Take up your cross, let not its weightFill your weak spirit with alarms;
His strength shall bear your spirit up,
Shall brace your heart and nerve your arm.
(Charles William Everest 1814-1877)
Today's Gospel
Are we, as a Church, as a nation, as an individual, are we genuinely moved by the needs of the poor and hungry of the world, our nation and our cities? A recent study of the hunger cross that exists in our times notes that currently some 854 million men, women and children go to sleep each evening not with a satisfied stomach but with the discomfort of hunger pangs.
The gospel today presents to us a rich man and a poor and hungry Lazarus. It is the story of just one man, lying at the rich man's door. In the mentioned hunger report there are data that the 854 million hungry standing in a line would wrap Planet Earth three or four times! Our patience is tried when we have to join the line behind five or six heavily laden carts at a Costco! Imagine how many people just in Washington, DC form a "Lazarus Line" each day under an overpass, outside Union Station, on a downtown corner -- almost all suffering, many poorly fed.
The leading advocate for the poor and needy tell the Pharisees a story about the poor, the hungry in the gospel. It is Jesus speaking to all generations -- because the poor you will always have with you! Jesus uses Abraham to deliver his message: "remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented."
The gospel today presents to us a rich man and a poor and hungry Lazarus. It is the story of just one man, lying at the rich man's door. In the mentioned hunger report there are data that the 854 million hungry standing in a line would wrap Planet Earth three or four times! Our patience is tried when we have to join the line behind five or six heavily laden carts at a Costco! Imagine how many people just in Washington, DC form a "Lazarus Line" each day under an overpass, outside Union Station, on a downtown corner -- almost all suffering, many poorly fed.
The leading advocate for the poor and needy tell the Pharisees a story about the poor, the hungry in the gospel. It is Jesus speaking to all generations -- because the poor you will always have with you! Jesus uses Abraham to deliver his message: "remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented."
When the rich man seeks to have Jesus allow Lazarus to visit his brothers with warnings, Abraham reminds him that the "greats" of the Old Testament have spoken so many times about the need to care for the poor and hungry. And as a reminder to all future generations, Abraham mentions that even if someone would rise from the dead, they would not listen! We have Jesus preaching to us: do we listen?
And the rest of the story? Well, consider how in our own days anorexia is recognized as a disease that changes a person's personality, a person's mental stability. If that happens to those who have access to food, could it not be a sign to us why so many of those who make up the Lazarus Line are emotionally challenged? Some fast during Lent, seemingly fewer than in days past. Yet there are many who do not have the luxury of choosing to fast not just during Lent but throughout the year. They do not have to give up! They are unable to experience their own personal freedom and strength because they live with hunger.
Lent does teach us how much we really need and how much we really don't need. Perhaps Lent can teach us that we can share our surplus with those in the Lazarus Lines of our cities!
And the rest of the story? Well, consider how in our own days anorexia is recognized as a disease that changes a person's personality, a person's mental stability. If that happens to those who have access to food, could it not be a sign to us why so many of those who make up the Lazarus Line are emotionally challenged? Some fast during Lent, seemingly fewer than in days past. Yet there are many who do not have the luxury of choosing to fast not just during Lent but throughout the year. They do not have to give up! They are unable to experience their own personal freedom and strength because they live with hunger.
Lent does teach us how much we really need and how much we really don't need. Perhaps Lent can teach us that we can share our surplus with those in the Lazarus Lines of our cities!
