Jesus Christ, as our reading from 1 Timothy so directly states, is "the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Tim 6:15). Hence, it is Christ who bridges the infinite chasm between heaven and earth, as Saint Catherine of Siena mystically explained (Dialogues IV. III. VIII). It is also Christ who can bridge the chasm between heaven and hell. It should make a big difference in each Christian's life that someone has, indeed, risen from the dead, namely Christ the Lord.
You can wait for a sign, hope for the visit of a ghost, like the rich man's request for his brothers, or like the ghosts mercifully sent to Ebeneezer Scrooge, but the Sign of Jonah should be sufficient for us (Luke 11:29-32). The end of this pericope points towards Christ's resurrection. In a way similar to that of the rich man's five brothers, not only can you listen to and heed the words of Christ, you can believe He is risen of the dead. Proof of that belief is repentance.
Unlike the parable of the Good Samaritan, by all indications, in today's parable, Lazarus and rich man are both Jews. Hence, the bosom of Abraham and Abraham's appeal to Moses and the prophets. By contrast, in the story of the Good Samaritan, the man who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead, seems to be Jewish, a man making his way to the holy city of Jerusalem for religious observance (See Luke 10:29-37). Like the rich man in today's Gospel, it was the beaten man's fellow Israelites who didn't simply fail to help him but actively avoided and evaded him.
It is the Good Samaritan who makes himself a neighbor. And so, it is with reference to the Good Samaritan that the Lord instructs His followers to "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37). The rich man was indifferent to Lazarus. Just as doubt is not the opposite of faith, hate is not the opposite of love. Indifference is the opposite of love. Like love, hate requires some passion. Indifference requires nothing. It is nothing. Indifference to the suffering of another is a form of nihilism. Like many Gospel readings taken from Luke in this part of the Sunday lectionary for Year C, this one easily sends the preacher off in search of a loophole or an escape hatch.
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, by Heinrich Aldegrever, 1554
A major theme of Pope Francis' pontificate was our need to counter indifference by not being indifferent. In an excerpt from Pope Francis' homily given at a Mass in Saint Peter's Square in the summer of 2014, the Gospel for which was Matthew 11:25-30, is more cogruent with today's Gospel reading:
This invitation of Jesus reaches to our day, and extends to the many brothers and sisters oppressed by life’s precarious conditions, by existential and difficult situations and at times lacking valid points of reference. In the poorest countries, but also on the outskirts of the richest countries, there are so many weary people, worn out under the unbearable weight of neglect and indifference. Indifference: human indifference causes the needy so much pain! And worse, the indifference of Christians!With everything going on right now, it is urgent that we overcome our indifference. Empathy is not toxic! But lack of empathy, which is indifference, is deadly. If we take our bearings from Christ, it is deadly in more ways than one. By this I don't mean engaging in more social media hacktivism.
It seems that we put far more emphasis on sins of commission than on sins of omission. Even when it comes to sins of commission, it is important to distinguish between sins of strength and those of weakness. God is very merciful when it comes to sins of weakness but, as scripture teaches, quite harsh when it comes to sins of strength, be they sins of omission or commission.
Both hate and indifference are potentially damnable. As a Roman Catholic, I believe in hell. I don't believe that hell is empty. As far as who might be damned, God decides. Between the horns of the false dilemma- between a slack universalism and the straw of man of "infernalism"- there is a lot of space. As Jesus often intimated, it probably won't be those who you think that will be damned, that is, the prostitutes, tax collectors, etc., but perhaps more "respectable" people.
In any case, the rich man had many opportunities, even daily opportunities it seems, to close the chasm between himself and Lazarus. He not only chose not to but may have only been vaguely aware of Lazarus' existence. The weak, sore ridden, hungry man, whose sores the dogs licked, who sat outside his gate day after day was of no interest to him. He seemingly wore fine clothes and dined sumptuously each day with a trouble-free conscience. One prophet to whom he could've listened was Amos, who declared "Woe to the complacent in Zion!" (Amos 6:1).
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