The Poor at Our Gates (26th Sunday Ordinary C)

(grabbed from http://www.gettyimages.com)

We always wish and pray for prosperity, peace, and stability of our social order. Seldom do we pray for change in the social order for many of us do not want to “rock the boat.” That is why sometimes I am tempted to interpret disasters, wars, and any form of crises as blessings in disguise inasmuch as they awaken us from our slumber. We recall, for instance, the havoc inflicted by super typhoon Yolanda upon the people of Tacloban and the unspeakable suffering the people endured. Or the siege of the city of Zamboanga and the tens of thousands of families it displaced. Nobody would wish these horrible things to happen of course.

But when these happen, we observe one good thing that is evoked-- the inherent goodness and strength of the human spirit. These crises shake us from our complacency and apathy. They stir up in us deep compassion for those who are suffering. Almost everybody gets up to show concern and wants to be of help in whatever way possible. Whereas, in normal times, we kind of accept as a fact of life that the affluent live in self-indulgence vis-à-vis the destitution and suffering of the poor; and we have grown inured to such a social set up that we are no longer bothered by it.

Today’s readings disturb too our comfortable acceptance of such a social set up. The first reading and the gospel may be taken as a criticism of the propensity of the rich toward self-indulgence and apathy to the lot of the poor. 

Here are the words of Prophet Amos directed to the wealthy ruling class of his time: “Woe to the complacent in Zion! Lying upon beds of ivory, stretched comfortably on their couches, they eat lambs taken from the flock… drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the best oils; yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph! (Am 6: 1, 4-6)

Here, Amos was concerned that while Joseph (stands for the people of Israel) is in a state of disintegration, the wealthy rulers did not care and continued to live in undisturbed luxury. Therefore, “they shall be the first to go into exile, and their wanton revelry shall be done away with” (v. 7).

Likewise, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in the gospel reading (Lk 16: 19-31), warns of the reversal of social roles in the after-life:  The rich man ends up tormented in the netherworld while the poor Lazarus enjoys the company of Abraham in heaven.

The parable though is not a doctrine on automatic reversal of the rich and poor in the after-life regardless of the person’s moral disposition. The story is more of a warning addressed to the complacent rich who believe that it is just a matter of course that they eat and drink and be merry for after all they have been blessed with abundance while the poor languish for a lack of material blessings.  It is helpful to note that throughout the history of the Jewish people, it is a dominant belief that wealth and poverty are a function of reward and punishment.  Hence, it is believed that the rich are blessed because of their good conduct and that the poor must have been punished for some evil deeds.

Therefore, the rich man in the parable has shown no qualms in living luxuriously, dressing in fine linen and dining sumptuously each day. Not only does he live in self-indulgence, he also does not care about the lot of Lazarus lying at his door. While he dines sumptuously, presumably with his rich friends, Lazarus languishes in hunger in company of some dogs that lick his sores!

The fundamental problem of the rich man is that he does not see any problem with this stark contrast. The parable’s conclusion of the reversal of roles in the after-life is most probably an eye-opener for the rich audience of Jesus and for the rich of our own time.

Three invitations for us today:

“Seeing” the poor at our gates.  Like the rich man, often times we see the poor around us. But we have accepted their lot as normal. So we see them but we don’t recognize them and their needs. For us they are nameless. The gospel invites us to recognize them, their situation, their hunger, and thirst and to know their names. Didn’t Jesus name the poor Lazarus?

Compassion and care for the poor.  As we recognize the suffering of the poor, we are invited to allow the inherent goodness in us to be evoked.  Let us not live in apathy.  We are capable of feeling what the poor are undergoing. We cannot say “I don’t care!” and still be truthful to the stirrings within us. Our readings today invite us to care. And as the parable reveals, we ought to care now as later may be too late.

Checking our self-indulgent lifestyle.  We may have gotten so used to our comfortable and even luxurious way of living that we really don’t see any problem with it. Let us be reminded that this is exactly the problem of the rich man in the parable and the rich ruling class in Amos’ time.  We cannot really recognize the suffering of the poor and care for them, so long as we are self-absorbed pampering ourselves with comfort and luxury.  Let us be grateful for God’s abundant blessings but let us use these to share to those who do not have.  Sharing can lead us to the joy of simplicity.

We should continue to pray for prosperity, peace, and stability of the social order in our land. And we should not wish for disasters to come. But we have to change our self-indulgent lifestyle and the apathy that comes along with it. Without waiting for crisis moments, we can nurture our compassion and care for the poor every normal day. Let us see and recognize the poor at our gates. The rich man in the parable has always been given the opportunity to serve the poor Lazarus. But he has not grabbed the opportunity. Let us not make the same mistake.