Homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Inaction Is Not A Virtue

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Bridget Catholic Church, Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, September 25, 2022

There are two characters in today’s Gospel (Luke 16:19-31): one is a rich man and the other a poor man. The rich man was not named but the poor man has a name- Lazarus. The name “Lazarus” is derived from the Hebrew name “Eleazar” which means “God is my help.” Like so many rich people, this rich man dressed expensively and also ate lavishly each day. By every standard, he was comfortable. In a very poor region where many people would consider  themselves fortunate if only they ate a small piece of meat once a week, and where they labored and toiled for six days of the week, this rich man indulged himself in a lavish, flamboyant and extravagant living. Meanwhile, not far from him was a poor man, Lazarus, who sat and waited for crumbs that fell from his table. Lazarus was a beggar and it seems he was homeless too because the gospel says “And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus...” His body was covered with sores. He was so helpless and so weak that he could not even ward off street dogs that hovered around him and licked his sores. 

After an earthly life of untold suffering, Lazarus died and was taken away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and went to a place of torment- hell. From the place of torment, he looked up and saw Abraham and glorified Lazarus beside him. So, he pleaded, “Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.” Imagine the turn of events. But Abraham quickly reminded him that he was reaping what he sowed while on earth. When his first request was rejected, he made a second one: “Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.” To his second request, Abraham called his attention to the fact that his brothers have priests and prophets whom they should listen to. But the rich man insisted that if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent. Again, Abraham rebuffed his request and said to him, “If they (your brothers) will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” 

Now do not see this parable as blanket condemnation of riches or rich people. And do not consider the story as an endorsement of poverty by Jesus. It is a great theological error to do so. The kind of poverty that bedeviled and tormented Lazarus is evil. It gives God no glory. It gives no commendation to humanity. No human being should be allowed to experience such suffering. That kind of misfortune debases the dignity of the human person and makes mockery of the very idea of humanity and community. Such kind of poverty should be fought and be defeated. It violates the beautiful virtues of charity and compassion. As for the rich man, he was not damned for being wealthy. Jesus is not anti-riches or rich people. Wealth when acquired justly can be the blessings of God. The rich man did not end up in hell simply because he was rich. After all, he did not order Lazarus out of his sight or be thrown out of his house. His sin was that he never noticed Lazarus. Lazarus was invisible to him. As far as he was concerned, Lazarus was part of the landscape. As far as he was concerned, it was perfectly alright for Lazarus to live a life of hunger and deprivation while he wallowed in extravagant feasting. What took the rich man to hell wasn’t what he did but what he did not do. Right before him was a man of suffering, a fellow man ravaged by disease, a child of God, a fellow citizen, a human being like himself, yet he felt no sense of grief and pity in his heart for him. He saw a man in dire need of help, but did nothing. He had no feeling for him, and no love for him. God is nothing but love. And love is willing the good of the other and doing something about it. The rich man went to hell because there was no love in his heart for Lazarus. He did not go to heaven because he does not possess what God is, which is love. And what made the rich man’s indifference to Lazarus’ condition shocking is that he does have the resources needed to change the life of Lazarus. He does have it in abundance yet, he turned a blind eye. He was punished for refusing to notice the presence of Jesus who is uniquely present with the poor, the abandoned and those on the margins of the society. As for Lazarus, he was carried to the bosom of Abraham not just because he was poor. He went to heaven because like his name suggests, he totally depended upon God for his sustenance. In his poverty, he was not jealous of the rich man. In his poverty, he did not turn away from God. In his poverty, he was not upset with God or with anyone. Despite his poverty, he still had faith in God. He loved God and sought help from him. In the end, he got the relief and salvation he sought for.

If you are able to help someone, if you are able to put a smile on someone’s face, if you are able to make an impact in someone’s life, an impact rooted in love and compassion, just do it. In the end, you will realize that you have stored so much treasure for yourself in heaven. The Lord has not called us to do nothing. Each of us has been called to do something- something good. Each of us has been called to be active Christians. Dormant and inactive Christians produce nothing. Dormant and inactive Christianity is worthless. Doing nothing is not a virtue. Do not be a Christian who does nothing. In the course of your life, God will severally put you in positions of doing something valuable for others— like wiping away tears from the eyes of another, lending a helping hand to a needy person, giving your time to a lonely person, visiting the sick and the shut-in, making a difference in the life someone, and making others see Jesus in you. Whenever that opportunity comes, don’t act like the rich man in today’s Gospel. Do something! Christianity is a religion of action- compassionate action towards others for the sake of Jesus and the health of the society.