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

The Story Of The Rich Man And Lazarus: Priceless Lessons

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

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

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, September 28, 2025

Today’s Gospel (Luke 16:19-31) is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. From the lips of Jesus, we hear that the rich man “dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day,” while lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, “who would have gladly eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.” Eventually, they both died. Lazarus went to heaven, and the rich man went to hell. From the place of torment, the rich man saw Abraham and the glorified Lazarus beside him. And he pleads, “Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.” But Abraham quickly reminds him that he was reaping what he sowed while on earth. When his first request was denied, 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.” Attending to his second request, Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.” But the rich man insisted that if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent. Abraham insisted, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” 

The first spiritual lesson of this story is that the heart of the Law, the Law of Yahweh, found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and others, boils down to our compassion for the poor, the neglected, the widow, the orphan, and the needy. How do we love and care for the most vulnerable members of our society? In this parable, Jesus teaches us that we will be judged by how we treat the most needy among us. If you are wondering why the rich man went to hell, it is because he was utterly indifferent to the plight of Lazarus, showing him no love and compassion. Lazarus was lying at his door, suffering, covered with sores, and longing for the scraps that fell from his table; he saw him but never truly saw him. He did not see him through the lens of love and compassion. Compassion  means “to suffer with.” The rich man never suffered with Lazarus. 

Second spiritual lesson. God is not pleased with this kind of economic inequality. No child of God deserves such extreme material poverty, and God burns with a great passion to set things right. From every page of the Bible, from the Prophets Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah to Jesus, Paul, Pope Leo XIII, Martin Luther King Jr., St. Pope John Paul II, and throughout the Christian tradition, this theme is echoed time and again. Well-off people may feel uncomfortable hearing it, and God knows they do, but we cannot avoid discussing it because it is found everywhere in the Bible. As for those who say, “Well, I work very hard to acquire my wealth and have every right to enjoy it, and use it as I deem fit,” listen to the great St. Thomas Aquinas, who made a distinction between ownership and the use of private property. When it comes to ownership, whether through honorable hard work or inheritance, he said you have a right to it. You have a right to own what you acquired through hard work or inheritance. But when it comes to how you use those things, and why you use them, Aquinas said, we must always be concerned first for the common good and not just our own. As we use and enjoy the wealth we created, we must seriously consider the Lazarus at our gate, that is, those who are suffering and are most in need. 

Third spiritual lesson. During Jesus’ time, a major debate existed within Judaism regarding the resurrection. Many, including the Sadducees, rejected the reality of life after death, while others, like the Pharisees, believed in it. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus clearly affirms resurrection, and His own Resurrection from the dead strongly confirms it. The parable teaches that we are not just bodies that live for a while and then disappear. To existentialist thinkers and secularists who see death as the end, Jesus says, “You are dead wrong.” I have always said at every funeral Mass I celebrate and preach that death does not have the final say. Death is not the last word. The final word is Easter. The day is “Anastasis,” Resurrection. 

The fourth spiritual lesson. Everyone listening to me knows someone who has died. For some of us, it may be a parent, a sibling, a child, a spouse, or a close friend. After their death, do they forget about us? In this story, Jesus answers the great question: No! We are still connected to those who have gone before us. In a very real sense, they are gone, but have not disappeared. They have not forgotten about us. We are still in their memory. Consider the rich man. He is suffering in eternal hell; even there, he remembered his five brothers on earth and wanted Abraham to send Lazarus to warn them to repent and avoid ending up in the place of suffering he found himself in. Our loved ones who lived and died in faith are connected to God and, therefore, to everything that God loves. They are in God and can relate to us in very intimate ways. Consequently, it is acceptable to speak with them and occasionally ask for favors. 

The fifth spiritual lesson. Ignoring the Church's proclamation can have serious consequences. How do we know that? At the end of the parable, Jesus says, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” So, do not play with your salvation. Never assume you are saved or that you are on your way to heaven. As I preached last weekend, consider applying the principle of See, Judge, and Act (SJA) in your spiritual life to understand where you stand in your relationship with God and others. If there’s any teaching of the Church that you are resisting, review it again, judge it wisely, and then act. Stop hesitating! Act now!

The sixth lesson. Jesus teaches here that heaven and hell are both real. Even though we shy away from thinking and speaking about it, it is real. Even though some believe that, in the end, everyone goes to heaven, Jesus says, “Not so fast.” But the good news is that “God has destined us for acquiring salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9). If you make him the ultimate cornerstone of your life, you will be saved. 

God bless you!