Twenty Sixth Sunday

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus

Some reflections

The rich Man was not only wrapped in fine linen and purple but he was wrapped up in himself.

The journey from the gateway to the front door was not a long one but it was the inner journey from selfishness to generosity that was the hardest for the rich man to take.

The gate symbolised a barrier of the rich man’s making – rich people always lock themselves in with extra security measures of high walls and security cameras – poor people have to live more openly. Rich people isolate themselves – and end up alone.

Even the animals had more compassion than the rich man had – it is an indictment of his behaviour

The surmountable barrier that the rich man formed was now compounded permanently by the formation of an uncrossable barrier between heaven and hell. Hell is a decision we make now – self-centred rather than God centred or other centred.

The rich man knew Lazarus by name – he knew and he had ample opportunity – and his delay became a permanent one.

I know I need a wakeup call from my comfort and complacency. An extended news item on channel 4 on Friday startled me - on the plight of the civilians of Aleppo, especially the suffering children and the exhausted surgeon who could Skype-chat but who other than that was cut off from the outside world in the besieged city. Now as the deadline for the tax return for end of the last tax year for the self-employed beckons how much have I given to charity?

We need to keep in touch with the news, and with our politicians, we need to give to charity, and then act locally as well as think globally.

We can only start from where we are now – at least let make a start. In future years as we look back on this year of Mercy can we or I be able to say ‘yes, the Year of Mercy 2016 made a difference in my life – it was a turning point for me’.

We remember St Teresa of Calcutta’s words – echoing Jesus – ‘You did it to me’.