, when seeing someone who needs
help, will work to respond. As a people, we can certainly always continue to
grow in how we help one another. However, I think there is an even deeper
meaning that echoes throughout today’s readings and in this parable that is
even more challenging. The Rich Man did not reject Lazarus’ needs just because he
had a hard heart, but rather he rejected Lazarus because he simply could not see him.
Focused on his wealth, the Rich Man’s narrow vision did not
allow for someone like Lazarus, and he was blind to Lazarus’ plight because he
was not a part of his reality.
It was not the fact that the Rich Man did not choose not to
help Lazarus, but he did not even know he was there to be helped.
This is a terrifying thought – that we ourselves could be so
blind to God’s love and mercy that we could in turn be blind to the needs of
others, and fail to make that return of God’s love and mercy to those so
desperately in need. Yet I think the danger of doing this is very real and
seductively easy, especially when we are faced with the temptation of putting
something other than our faith in God at the center of our lives, like the Rich
Man.
The Lenten season is an opportunity for us to reorient, renew
and return to God’s love and grace. We have an opportunity to examine where
we’ve fallen short, where we may have placed our needs before those of others
and where we may have placed something other than the love of God at the center
of our lives.
If we heed the words of the prophets and truly take up the
invitation from Jesus in this parable, as challenging as it may be, what might that
enable us to see that we could not see before? Who might we see anew? Whose
sufferings might touch our hearts? And how, as we move through this Lenten
season in preparation for the celebration of God’s deep and boundless love for
us at Easter, might we be called – and compelled - to respond?
Associate Director of Campus Ministry at Rose Hill and Director of Interfaith Programs
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