Dear Friends,
I am so very proud of YOU for the generous display of your care and love for our brothers and sisters who were affected in the Bahamas by the monstrous hurricane Dorian. You have once again proved that we take our Lord’s command to love God and love our neighbors very seriously. We excelled in both monetary donations and the nonperishable goods. KUDOS to all of you. This perfectly paves the way for us to move on to reflect on the scriptures for this weekend.
The clarion call from this week’s (26th Sunday, Year C) scripture readings is about our care for our brothers and sisters. Amos the prophet in the first reading is railing against the wickedness of the rich whose fault was not so much about idolatry or adultery but of apathy, laziness, sloth, luxury and gluttony. Even though we are not big sinners in terms of committing sins against the Ten Commandments we could be faulted for our Omissions of neglect and apathy. The example of the Rich Man in the parable is very stark. The scripture does not say anything about whether he was an adulterer or murderer or how he amassed wealth but it is very stern in condemning him for his neglect of the poor Lazarus who could not have been missed because he sat at the gate of this rich man.
St. Jerome commenting on this parable points this out very vividly: “The rich man, in purple splendor, is not accused of being greedy or of carrying off the property of another, or of committing adultery, or, in fact, of any wrongdoing. The evil alone of which he is guilty is pride… Lazarus was lying at the gate in order to draw attention to the cruelty paid to his body and to prevent the rich man from saying, “I did not notice him. He was in a corner. I could not see him. No one announced him to me.” He lay at the gate. You saw him every time you went out and every time you came in.”
Again, the lesson is very critical. Last week we heard from the Gospel of Luke that we cannot serve both God and mammon. This week the Parable of the Rich Man gives us a very powerful message that wealth in itself is not bad but if it leads to our being callous and insensitive leading us to fail in charity toward the needs of other human beings then it can cause us the loss of eternal life. A life that is focused entirely on oneself is the root cause of the capital sin of pride, a disordered self-love that can blind us to the sufferings of those around us.
Today’s Parable of the Rich Man also is a significant passage with explicit reference to what happens to our lives when we die. Our destination is to be with the Lord as was the poor man Lazarus. I should give credit to this rich man who even though he lost his chances to be in paradise is deeply concerned about his brothers’ salvation. He is asking for messengers from heaven to come to warn them. And the answer is clear. “They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.” This reference to ‘Moses and the prophets’ is a way of saying they have the scriptures to direct them. For us Catholics we have the fulness of the Scripture, the Sacraments and the teachings of the church constantly inviting us to sainthood. Strive to become a saint.
The Feast of St. Francis is coming around the corner and along with that comes the much-awaited blessing of our pets. We will have the Blessing of Animals on Saturday 5th October 2019 at 9.30 a.m. after the First Saturday Mass which begins at 9 a.m. So please bring your pets and get them blessed.
I have been disturbed over the fact that we have not been making use of the Devotion to St. Joseph sufficiently enough. He is one of the most neglected saints in spite of him being the Patron of the Universal Church and also of the Brothers of Holy Cross. Hence, I invite you to consider attending an hour of Adoration and Benediction at 3 p.m. on every Frist Wednesday at the Church starting on the 2nd October 2019 during which we will pray the Litany of St. Joseph and other related prayers. Saint Brother Andre became a saint because of his devotion to St. Joseph.
Have a Blessed Week!
Your brother in Christ,
Fr. John