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WOF Radio > Sermons > Sermon Archive for 2010 > Sermon 507 : Rich Man, Poor Man : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Sermon 507 : Rich Man, Poor Man : 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

9/26/2010

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Most of us find the homeless to be unnerving and annoying, telling ourselves not to give them money because they might use it for drinks or drugs. But think of the story of Lazarus and the rich man, and did they have different fates! Lazarus was carried to Abraham's bosom and the rich man to the nether world, where he was tormented. The torment for the rich man began by locking himself in his narrow ego, going against his calling to give. As Catholic social teaching remind us, we cannot remain indifferent to the poor. They must always be taken into consideration or else we go to hell.

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Comments

michael jaffray king

I think the whole point of all Father Barron's sermons are not just for us to say how wonderful and fantastic they are, which they definitely are, but rather to spur us into Christian action.
This servant of God puts over his teachings and reflections from Holy Scripture and Holy Church in such a way as to deeply challenge us.
How will I respond when next approached by a beggar?
Yesterday a Pregnant Hungarian Gypsy young girl approached me to receive one of the Coloured Rosaries which I distribute in the walking streets of our local towns.
We try to get a donation of about 5 Euro for each Rosary.
This young girl offered me 2 Euro and sad to say I only very grudgingly agreed.
Then she did an extraordinary thing.
She commented that I was not giving it with peace in my heart so she gave it back and said she would go to the bank and get out some more cash.
A few minutes later I saw her and she sighed that there was no cash in the bank and then she and her friends hung around by a bench close to where we were distributing the Rosaries together with a brochure of instructions showing how to pray effectively this very powerful prayer.
Thank the Lord that I had at last the good sense to give it to her free of charge.
She was delighted and smiled a smile worth more than a million US$.

9/21/2010 2:21:44 AM

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Adrian

I lector at my church every Thursday. Each Lent for the past nine years i have heard this parable preached by the Franciscans of my parish in Philadelphia. It truly amazes me the endless power and relevence of the story. Father Barron, delivers a proper warning of the reality of this message.

9/21/2010 11:22:32 AM

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Red

Well, looks like Amos and Jesus are gettin' on a roll! Dives — that's us, yes?

"Woe to the complacent in Zion!
Lying upon beds of ivory,
stretched comfortably on their couches, they eat lambs taken from the flock, and calves from the stall! They drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the best oils; yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph! (..And whaddya know!? Here we are again!)

One part always kind of amuses me every time I hear this gospel story — in an "ain't that just typical" kind of way. It always strikes me as just exactly the way it is, when Dives is in that nasty place after his death, and he looks up and sees Lazarus up there with Abraham. So what's Dives do? He tells Abraham to send Lazarus on an errand for him! Old attitudes die hard, yes?

I wonder if it's more than just thinking about what we're supposed to do with all of our wealth that is needed to make us good stewards. That should simply be one fruitful end of our truly and honestly thinking about what we're supposed to do with these proud, smug, condescending attitudes we've nursed (even if only privately)toward those who are needy among us and we judge as substandard in some way or another.

Another thing I noted is that Jesus tells us in the parable that Lazarus was "lying at his(Dives') door." That's pretty close to home, yes? So I ask myself again, who is poor within my circle of influence? In my family? Among my friends? How do I treat that person? Who is needy among those whom God has brought into my life? Do I look for ways to find fault with them and then dismiss their poverty or need. Do I tell myself that "it's their own fault, they brought this on themselves through their own doing. Do I, in effect then, in the words from Amos, "reduce the oppressed to nothing?"

Lazarus is lying at my door. It's a very good thing to help the poor of the world. But I wonder, if as usual, God wants us to start with the ones who are the closest to us? And how am I going to have to change my attitude toward that one who I feel superior to in some way?

Well, one good thing about the readings these days — as they used to say in the 'old days' of radio — "the hits just keep on coming!"

9/21/2010 6:07:52 PM

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Kell Brigan

This is my third try to get this comment approved. Let's see if this one gets through. I spent over fifteen years without a car, and have worked in cities all of my adult life, as a single woman. The assumption here is, in both the homily and the comments, that "good" people interact with homeless people and that "bad" people shun them, avoid eye contact, and, if approached, tell them to go away in as firm a tone of voice as possible. This assumption is something only people who are not female and who are not forced to work or commute in unsafe urban cir*****stances could make. I have personally been sexually assaulted by a homeless person, and witnessed two sexual assualts on other women by homeless men. All incidents occurred at bus stops, and in the presence of other commuters.

NO ONE travelling alone should interact with homeless people. There is no way to tell whether or not you're dealing with someone mentally ill, drugged or potentially violent. This is not a myth, no matter how much the naive people who never have to actually be in these situations want to pretend it is. It's easy to call for others to interact with unstable people when you don't have to do so yourself.

Google "assault by homeless" (within quotes) and read up on the volunteers and women commuters and women students who've been assualted and raped by homeless men. Also, look at the numbers for the sexual assault, maiming, rape and murder of homeless women by homeless men.

I'm not calling for a pogrom. All I'm saying is STOP calling women who avoid interaction with homeless men "bad" or "weird" or "selfish" or "unChristian", and stop pretending that many homeless people aren't dangerous. No one travelling alone should interact with a homeless person, and any volunteers working with them should be in teams, and in regular communication with law enforcement. No one should ever give cash, as an individual on the street, to a homeless person. Most negative behaviors associated with homelessness are exacerbated by this sort of enabling. If you want to help the homeless, contact local shelters or law enforcement for information for how your cash and time can help the homeless without harming everyone else in the community.

These warm-fuzzy attitudes about the homeless are only putting people in danger. Women have the right to protect themselves, and we're not "bad" or "selfish" or "unChristian" if we do so.

9/22/2010 11:41:15 AM

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Russ

Another great homily!

When I was in seminary my seminary professor drilled home to us the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. We all had to read, mark and inwardly digest the Summa Theologica. It was and is great stuff.

Father, when you quoted St. Thomas as saying, “We have a right to ownership of private property, but in regard to the use of our private property - the common good must always be paramount.” I totally agree.

However, with the political climate coming out of Washington and "redistribution" of wealth for the “common good”, I get nervous about this phrase "common good." What Washington has been espousing is a sort of Socialism or Communism - governmental redistribution.

I believe what needs to be made clear is that what St. Thomas meant was, "I" the steward of the private property which ultimately belongs to God; is for me to discern where "my" [God's] money is to go - not the government. The free will is, whether I choose to follow the steps of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, or the rich man who isolated himself from the Lazaruses of this world.

For the sake of our people in our parishes, perhaps it would be helpful to make this distinction. I know I will in my own parish.

9/23/2010 8:53:09 AM

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Isaac Wash

Hi,
Thank you Fr. Barron for the time and effort you put into these wonderful sermons. We are so blessed to hear them.

To Kell Brigan who wrote the comment below- thank you for posting that comment. I think it's wise to recognize the potential dangers of dealing with homeless people one on one, because as you say, many of them suffer from mental illness. I myself have been affected by this, not through sexual assault, but I have befriended and given large amounts of money to particular homeless men only to find out that I was being lied to and cheated.

But you know, God sees the intentions of our heart, and He asks us for our faithfulness to His word, even if things backfire on us. Fr. Barron didn't say in his homily that we should all feel obliged to interact with homeless people one-on-one. But he did say that their presence should wake us up and prompt us to think about their plight and how to help them. As Kell points out, that might mean contributing to a local shelter. Most of all, I believe that we need to heed the inspiration of the Spirit in each moment when dealing with the poor. Who knows? Maybe God will call some us to interact one-on-one with a homeless person! Or maybe he will ask us to love them from a distance through charitable giving to organizations that help the homeless.

God bless you all! Thanks again, Fr. Barron!

9/23/2010 9:06:03 AM

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Red

Hmmm. Not sure where to begin!!

I guess first of all, these posts seem to be contributing, unintentionally as it may be, to the further stigmatization of both the mentally ill and the homeless.

Having had to deal personally with both issues (meaning — I have been homeless in the past, and I have also had mental health issues in the past) and knowing that either one of these problems may very well arise for me again sometime in the future (remember that old saying "there but for the grace of God..."), you might well imagine that I find the anger and the condescension (whether indirectly or directly) expressed toward these groups of human beings quite frightening, to say the least.

Not all homeless people are mentally ill, and if some of them are, not all of them are violent. And a person who has mental health problems is not ipso fatso a danger and a menace to society! (Yeah, I know it should be "ipso facto", but don't you just get a kick out of it said the other way! Very Bugs Bunny, I think! Well, perhaps I am a bit of menace) ;*)

If I were to write here that we should all exercise extreme caution whenever around a priest or a group of priests, because some of them have molested children and abused young adults, or that some of them engage in abusive physical relationships with one another or other adults, would you think that might be just a little over the top? Would you think that I might be contributing to the negative stereotype? There are some, you know, who would find that brand of stereotyping quite acceptable, even laudable. Still, I think most faithful Catholics might object.

But let the person be "homeless", or "mentally ill", and then the stigmatizing goes unchecked. So, now someone can quote me the stats on assaults by the homeless, or crimes by the mentally ill, and then compare with the stats and percentages of priests, or other groups who are often negatively stereotyped, and show me that the homeless and the mentally ill are more dangerous., stat-wise, percentage-wise. Yeah, okay, and so be afraid.

But I'm going to repeat it once more, just in case, if only for the sake of hope, that the fear can be overcome with the truth. — Not all homeless people are mentally ill, and if some of them are, not all of them are violent. And a person who has mental health problems is not ipso facto a danger and a menace to society. —

If you want to label people who are encouraging us to rethink our attitudes towards the poor/needy as being somehow soft-headed or naive, because once a poor or needy person poked you or took your money, then please, don't forget to be afraid of priests, and schoolteachers, and so on, and so on and encourage us to fear them, too.

Still, it's just so much easier to project our fears and anxieties onto those who haven't got much of a hope in defending themselves.

9/23/2010 4:45:04 PM

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michael jaffray king

To Kell, I would like to add that the purpose of Father B's post in my opinion, was to show the apathy of Dives towards Lazarus and the general apathy of the rich towards the poor. This is severely endangering the rich in their inevitable journey into eternal life on a Hell bound course.
Of course it is dangerous to take on a homeless person by oneself! Prayer and wisdom would be required in all cir*****stances but to ignore them completely and shrug one's shoulders is another thing. God is tapping the telephone of our thought 24/7.. So the message was to BEWARE!!! And to not fall into the eternal hellish trap of the Rich man, Dives.

9/24/2010 12:20:09 AM

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Kell Brigan

"Fear" might be "overcome by truth," but lying -- pretending that homeless men are disproportionately violent, drugged, mentally ill, and prone to violence against women far, far beyond parity only serves to keep women in danger.

"Good" women have the right to keep themselves safe. A bit part of that, for women who travel and work in urban environments, is to NEVER interact with homeless people, period.

Sorry if the truth hurts someone's feelings, but I'd rather be politically incorrect than assaulted or injured. (And, I did try to give the details of the assault I personally experienced, and the assaults I witnessed, but they couldn't get past the moderator, for reasons unknown. All three were felonies, and the police were involved in all three cases.

The "feelings" of some naive people do not trump the right of women to be safe. Once again, we see someone upset because a woman dares to put her own welfare first. All women, including Catholic women, have the right to protect ourselves. One thing that means is, if we choose to help the homeless, we have every right to first make sure we're safe.

9/24/2010 7:31:28 AM

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Kell Brigan

To "Red":
How is keeping oneself safe "giving i to fear?" Homeless men are far, far more dangerous than the mainstream. This is a fact. They're more likely to be drugged, to be drunk, to be sex offenders and/or to be violently mentally ill than the mainstream population. And, the situations where women travelling alone encounter them, i.e. bus stops, leave the women intrisically vulnerable. I avoid homeless men, and, yes, will yell at them to leave me alone (because I DO want to attract other people's attention) for all the same reasons I wear seat belts and don't drive 85 on cliffside roads. THIS ISN'T ABOUT EMOTIONS. My safety is important, and vital, and needs to be taken into account in this interaction you propose. You don't get to pretend the homeless guy is the only fully human person in the conversation; his potential victims are human, too, and our needs also must be taken into account. There are many, many other safer ways to "help" the homeless that don't put individuals at risk and don't ruin neighborhoods. You do not have the right to harm anyone just to get your needs met.

9/24/2010 7:36:45 AM

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michael jaffray king

I am not sure what everyone else thinks, but it seems that we have wandered form the point of Father B's original post.
Surely this is not really a post about the vulnerability of women to homeless men or vice versa, but about the very grave danger of neglecting the poor. Father B quoted that the poor need the rich to help them as would be obvious but perhaps not so obvious but of vital importance is that the rich need to help the poor to stay out of Hell.
That is why Jesus said it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
You can't take your hard earned cash to Heaven but by giving all surplus away to the poor....ALL...then it seems you have much better chance. Giving your surplus away shows that you care for others. Mr Dives even though he practically tripped over Lazarus who was at his door was unconcerned. Actually I believe he felt very uncomfortable about this situation but did nothing about it. He learned to live with his uncomfortability and became callous to the obvious needs of Lazarus. Lord help us to take this post extremely seriously and not to get sidetracked on issues that it was not really meant to cover..Forget the diversions and Lord help us even at this late hour in our lives, as we are all old and can die tomorrow, to very closely pay attention to the message of this extraordinary servant of God.

9/24/2010 12:13:34 PM

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Red

Kell, my name is Red, not "Red", with quotation marks around it. But you know better, I see.

Anyway Kell, I didn't "propose", as you say I did, that you have any interaction with anyone, homeless, mentally ill, or anyone else for that matter.

I also did not "pretend that the homeless guy is the only fully human person in the conversation."

And when you're trying to convince me that this isn't about emotions, here's something to consider. When you capitalize that particular statement, it looks a bit like the equivalent of shouting in typing.

Kell, you've been attacked by a homeless person. You're angry and you're yelling at me because I'm saying we might think a bit about how we treat people who are "mentally ill" or "homeless", and more importantly, the kind of attitude we have toward them.

If you want to protect yourself from potential harm by staying away from people like that, then by all means, do so. Probablly best, at this point, for all involved. And yell as much as you need to when you feel threatened. And continue to warn everyone about the potential harm that you have experienced first hand.

You have successfully proven to me that you certainly are "fully human" and that you have every right to stay away from homeless people and the mentally ill. As I said, I think that is probably best. Not sure, though, why you were trying to convince me of those matters, when I never wrote anything to the contrary.

God be with you.

9/24/2010 3:19:32 PM

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Kell Brigan

"I am not sure what everyone else thinks, but it seems that we have wandered form the point of Father B's original post."

This homily begins with a description of an interaction, or lack of one, on the street. If the point is about how we deal with the poor, then I'll agree that topic is lost, but I'm not the one who made the decision to mix a discussion of street-level potentially dangerous interaction in with a discussion of social science and charitable works. However, in Father' defense, EVERYBODY DOES THIS. Over and over and over, the approved, autonomic reaction when talking about homeless people on the street is the statement, implied or explicit, that "good" people give cash to active panhandlers. This autonomic assumption puts women in danger. Most of the people hearing and reading this homily are women, and women are far more likely to judge themselves harshly for simply following their gut instinct to avoid interaction with creepy, unpredictable, potentially dangerous people. If you want to talk about poverty, or even about homelessness, fine, but let's drop the cultural habit of beginning the discussion by condemning people engaging in reasonable and prudent acts of street self defense.

And, not incidentally, one point no one's acknowledging is that "active panhandlers" on the street -- those people who walk up to others and make demands or requests, and whose actions are frequently unpredictable -- are by definition far more likely to be thieves, or drugged, or violent than other homeless people who are not actively panhandling. Many people actively panhandling are doing so specifically because they've been thrown out of the shelter system for drug use, violence or theft. I verified all of the above by contacting law enforcement in Seattle, after experiencing and witnessing the first two incidents (The third was in Sacramento.) Homeless people who are working with shelter and service providers are far less likely to be drugged or violent, but these are also the homeless people most people do not meet on the street.

9/24/2010 7:02:06 PM

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JIT

I am from the Philippines, a country that is at once beautiful, but also mired in extreme poverty. One-third of the population is classified as below the poverty line.

I experience poverty on a daily basis -- when I commute to work, when I go home, even when I work as a microfinance practitioner.

Charity that comes from the heart is the first grace that makes a person want to address the needs of the poor. It is never just an intellectual exercise. It more importantly a spiritual exercise.

However, being charitable does not necessarily mean being 'warm fuzzy'. It also means practicing tough love. It does not necessarily mean an automatic giving of money, but contributing time and talent to help the poor help themselves. It is not just a one-time activity, but an on-going concern.

It does takes a little bit more to provide the poor opportunities to help themselves, but being part of their transformation is also rewarding.

I have met a number of poor people who are honest and hard-working and with good character. They just need opportunities to make their lives better. But I have also met poor people who are untrustworthy, mentally-ill, and sometimes downright criminal. But they are more the exception rather than the rule.

The point is that you can choose whom to help based on who needs your help the most. And it would be even better if this is done with other people of the same outlook. It makes the work not just an individual effort, but a community effort as well.

At the end of the day, you decide how to use God's talents and for whom you can use it. We will encounter disappointments (even nightmares) but that is part of life. But for those who overcome life's disappointments, helping the poor will change you for the better.

9/25/2010 10:47:22 PM

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michael jaffray king

It is very interesting that this particular subject has drawn so many comments. I wonder why? Or is the answer obvious. We all, yes ALL, feel very uncomfortable about this startling story told by Jesus Christ! Let's face it we could all do more to help the poor in one way or another. I am a very financially poor person and have chosen a life of poverty as a missionary living entirely by faith that the Master whom I serve will supply my needs through the donations that I receive from others. I can assure you that He does.. Not too much and not too little although sometimes I worry that maybe this time He will fail me. He never has. Most of the poor would not necessarily be looking to God for their financial salvation but more to their fellow human beings.
This is where we all must come in and do our part, whether big or small depending on our means.
If we don't then we must face the fact that Hell is a distinct possibility. That is the crux of the matter in my opinion. What do you all think?

9/26/2010 11:03:09 PM

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Pedro Martins

Dear Father Robert:
I've been a listener of you from some time on. I never wrote to you, but hearing you this last podcast makes me say that I just loved your sincere talking about the homeless you found in Chicago - You don't imagine how important it is to share your humanity. Why do these church men always preach from a sinless spot?
United in prayer.
Pedro

9/27/2010 3:55:07 PM

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Lisa

To Kelli- I understand exactly what you are saying. We as woman need to be smart about the situations that we're placing ourselves in. I completely agree. With that being said, I try to find different ways I can help those who are in poverty. Soup kitchens, homeless shelters for woman and children, contributing supplies to your local public school for kids that might be in need- there are so many different types of way to help those less fortunate and still feel safe while lending a hand. I've participated in groups that make brown bag lunches and walk together as a group to distribute them to the homeless on the street. After speaking to alot of them- I wouldn't say that the majority were crazy- a number I had spoken to seemed like they had just fallen on hard times due to loss of job, etc... My company offers volunteer opportunities---where you go as a group to help renovate housing for the needy--I plan on checking that out the next time they organize a group to go.I'm not rich, but I am able-bodied, and I can try to help out that way.

9/28/2010 9:10:05 AM

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Edward.Fullerton

I too! need to convert.I many times have been approached,some times I 've given,some times I lied.I too thought they would spend it on drugs.

11/2/2010 11:10:15 AM

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