Reflections for 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time C

Jesus the Good Shepherd

 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.

I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep”. (John 10:)

"I have called you by name: you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.

When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.When you walk through fire, you will not be burned; For I am you Saviour.

You are precious in my sight, and important – for I have loved you. Do not be afraid".(Isaiah 43)

26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Amos 6:1, 4-7, Psalm 145: 6-10. Rv.2, 1Tim 6:11-16,

The sprawlers’ revelry is over; they will be the first to be exiled.

It is the Lord who keeps faith forever, who is just to those who are oppressed.

As a man dedicated to God be filled with faith and love, patient and gentle

Lazarus longed to fill himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.

Luke 16: 19-31

¹⁹ 'There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently every day. ²⁰ And at his gate there used to lie a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹ who longed to fill himself with what fell from the rich man's table. Even dogs came and licked his sores. ²² Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels into Abraham's embrace. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ 'In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his embrace. ²⁴ So he cried out, "Father Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames." ²⁵ Abraham said, "My son, remember that during your life you had your fill of good things, just as Lazarus his fill of bad. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony. ²⁶ But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to prevent those who want to cross from our side to yours or from your side to ours." ²⁷ 'So he said, "Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father's house, ²⁸ since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too." ²⁹ Abraham said, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them." ³⁰ The rich man replied, "Ah no, father Abraham, but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent." ³¹ Then Abraham said to him, "If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead."

Be ‘God’, the world needs you

We only pass this way once – didn’t the rich man know it!?  But it was too late. It was brought home to him that he had made the wrong decisions in the one life he had been given. Now he had to pay dearly for it ‘in his torments in Hades’. He had thought only of himself and his family no doubt. He had neglected Lazarus at his gate. He had enjoyed life. He hadn’t given a thought for those who had nothing but deprivation.

            What a tragedy! The rich man begs Abraham to send someone to his five brothers to warn them to help the poor lest they ‘come to this place of torment too’. But Abraham says, ‘they have Moses and the prophets. If they won’t listen to them, then they won’t listen even if someone should rise from the dead’. Not a heartless word, just a fact. It is the same today.

            Now is the favourable time. Now is the day of salvation, St. Paul wrote. Now is the day of opportunity. We have the suffering, the underprivileged and deprived everywhere around us. Let us not make the mistake of the rich man in today’s Gospel. Let us not listen to the Word of God and then like the five brothers forget it and get on with our own life. We do so at our peril and will one day bitterly regret it.

            We need to be concerned and though we may not be able to do much ourselves we must support those who can. We may not be able to go off to Africa or other parts of the world where innocent people suffer from other’s greed, then let us support those who do. We need to sacrifice for the sake of the countless number of the brothers and sisters of Lazarus living today, near and far. The oppressed need our love and concern but they also need our material support. The rich man denied them both.

            Since we only pass this way once, today’s opportunities are today’s only. Tomorrow will bring new ones, but today’s will have gone. As Jesus told us ‘use money, that tainted thing, to win you friends and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity’.

            When we come to the end of our life and are able to look back over it, may we have the joy of knowing we did what we could for our sisters and brothers in need, that we had shared our love and our wealth with real people. When we go, they will be there to welcome us.

            What practical steps will you take to relieve the pain of poverty and oppression and bring joy into a joyless life?

Father give me a heart that feels the pain of the poor and hands that reach to them.