Eternal Consolation

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
26 September 2010


We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock: come, let us worship him, alleluia.

First reading Amos 6:1,4-7
The almighty Lord says this:
Woe to those ensconced so snugly in Zion
and to those who feel so safe on the mountain of Samaria,
those famous men of this first of nations
to whom the House of Israel goes as client.
Lying on ivory beds
and sprawling on their divans,
they dine on lambs from the flock,
and stall-fattened veal;
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 Joseph they do not care at all.
That is why they will be the first to be exiled;
the sprawlers’ revelry is over.

Psalm: Psalm 145:6-10

Second reading 1 Timothy 6:11-16
As a man dedicated to God, you must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle. 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 truth in front of many witnesses. Now, before God the source of all life and before Christ, who spoke up as a witness for the truth in front of Pontius Pilate, I put to you the duty of doing all that you have been told, with no faults or failures, until the Appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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,
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 honour and everlasting power. Amen.

Gospel Luke 16:19-31
Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘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. Dogs even came and licked his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.
‘In his torment in Hades 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. But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to stop anyone, if he wanted to, crossing from our side to yours, and 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..” “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 either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.”’

Reflection
By Pam Manzano

The poor are often condemned, neglected and looked-down at. They are always the last on a long list of those who are of importance. They are the ones who constantly receive injustice, victims of the worst stereotyping, and unjust outright judging.

Many people claim that they haven’t done anything wrong for the longest time but are guilty for not doing anything for the less fortunate. I can see a lot of people who always try to ignore the sickened call of the poor. Many believers are expecting to be rewarded with happiness and glory come the right time but have not showed other people the very requisites to our salvation: charity and justice.

As in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man had plenty and Lazarus was devoid of anything, all he wanted was just to eat the small pieces of food that fell off the rich man’s table. When they died, Lazarus was carried by the angels to the arms of Abraham while the rich man was brought into the place of the dead where he suffered so much pain. Here, Jesus tells us that the time will come wherein the uncompassionate rich will die and be deprived of happiness and glory; a punishment for their oppression to the lower classes and for all the injustices they have committed. While the steadfast poor will go to heaven to enjoy all the good things eternal life has to offer.

He who is generous receives more from God and he who is practicing injustice is condemning himself. God is calling us to stop being selfish people. The Gospel is reminding us that we need to practice charity and justice not just on those who are close to us but to every single soul that needs our help. It is time for us to make a reality check about our actions and our lives if we are obeying God’s commandment to love one another as we love ourselves. It is about time to start thinking about our life to come after we have served our purpose here on earth.

The choice is ours. Are we going to be like the rich man who indulged himself in all the worldly things and oppressed the poor and needy or be like Lazarus who faithfully and earnestly trusted God with all his being?

The poor will always be here on earth to give an opportunity to those who have more than them to show generosity and love. Are we in? Remember, a man’s life does not end after he dies on earth.

The good thing is even if we are guilty in one way or another for acting like the rich man in the Gospel, it is never too late for us to have a change of heart and begin a life that is overflowing with God’s charity and justice for all. After all our shortcomings, we still have a chance. Isn’t our God so great?

Heavenly Father, we ask for Your forgiveness. Help us live a life overflowing with love, charity and justice for other people. Teach us how to be humble and reach out to the people who need our help. Let Your light shine through and upon us, oh God, that we may be a blessing not just to several people but to the entire race. AMEN.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Next on God-speak
Do I Believe?

Be Rich and Still Get to Heaven

6th Sunday In Ordinary Time
14 February 2010


We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock: come, let us worship him, alleluia.

First reading Jeremiah 17:5-8
The Lord says this:
‘A curse on the man who puts his trust in man,
who relies on things of flesh,
whose heart turns from the Lord.
He is like dry scrub in the wastelands:
if good comes, he has no eyes for it,
he settles in the parched places of the wilderness,
a salt land, uninhabited.
‘A blessing on the man who puts his trust in the Lord,
with the Lord for his hope.
He is like a tree by the waterside
that thrusts its roots to the stream:
when the heat comes it feels no alarm,
its foliage stays green;
it has no worries in a year of drought,
and never ceases to bear fruit.’

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 1:1-4,6

Second reading 1 Corinthians 15:12,16-20
If Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins. And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people.
But Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep.

Gospel Luke 6:17,20-26
Jesus came down with the Twleve and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon Then fixing his eyes on his disciples he said:
‘How happy are you who are poor: yours is the kingdom of God.
Happy you who are hungry now: you shall be satisfied.
Happy you who weep now: you shall laugh.
Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, for then your reward will be great in heaven. This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets.
‘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.
‘Alas for you when the world speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.’

Reflection
By Benj Santiago

“If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world”

In my business and at the same time apostolate as missionary for spreading financial literacy, I meet different kinds of people with varied levels of education and financial standing. It’s a pity that many people romanticize poverty. They say it is okay with them to be poor for they are closer to Jesus that way. They do not want to be rich for it will take away their chance to enter heaven, as if there are no rich people in heaven.

St. Paul is very clear in his teaching to people in Corinth. He said that we need to hope in Christ not just for our temporal needs of this world but for our everlasting life in heaven. This does not mean that we must be poor or we must not be rich so we can enter heaven. It simply means that for whatever we strive for in our life, and beyond, we put our hope in Christ.

I meet a lot of people happy and rich people, whose main aim to be rich, is to be able to help more people with what they have. They are rich not because they are greedy of wealth, but because they want to share more of what they have to less fortunate. They are extremely happy now, and I’m sure they’ll be happier when they reach their final destination: heaven.

Heavenly Father, we ask You to bless us with wisdom to put our hope in Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord for whatever temporal things we long for on earth, that may lead us to heaven
Amen.

Next week on God-speak
Repentance and Forgiveness