May the Lord give you grace, peace and health in the Holy Spirit.
It is on 25th September 2022. We celebrate the 26th Sunday of the Ordinary time. We reflect on Amos 6:1, 4-7; 1 Tim 6:11-16 and Luke 16:19-31. We too celebrate Migrant Sunday.
It is time to look at our attitude towards the poor. There are millions of poor Lazarus who go hungry, ignored, unloved and uncared by us. Our hearts have been hardened; our spirits have been spoiled; our attitudes have become arrogant towards the poor. Seldom do we think and love the poor. At times we justify our poverty over the inability of the poor people around us.
The three readings clearly underline the values we all need to embrace as swift as we can. Recently His Holiness Pope Francis introduced a remarkable new economical and social approach to lifting the lives of the poor under the title of ‘the economy of Francisco.’
The attitude of the rich has not changed a bit from the time of Amos. The ministry of every believer today is spelt out in the second reading this way: “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Tim. 6:11-12).
The more we hoard, even more, we become greedy. When we have become incapacitated to love the poor, we are just bankrupting God’s love poured into our hearts freely.
Boasting of our wealth, and riches do not satisfy the hunger of the poor. Lazarus, the friend of God goes to heaven and basks in the company of Abraham while the unnamed rich man goes to Hades even though he was also the son of Abraham yet lost the privileged position by his choice of being indifferent to the plight of Lazarus.
Even if we find it hard to love the poor, let us not hate them or be indifferent to them. Segregating the poor means dissecting our being.
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27).
May the Lord kindly bless all our effort in establishing respectful and loving connections with the poor to please God. May God bless you.