Holyrood Church 715 West 179 Street, Upper West side Manhattan, USA, 212-923-3770

We have an obligation as Christian people to feed hungry people.

 

 

Good morning, happy Thursday, and many blessings.

 

The Gospel today is found in Luke 16:19-31.  Commonly known as “The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus”, this parable shows us the foolishness of seeking earthly comfort (which is temporary) to the neglect of heavenly comfort (which is forever).  

 

When Jesus told the story that is our gospel lesson for today, it’s hard to know whether he is telling us about heaven or telling us about hell. But I guess, if you know about one, then you know about the other. In any event, this is the story Jesus told…. “There were these two guys,” Jesus said. One of them was very wealthy. He dressed in the finest clothing from around the world, he ate elaborate spreads of food and drink every day, and for him, like was very, very comfortable.

 

Lazarus, on the other hand, was very, very poor. Of all the parables that Jesus told, this is the only time he identifies one of the characters by name, which makes me wonder if this isn’t a story that really did occur. Lazarus was very poor, to the point that he laid at the gates of the rich man’s home, hoping that some food scraps would fall off the table for him to eat. He was gaunt, and emaciated, and the sores on his body became a sort of licking post for the dogs who also hung out there.

 

Now, you would think, listening to Jesus tell this story, that Lazarus and the rich man had nothing in common. One was comfortable, the other was miserable. One lived in the lap of luxury, while the other lived in the gutter. Their stories were miles and miles apart, and, truth be known, they had nothing in common except this: they both died. They both died. It didn’t matter that one was rich and the other poor, they both died. In fact, death is the greatest common denominator among all of us. It does not discriminate between rich and poor, Black and Asian, male and female. Statistics tell us that 100% of us are going to die. We don’t know when, and most of us don’t know how. But this much we know is true: each of us is going to die.

 

This is a parable of startling contrasts, but its central message is simple: be alert to the needs under your nose. It is not concerned with patterns of good living on the part of Lazarus, nor of evil doing on the part of the rich man. But the latter closed his eyes to the needy at his gate. And without an eye for the needy around us, our life becomes self-centered and callous. Jesus is asking his listeners to open their eyes to what is around them, and to open their ears to the simple commands of the Gospel: love your neighbor.

 

This is a great story with no ambiguity about it. Every hungry man and woman in the world is on our conscience. While we did not create the problem, we can be part of the solution. Our hearts go out to the millions of old and young in the world just because they are hungry, like Lazarus was at the rich man's gate. Of course, this inequality where some people eat and others do not, was not created by God but rather by us. We have an obligation as Christians to feed the hungry. Allow some prayer today to enlarge your compassion for the hungry and your desire to do what you can to feed them, for in feeding them, we feed Jesus.

 

During Lent I try to hear the call to come back home to God. I join the great pilgrimage of people who, through the ages, have been called by Moses and the prophets to listen to the word of the Lord. What feelings arise in you as you read this story from St Luke. Who in the story do you identify with? The rich man did nothing wrong expect ignore the poor man. What is Jesus trying to teach me in this?

 

Blessings,

 

Fr. Luis+

Date news: 
Thursday, March 4, 2021 - 09:30

Ministry at the time of Coronavirus (Covid 19): Prevent, cure and accompany

Now we have to shape what some have started calling; The Church at Home. Although I keep asking myself; What do those who do not have a home do? For this reason, at the same time, I am declaring today in our Holyrood Church a Lenten day of prayer, fasting and reading the Bible in the Time of the Coronavirus.

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