Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Our Gospel reading for today is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lives a sumptuous life, while Lazarus sits at his gate, covered with sores, and unnoticed by the rich man. In the parable, both men die, but their fates after death are very different. We find comfort in what happens with Lazarus after his death because he finds himself in the Bosom of Abraham, and he finds consolation and peace after all of the hardships he endured in life. This gives us hope that we too will find peace and consolation for the suffering that we experience in our own lives. The rich man, however, finds himself in a place of torment after his death. This bothers us because all he did was live a very comfortable life. He was well fed and enjoyed the company of good friends. We don’t see that he did anything during his life to deserve punishment after death. And we are correct. The rich man did not do anything to deserve punishment after his death. Rather it is something that he neglected to do that leads to his punishment.

Notice that Lazarus lay right outside the door of the rich man, yet the rich man never even noticed him. The rich man had the means to do something for Lazarus to improve his situation. He could even have done so without too much effect on his own situation. But he did nothing because he did not even notice that Lazarus was there. In the “I confess” prayer at the beginning of Mass, we say that we have sinned greatly in both what we have done and in what we have failed to do. In the rich man, we see an example of what we may fail to do. God wants us to notice the people around us, even the people like Lazarus on the periphery of our lives, to notice them in their needs, and to do what we can to address those needs.

In Matthew 25:40, Jesus tells us “whatever you did for these least brothers of mine you did for me.” And in Matthew 25:45, Jesus says “whatever you did not do for these least ones, you did not do for me.” The rich man failed to serve Christ present in Lazarus. Let us not fail to see Christ and serve Him in those around us.

Reflection by Fr. Aquinas Keusenkothen, OSB