Daily Reading
First Reading
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.
The heart is devious above all else;
it is perverse—
who can understand it?
I the Lord test the mind
and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their doings.
Psalm
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Gospel Reading
Luke 16:19-31
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on 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.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house — for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Reflection
Friends, today’s Gospel reading is the story of the poor man Lazarus, who sat outside the door of a rich man and “would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.” The rich man isn’t named, and that’s very interesting. In the ancient world, the rich and powerful were the ones who deserved to have their names mentioned. Whose names weren’t mentioned? The poor and the marginalized. So this is a very interesting reversal that is going on here.
And we know this story well, right? Day after day, the rich man walks past Lazarus, in and out of his house. When Lazarus dies, he’s taken to the “bosom of Abraham.” But the rich man dies and he’s taken to the underworld. Again another reversal. You’d expect that God has blessed the rich and powerful and cursed those who are poor and hopeless. But that’s not the way the Bible imagines this situation. It’s Lazarus who’s carried to paradise and the rich man who’s carried downward.
There’s the revolutionary quality of the Bible, turning our expectations upside down. How much do we care for those who are poor? Can we name them, or are they for us, as for ancient peoples, just a nameless mass of suffering people? And are we committed to helping these people by performing the corporal works of mercy?