28 September 2025

28 September 2025 - 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Transcript

Reading:  

Luke 16:31

Write:  

“Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Reflect:   

Is it just a coincidence that the name of the beggar was the same as the name of the man that Jesus raised from the dead? Sorry, I don’t believe in coincidences in the Bible. Jesus was being very pointed with this parable. I don’t know if it was after the time that Lazarus was raised from the dead, because that story occurs in John’s Gospel, and we are reading from Luke this year. But it is a… curious point. There were probably many people named Lazarus, just as they were many people named James, and John, and Simon, and Mary, and even Jesus.

It was an historical fact that the Pharisees wanted to kill Lazarus at the same time they wanted to kill Jesus. He was too much of a threat for them, as Jesus was. But this is only one point in the overall readings we have this weekend.

The major point of this weekend’s readings is about the problem of the poor being ignored by the rich. This is the major point of the first reading, as well as of the parable that Jesus gives us. It is also prominent in the Responsorial Psalm. And one could even make the case that Paul’s letter to Timothy in his opening was arguing for the same: “But you, man of God, pursue… [Virtue.]”

The problem that Amos saw in the first reading was that the southern kingdom, which included Jerusalem, thought they were safe when the northern kingdom was attacked and taken into exile. They did not fight for their cousins. Was that a failure of the rich ignoring the poor? Or those who assumed that they had the “Favor of God” because of the temple in Jerusalem?

Apply:   

Who has “preferred status”? Does might make right? Because you have gained some control over your life, because may be you do not have as much debt as your neighbor, because you have a better car or better house or whatever makes you think you are more well off than your neighbor, does that give you the right to consider yourself better than those around you? Has God blessed you and failed to bless your neighbor?

As an old TV show used to say, “danger, Will Robinson, danger!”

Even our Alleluia Verse – a quote from second Corinthians – reminds us of this issue: “Though our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”

Does this make it wrong to be prosperous? No. What turns it to be wrong is what might be done with the prosperity that God has given us. I don’t think Jesus’ parable can be any clearer. But, as I said, it does have a two-pronged approach. There is the failure of the rich man to do what he should have done for Lazarus. There is also the question: which Lazarus is being spoken about? I think it would be a big mistake to separate these ideas. This is especially true when we consider how many people appear to be rich because they claim to be “working for God.” Yes, I am taking a swipe at those people who support the idea of the “prosperity gospel.” Those people who make following Christ a way of becoming rich and comfortable are doing a terrible disservice to the reality of our Gospel Acclamation.

Jesus set aside his riches as God and became poor so that we would become rich in him. All we have is from him. Take a breath – that is from him. Your heart continues to beat – that is from him. You cannot name anything that is yours. At the base of all we are, we are his, whether we want to admit it or not. We are but stewards of the blessings of God.

So what do our mass readings say to us this weekend? First, we have to avoid any lack of generosity toward the poor, especially those near us. And the corollary to that of course is we need to repent of any self-indulgence in the way we live. What is too much extravagance? 

Second, we cannot wait for some sign from God – some miracle or apparition to make everything seem understandable – because God has already given us all we need in the Scriptures and the teachings of the church. Yet, we have miracles every day – some that we see, some that we don’t.

Third, and finally, we dare not wait to respond to what God calls us to. Each of us have been called by name. We have been blessed by so many things and with so many things in our lives. How grateful are we for what God has done? How thankful? Remember: Eucharist means Thanksgiving. 

Pray/Praise:

So we pray.

Lord, you lived in poverty that we would become rich in you. You have given us everything we have. You have revealed to us the truth of your love by your blessings. Help us to share those blessings with all those around us. But most importantly, help us to see that we have indeed been blessed so that we can be a blessing to others.

As you raised Lazarus, so raise us to be your witnesses in a world that does not want to hear of your offering of eternal life. Help us to do as St. Paul commends Timothy: “Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called.” That we may give you all the honor and glory and praise that is your due. As we pray together: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.”

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