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. 

The Cost of Discipleship (23rd Sunday Ordinary C)

What do you hold as the most valuable thing in your life?

Most of us would not think twice in saying it’s our life and well-being that we value most and, perhaps, equally, our family and its security. In a survey done among the devotees of the Black Nazarene about what they pray for, the following are the top three: First, personal health (or well-being); second, family;  and third, work (or wealth). We pray and work hard in order to take care of ourselves and of our family and loved ones. These are of highest importance to us. Everything else comes next.

It would not be surprising, then, for us to find today’s gospel (Lk 14:25-33) really disturbing. Employing Semitic emphasis in conveying his point on discipleship, Jesus says to the crowd travelling with him: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father, and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (v. 25). I bet a significant portion of the crowd started to leave as they heard this hard teaching. And even today, many Christians would rather ignore this difficult teaching and selectively enjoy listening only to those themes that promise material prosperity, abundance of blessings and the grace of salvation. Many of us follow Christ because we want to get something from him. We want security and blessings for ourselves and our loved ones here on earth and in heaven. We miss seeing many times that discipleship is demanding as it is rewarding.

The demand for total commitment. Jesus makes it clear in the gospel reading today that to follow him is costly. He demands as a price nothing less than what we deem as most important to us, our lives and loved ones.  “Hating” our loved ones and even our own life is a Semitic literary expression that conveys strongly the necessary readiness to give up these great human values in favor of a greater one, or, more appropriately, in favor of the greatest of all values-- Jesus Christ and everything that He stands for. Discipleship is choosing to follow Christ and embracing everything that He represents with total commitment and dedication. Everything else is secondary, i.e., our lives and personal comfort, our family and loved ones, our possessions, etc.

 Jesus demands that He be the center of a follower’s life. A disciple who loves Jesus less than he does his own life and family is not a serious follower. His brand of discipleship will not make a difference in this broken and sinful world. His will be a kind of discipleship that easily settles with compromises and, hence, cannot accomplish anything for the kingdom of God. It is like someone who begins to build a tower but cannot finish it because of lack of resources or like a king who decides to oppose the twenty thousand troops of another king without considering first his own military strength which is actually only half as strong as the advancing troops and is bound for defeat.

The challenge posed by Filipino strong family orientation. Philippine society is characterized by a strong family-centered orientation. This means that for Filipinos the love of and loyalty to the family comes first. Family concerns and the security of its members, as well as the respect for the elderly and authority, are important. These are beautiful values, of course. But as the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines admitted, the excessive attachment to this family-centered orientation results in a particularistic values that focus only on small groups like family and clan and are less concerned about universal or common good. Some social ills are based on this exaggerated concern for the family, like the case of political dynasties and economic inequalities due to the concentration of the resources in relatively few Filipino families.

This is what happens when we cannot “hate” our family members and our very own self for the sake of Christ.  If we continue to place Christ next only to the love of family and self, nothing will change. We will all continue to pursue what is good only for our families and ignore the inequalities and injustices that cause the suffering of the poor. We will only be very much concerned about protecting our personal interests. Again, a brand of Christian discipleship that does not have Christ at the center of its commitment is a sham. It’s a lame duck. It’s good for nothing. It cannot witness. It cannot proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom, much less, denounce the structure of sin within which it finds itself complicit and trapped.

Invitation to a discipleship that transforms. The gospel today therefore rightly comes with a strong Semitic way of expression so that we may not fail to see the point.  For a nation that holds the family so dearly in our hearts, we are invited not so much to literally despise our family and self as to move beyond this clannish and particularistic love and self-centeredness. We are invited to become true followers of Christ by committing our lives to a cause greater than just our immediate family and personal concerns. We are called to become committed and active member of the wider family of God where equality and justice abide. We are called to a total commitment and dedication to Jesus Christ and the values of the kingdom of God.

Total dedication is difficult. It calls for great sacrifice, giving up what we deem most important to our personal lives. This is the high cost of discipleship. But this is the only kind that liberates and transforms.