26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 26, 2010

"There was a rich man who dressed in
purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus,
covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores."

The rich man never really hurt Lazarus.
He didn’t hate him, or betray him or abuse him.
He didn’t cause Lazarus to fail or leave him begging at the gate.
He simply ignored him.

We desperately want this parable to be about “others”.
Some of us struggle just to make one day meet the next.
But maybe God is trying to remind us that the world of rich and poor;
the world of have and have not; the world of visible and invisible;
is not God’s creation, but our own.

Maybe God is trying to remind us
that everything--
our lives, our talents, our food,
our ability to earn money
our desire to support our families,
our shelter, even our faith,
is pure gift.

Maybe through this parable, God is trying to remind us
that no matter where we live, no matter who we are,
no matter how much money we make,
Lazarus is waiting for us at the gate.

And somehow, through him,
Christ is there waiting for us, too.