Homily for the 26thSunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C)
Based on Lk 16:19-31 (Gospel), Am 6:1a, 4-7 (First
Reading) and 1 Tm 6:11-16 (Second Reading)
From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
DIVES
AND LAZARUS
“There was a rich
man and…a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores” (Lk 16:19-20)
Today’s Gospel
narrative is taken from Lk 16:19-31, which is about “The rich man and Lazarus”f Footnote f says “Parable in story form
without reference to any historical personage”. For the purpose of titling
this homily and study, we have named the rich man as “Dives.”
Verses 19 to 25 say: There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and
feast magnificently every day. And at his gate there lay a poor man called
Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with the scraps that
fell from the rich man’s table.g Dogs even came and licked his
sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to the bosom of
Abraham.h The rich man also died and was buried. ‘In his torment in
Hadesi he looked up and saw
Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his bosom. So he cried out, “Father
Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and
cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames”. “My son” Abraham replied
“remember that during your life good things came your way, just as bad things
came the way of Lazarus. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony.
Footnote g says “Add. ‘but no one offered him, a thing’, cf
15:16”; Footnote h says “Jewish figure of
speech, the equivalent of the old biblical phrase ‘gathered to his fathers’
i.e. to the patriarchs, Jg 2:10; cfGn15:15; 47:30; Dt 31:16. ‘In the bosom of…’
implies close intimacy, Jn 1:18, and evokes a picture of the messianic banquet
where Lazarus reclines next to Abraham, cf. Jn 13:23; Mt 8:11+”; and Footnote
i says “Vulg. Has ‘in Hades’ at the end of v. 22”.
Parallel text for verse 25 is taken from Lk 6:24-25
that says: But alas for you who are
rich, you are having your consolation now. Alas for you who have your fill now:
you shall go hungry, Alas for you who laugh now: you shall mourn and weep.
Verses 26, 27, and 28 But that is not all: between us and you a great gulfj has
been fixed, to stop any crossing from your side to ours. ‘The rich man replied,
“Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father’s house, Since I have five
brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of
torment too.” “They have Moses and the prophets,” said Abraham “let them listen
to them.” Footnote j says “The
‘gulf’ is a symbol: the destiny of saved and lost is unalterable”.
Parallel text for verse 29 is Lk 24:27,44 that
says: Then,
starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them
the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself (v. 27). Thenk
he told them, ‘This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in
the Psalms, has to be fulfilled (v. 44).
Footnote k says
“The impression given is that all these
events took place on the same day of the resurrection. See Mt. 28:10+”.
Verses 30 and 31 say: “Ah, no, father Abraham,’ said the rich man ‘But if someone comes to
them from the dead, they will repent.” Then Abraham said to him, “If they will
not listen to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if
someone should rise from the dead.”
Parallel texts for verse 31 are:
1. Lk
24:27 - Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he
explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about
himself.
2. Jn
5:46-47 - If you really believed him you would believe me too, since it was I
that he was writing about (v. 46); but if you refuse to believe what he wrote,
how can you believe what I say? (v. 47)’
The First Reading is taken from Am 6:1a, 4-7. Verse 1a says: Woe to
those ensconced so snugly in Zion and to those who feel safe on the mountain in
Samaria…
Parallel texts are:
1.
Is 5:8 - Woe to those who add house to house and
join field to field until everywhere belongs to them and they are the sole
inhabitants of the land.
2.
Am 9:10 - All the sinners of my people are going
to perish by the sword, all those who say, “No misfortune will ever touch us,
nor even come anywhere near us”k Footnote k says “The translation follows Greek.”
3.
Pr 1:32 - For the errors of the ignorant lead to
their death, and the complacency of fools works their own ruin; but whoever listens
to me may live secure, he will have quiet, fearing no mischance.
4.
Lk 6:24 - But alas for you who are rich, you are
having your consolation now.
Verse 4 says: Lying on ivory beds and sprawling on
their divans, they dine on lambs from the flock, and stall-fattened veal;
Parallel texts are:
1.
Am 3:15 - I mean to
pull down both winter houses and summer houses, the houses of ivory will be
destroyed, the houses of ebonyp will vanish. It is the Lord Yahweh
who speaks. Footnote p
says ‘ebony’ conj., cf. Ezk 27:15; ‘many
(houses)’ Hebr.
2. Ho
4:18 - In
the company of drunkards; whoring is all they care about, they barter their
glory for shame.p Footnote p says “Text corr”.
Verse 5, 6 and 7 say: They bawl to the sound of the harp, they invent new instruments of
music like David, They drink wine by the bowlful, and use the finest oil for
anointing themselves, but about the ruin of Josephe they do not care
at all. That is why they will be the first to be exiled; the sprawlers’revelryf
is over. Footnote e says “The
impending collapse of the kingdom of Israel”; and Footnote f says “Or ‘company’”.
Parallel text for verse 5 are:
1. 1
Ch 23:5 - four thousands were keeper of
the gates; four thousand praised Yahweh yon the instruments David had maded
for that purpose. Footnote d says ‘David had made’ corr.; ‘I had made’ Hebr.
2. Ne
12:36 - With his kinsmen, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel,
Judah, Hanani, carrying musical instrument of David, along the top of the wall
and along the ascent of the Palacen of David as far as the Water
Gate, on the east. Footnote n says “Text corr”.
3. Jb
21:12 - They sing to the tambourine and the lyre, and rejoice to the sound of
the flute.
Parallel text verse 7 are:
1. Am
7:11 - For this is what he says, “Jeroboam is going to die by the sword, and
Israel go into exile far from its country”.’
2. Rv
18:14 - All the fruits you had set your hearts on have failed you; gone
forever, never to return, is your life of magnificence and ease.’
The Second Reading is taken from 1 Tm 6:11-16. Verse
11 says: But, as a
man dedicated to God, you must avoid all that. You must aim to be saintly and
religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle.
Parallel texts are:
1. 2
Tm 4:1 - Before God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living
and the dead, I put this duty to you, in the name of his Appearing and of his
kingdom:
2. 2
Tm 2:22 - Instead of giving in to your impulses like a young man, fasten tour
attention on holiness, faith, love and peace, in union with all those who call
on the Lord with pure minds.
3. 1
Co 13:13 - In short,e there
are three things that last:f faith, hope and love; and the greatest
of these is love. Footnote e says “Or ‘Meanwhile’”; and Footnote f says “Or ‘In short, then, we are left with these
three things.’ This association of the three theological virtues, which is
found earlier in 1 Th 1:3 and which was probably in use before Paul’s time,
recurs frequently in his letters, though the order varies: 1 Th 5:8; 1 Co
13:7,13; Ga 5:5f; Rm 5:1-5; 12:6-12; Col 1:4-5; Ep 1:15-18; 4:2-5; 1 Tm 5:11;
Tt 2:2; CfHeb 6:10-12; 10:22-24; 1 P
1:3-9,21f. Faith and charity are associated
in 1 Th 3:6; 2 Th 1:3; Phm 5; faith and fortitude in 2 Th 1:4, love and
fortitude in 2 Th 3:5, Cf. 2 Co 13:13”.
4. Ga
5:22 - What the Spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, truthfulness…
Verse 12 says: Fight the good fight of the faith and win for
yourself the eternal life to which you were called when you made your
profession and spoke up for the truthd in front of many witnesses. Footnote d says “When had Timothy ‘spoken up for the truth’? Perhaps at his baptism, or
possibly when he was consecrated to the ministry”.
Parallel text is 2 Tm 4:7 that says: I have fought the
good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the
faith…
Verse 13 says: Now, before God the source of all life and
before Jesus Christ, who spoke up as a witness for the truth in front of
Pontius Pilate,e I put to you the duty. Footnote e says “When
he declared himself to be the messianic King and the revealer of Truth, Jn
18:36-37. This is the great example of how a follower of Christ should proclaim
his faith, whether at his baptism or when faced with persecution.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
1 Tim 2:6 - Who
sacrificed himself as a ransom for them all. He is the evidence of this, sent
at the appointed time,d and… Footnote d says: “Cf
6:13. By his willingness to die for the whole human race Christ showed the human
race that God wanted everybody to be saved. He was the Father’s ‘witness’ all
through his life, but never so supremely as at the moment of his execution.
(The Greek word for ‘witness’ is the same as for ‘martyr’.)”
2.
Jn 18:36-37 - Jesus
replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this
world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews.
But my kingdom is not of this kind (v.36)’‘So you
are a king then? said Pilate. “It is you say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a
king. I was born for this, and I came into the world for this: to bear witness
to the truth; and all who are on the
side of the truth listens to my voice (v. 37).’
Verse 14 says: of doing all that you have been told, with no faults or failures, until
the Appearingf of our Lord Jesus Christ… Footnote f
says “The word ‘epiphany’ (‘appearing’),
used in 2 Th 2:8 with reference to the Great Rebel) is adopted in the Pastoral
Letters in preference to ‘parousia’ (‘coming’, 1 Co 15:23+), or ‘apocalypse’
(‘revealing’, 1 Co 1:7+), as the technical term here; 2 Tm 4:1,8; Tt 2:13; Heb
9:28, both for the manifestation of Christ in his eschatological triumph, and
also, 2 Tim 1:10; cf. Tt 2:11; 3:4, for his manifestation in the results of his
action as savior”.
Parallel texts are:
1.
2 Tim 4:1,8 - Before God and before Christ Jesus
who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I put this duty to you, in the
name of his Appearing and of his kingdom(v. 1)…all there is to come now is the
crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have
longed for his Appearing.
2.
Heb 9:28 - So
Christ, too, offers himself only once to take the faults of many on himself,
and when he appears a second time, it will not be to deal with sin but to
reward with salvation those who are waiting for him.l Footnote l
says “The first coming of Christ
gave him a direct relationship to sin, Rm. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21. The second coming
of Christ will, since the redemption is complete, have no connection with
sin. Christians wait for this parousia
that will take place at the Judgment, 1 Co. 1:8+; Rm. 2:6+”.
Verse 15 says: Who at the due time will be revealed by God,
the blessed and only Ruler of all, the King of kings and the Lord of lords
Parallel texts are:
1.
Dt 10:17 - For Yahweh your God I God of gods and
Lord of lords, the great God, triumphant and terrible, never partial, never to
be bribed.
2.
2 M 13:4 - But the King of kings stirred up the
anger of Antiochus against the guilty wretch, and when Lysias made it clear to
the king that Menelaus was the cause of all the troubles, Antiochus gave orders
for him to be taken to Beroea and there put to death by the local method of
execution.
3.
Ps 136:3 - Give thanks to the Lord of lords, his
love is everlasting!
4.
Rv 17:14 - And they will go to war against the
Lamb; but the Lamb is the Lord of lords and the King of kings, and he will
defeat them and they will be defeated by his followers, the called, the chosen,
the faith.’
Verse 16 says: Who alone is
immortal, whose home is in inaccessible light, whom no man has seen and no man
is able to see: to him be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
Parallel texts are:
1.
1 Jn 1:5 -
This is what we have heard from him, and the message that we are announcing
to you: God is light; there is no darkness in him at all.
2.
Ex 33:20 - You cannot see my face’ he said ‘for
man cannot see me and live.’i Footnote i says “God’s sanctity is so removed from man’s
unworthiness, see Lv 17:1+, that man must perish if he looks on God, cf. Ex
19:21; Lv 16:2; Nb 4:20, or even hears his voice, Ex. 20:19; Dt. 5:24-26 and
18:16. For this reason Moses, Ex. 3:6, Elijah, 1 K 19:13, and even the
seraphim, Is 6:2, cover their faces in his presence. The man who remain alive
after seeing God is overwhelmed with astonishment and gratitude, Gn 32:31; Dt
5:24, and with awe, Jg 6:22-23; 13:22, Is. 6:5. It is a favor God rarely
concedes, Ex 24:11; he grants ‘it to Moses his ‘friend’, Ex 33:11; Nb 12:7-8;
Dt 34:10, and to Elijah, 1 K 19:11f, the two who looked on the New Testament
theophany, the transfiguration of Christ, Mt. 17:3p. Hence, in Christian
tradition Moses and Elijah (together with Apostle Paul, 2 Co 12:1f) are the
three pre-eminent mystics. In the New Testament the ‘glory’ of God, cf. 33:18
and 24:16+, is manifested in Jesus, Jn 1:14+; 11:40, who alone has gazed on the
Father, Jn 1:18, 6:46; 1 Jn 4:12. Man cannot look on God’s face except in heaven,
Mt 5:8; 1 Jn 3:2, 1 Co 13:12.”
3.
Jn 1:17-18…since,
though the Law was given to Moses, grace and truth have come through Jesus
Christ (v. 17). No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son,r who
is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known (v. 18). Footnote r says “Var. ‘God, only begotten’”
4.
1 Tm 1:17 - To
the eternal King, the undying,j invisible and only God, be honor and
glory for ever and ever. Amen. Footnote j says “Lit. ‘incorruptible’
or ‘imperishable’; var. (Vulg) ‘immortal’”
Contrary to
the usual interpretation of many gospel preachers that this gospel narrative is
a condemnation of the rich lifestyle of wealthy people who, they say, are
doomed to suffer in hell after they die, or that there is a reality called
“hell” where the bad people go after death, I say that this gospel narrative
for this 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) is a convincing
proof of the existence of the law of reverse effect that says: “life here on earth is the reverse of the
afterlife and vice-versa” which is related to the Law of Hierarchy or Evolution
that says that ”the first now shall be last later and the last now shall be
first later.” The fate of the rich man, who lived a life of contentment here on
earth was reversed with a life of suffering in the afterlife. While the poor
man, who lived a miserable life on earth, was reversed with a life of
contentment in the afterlife. This is indeed the law of reverse effect at work
in the natural world.
The warning to
heed this law of reverse effect is also given in the first reading taken from
Amos 6:1-7. And being ignorant of the law of the reverse effect, Proverbs 1: 32
says: “For the errors of the ignorant lead to their death, and the complacency
of fools works their own ruin”.
Hence the
advice of the First Reading is to live saintly and
religious lives, filled with faith and love, patience and gentleness, and to
avoid the life of rich Christians as stated in the following verse 17-19 of 1
Tim 6. Otherwise, their fortune will be reversed, in that while they live rich
and contented life now, their lives will be reversed in the afterlife and that
they will lead a miserable and awful life in the next life.
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