“OUR HELP COMES FROM THE LORD” (Ps 121:2)

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) – 29 Sept 2019

Amos 6:1a, 4-7; Ps. 146:6c-7, 8-a, 9bc-10 (R.v.1b); 1 Tim 6:11-16; Luke 16:19-31

“OUR HELP COMES FROM THE LORD” (Ps 121:2)

My dear, do you really believe that God is the only one who has the solution to all your problems, and that with him by your side, you shall lack nothing?

Note this! Your tears may last all through the night but with God by your side, joy will certainly come with the morning (see Ps 30:5). Are you passing through difficult time at the moment? I want to suggest a name to you – LAZARUS!

The name Lazarus means, “My God helps.” In today’s Gospel, the man Lazarus was given the most wretched description one can think about – He was poor, sick, hungry, deprived and extorted. He went to a rich man desiring to be helped but instead, the dogs were sent to eat from him.

You see! The psalmist warns us of this, “Put no trust in princes, in mortal man who cannot save” (Ps 146:3). The poor man’s name suggests that though he looked up with expectations at the table of the rich man, he did not forget that it is the Lord who provides.

Who do you look up to for help? Remember that those who put their hope in God are like Mount Zion that cannot be shaken (Ps 125:1) and they shall constantly have their strength renewed (cf. Isa 40:31).

It is equally important for us to understand what responsibility this calls all of us to embrace. This parable was told to the hearing of the Pharisees who loved money and despise the poor (cf. Luke 16:14). Joined to the description of the rich man in vs 19, we get a perfect connection between the Gospel and the First Reading – a warning against those who feel comfortable in their wealth while despising the poor and the needy.

Whatever we have is given to us to supply for the deficiency of others. Ponder on this! Is it not possible that the rich man was the channel through which God wanted to help Lazarus but the man refused to be used by God? You too could be a destined solution to another person’s problem. Are you being insensitive to the plight of others? Remember the end of the rich man in the Gospel of today and change your ways.

Note that the definition of a rich man in our context here is not those who have large savings in their bank account. A rich man is one who is blessed with any gift – money, strength, wisdom, food, intense spirituality, sound morality, positions of authority, etc. Those are avenues through which God is calling on us to attend to the needy – those lacking in those areas.

That is the call which St. Paul makes to us in the Second Reading. Love is the greatest commandment (cf. Matt 22:36-40). He tells us to hold on to that commandment unstained until Jesus comes because our identity depends on it (cf. John 13:35) and our judgement shall be based on it (cf. Matt 25:31-45).

May God cure us of the disease of being insensitive to the needs of people around us. May we always use our God given gifts to build up a community of love and peace for him on earth. Amen.

Happy Sunday dear. It is well with you.