Gospel: 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 the netherworld 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, 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.’”

Lectio Divina
READ: The prophet Amos boldly denounces the lifestyle of those who live in comfort and affluence. In his letter to Timothy, Paul counsels to strive to be holy, living in faith and love, and blameless. Luke narrates a contrasting lot of a rich man and Lazarus, here and in the afterlife.
REFLECT: The parable of the rich man and Lazarus showcases the outcome of the failure to undergo conversion to faith in Jesus and the Good News. Without conversion, the rich man continues to live in his comfortable life while ignoring and taking no action to relieve Lazarus from his situation. The consequence: he found himself in eternal fire. Conversion would include loving and caring for those that God loves. It involves taking concrete actions to care for and protect others, especially the poor. God, who takes notice of the suffering and pain of the poor, the needy, and the neglected, acts to liberate them from their situation. That is why conversion to the Good News would also include participating in or becoming an instrument of God’s liberating action. To a converted person, to live a life of comfort and affluence and to remain silent while a great number of peoples suffers injustices and abuse, and another numerous number of people languishes in misery and poverty, is unacceptable.
PRAY: Loving God, may we, in our simple or great ways, contribute in alleviating the suffering of your “little ones.”
ACT: Take part in social justice and eco-justice works.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019