“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…” – Luke 16:19-20
Recall the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16: 19-31) from our Gospel passage this Sunday. Lazarus sat at the rich man’s door begging. The rich man had to step over poor Lazarus each day when he came and went. Could he not see the man so clearly in need of food and care? Was he blind to his needs? Was he cold and callused? Could he even have been afraid of Lazarus’s uncleanliness and sores?
It’s possible that the rich man was so caught up in himself that he neglected to see the need of the person at his doorstep. Over time, he may not have even seen Lazarus as a person any longer. He was likely just a nameless beggar to the rich man. Notice that even when Lazarus is in heaven and he is in hell that he wants to treat him like a servant: “And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames'” (Luke 16:24).
The rich man cried out for mercy, but he had offered no mercy throughout his comfortable life. He failed to hear Lazarus who must have cried for mercy at his doorstep. However, God sees, hears, and knows the poor among us (Psalm 34:7). Notice that Lazarus is named in this parable while the rich man is not. Catholic Social Teaching emphasizes the preferential option for the poor. We’re called to serve and care for them as individuals in need of our love and mercy. Lazarus needed mercy from the rich man who failed to see his own need to give and receive mercy.
“It is by what they have done for the poor that Jesus Christ will recognize his chosen ones.” CCC 2443
St. John exhorted us to care for the poor and open ourselves to showing them compassionate mercy: “He who has the goods of this world and sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17). The Lord Himself teaches us about caring for the poor in Matthew 25: 31-46. How might the Lord be calling you to greater service of the poor? What is one concrete work of mercy you could offer this week?
Jesus, I am sorry for the times when I’ve been selfish, afraid, or too busy to care for the poor. Open my eyes to see the needs of Your people. Help me share what I have in generosity and love.