February 25, 2016
Thursday, 2nd Week of Lent 1st Reading: Jer 17:5–10 Gospel: Lk 16:19–31
Jesus said to his disciples, “Once there was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and feasted every day. At his gate lay Lazarus, a poor man covered with sores, who longed to eat just the scraps falling from the rich man’s table. Even dogs used to come and lick his sores. It happened that the poor man died and angels carried him to take his place with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. From hell where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham afar off, and with him Lazarus at rest. He called out: ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus with the tip of his finger dipped in water to cool my tongue, for I suffer so much in this fire.’Abraham replied: ‘My son, remember that in your were well-off while the lot of Lazarus was misfortune. Now he is in a lifetime of comfort and you are in agony. But that is not all. Between your place and ours a great chasm has been fixed, so that no one can cross over from here to you or from your side to us.’
The rich man implored once more: ‘Then I beg you, Father Abraham, to send Lazarus to my father’s house where my five brothers live. Let him warn them so that they may not end up in this place of torment.’ Abraham replied: ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ But the rich man said: ‘No, Father Abraham. But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Abraham said: ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the grave.’”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
The rich man in today’s Gospel reading is traditionally called “dives”, Latin for “rich man”. Dives did not only enjoy material abundance. He also had so much power and so many friends. In contrast, Lazarus only had street dogs that came occasionally to lick his wounds. Licking is a dog’s instinctive way of expressing affection. In this dog-eat-dog society, a dog is a welcome consolation to humans who have no one to turn to.
Dives was not punished for doing something bad to Lazarus but for not doing something good to him. Christianity is an active religion notwithstanding the fact that the Ten Commandments were couched in the passive “thou shalt not” format. When Jesus came, he summarized the Ten Commandments into the all-embracing positive commandment of love. We are judged not only by the bad we have done but also by the good we have badly done and the good we have not done at all. By being passive, Christians throw their faith to the dogs.—Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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