Demarcation

There are many things in this world that separates us. There is gender, man or woman; there is age like young or old. Races and language separates people. Likewise, religion and political parties divides us. Of course, the most obvious is the economic status of people. We are separated by financial standards of living . As we reflect on the readings for this Sunday, we have to keep this thought in mind.

First Reading Amos 6: 1, 4 – 7

1 "Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Sama'ria, the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!

4 "Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the stall;

5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David invent for themselves instruments of music;

6 who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!

7 Therefore they shall now be the first of those to go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves shall pass away."


Second Reading 1 Timothy 6: 11 – 16

11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

13 In the presence of God who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,

14 I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ;

15 and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

16 who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.


Gospel Reading Luke 16: 19 – 31

19 "There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz'arus, full of sores,

21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried;

23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz'arus in his bosom.

24 And he called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz'arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.'

25 But Abraham said, `Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz'arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'

27 And he said, `Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house,

28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'

29 But Abraham said, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'

30 And he said, `No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'

31 He said to him, `If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.'"


Commentary

The prophet Amos started the first reading with an oxymoron. Why will those at ease in Zion be poor? He said, "You poor rich men in Zion" because even if they experience luxury in this life, they can never be sure if they will still be comforted in the next life. It [the reading] describes the people who will be receiving the wrath of God because their wealth lead them to abandonment of spirituality. In short the second reading spoke of a group of people. These are the men of the world.

While the first reading is focused on the rich but wicked men, the second reading from Saint Paul's letter to Timothy speaks of the man of God, the virtues pursued by a man with faith and a real Christian indeed. Timothy being an elder of the church is invited by Saint Paul to act in the way that is worth emulating. Thus, this must also be true with our bishops other wise they will not be Christian bishops. A challenge for the bishops to follow the second reading and avoid becoming like those of the first reading. Although today they are the one dressed in purple fine linens during lent and advent.

The Gospel Reading brings an end to the query of the first and second. Now there are two characters drawn from the two previous readings. An example of the one pointed out in Amos is the rich man who feasted elegantly almost everyday and night. The other is Lazarus who is deeply dependent on the grace of God. Let me clarify before we continue that it is not wealth that brings a person to hell and not poverty that brings a person to heaven. It just so happen that Lazarus is a beggar but the virtues addressed by Saint Paul in the second reading are the things that brought him to heaven. Lazarus never spoke anything against the rich man or did any offensive attack. He is living with all humility and righteousness. He is solely dependent on the grace of God, aware that there is Somebody in heaven who sees everything and who will bring justice in the after life. On the other hand, it is not the wealth of the rich man but his calloused heart and soul that brought him into the tormenting place when they both died. He never shared anything to Lazarus even scraps/fragments of food. We have to take note that whatever we have after satisfying all our needs, all leftovers belongs to the poor. When you already satisfied all your needs and there are still wealth or material things or money still left, that's not yours but to the poor. Any act of keeping it is theft.
The rich man is a thief!

I remember a prayer which says "Lord give me only what is enough for me. Do not make me More because I may forget you. Do not give me less because I may do something to harm others" The rich man was given more to the point that he forgot about God. Lazarus never use his poverty as excuse to abandon righteousness. He just meekly waited for the will to turn.

They both died. Lazarus is now in the bosom of Abraham while the rich man is in Hades. He is not yet in hell. There is no one in hell yet. This is time for me to clarify Biblically some doctrines. The judgment will happen on the Last Day. As of now the triumphant church is in the bosom of Abraham. It is also called Paradise. Remember the story of the repentant thief. Jesus told him "Today you will be with me in Paradise." because he can only be in heaven when Jesus return. So the dead goes to the netherworld or underworld. The jews call it Sheol. It is divided into two; the torment or the Hades where the sinful souls are and in the other portion is the Bosom of Abraham. Now who is in heaven now? Only the trinity and the angels. The saints and patriarchs are all in paradise. Where is Satan? Satan is roaming. Where are the other devils thrown after the great war in heaven? They are in the Abyss as written in 2 Peter and in Revelations chapter 20.


Application

One year after the Ondoy tragedy, what have we done to help the new Lazarus of today? They are the victims of the flood in Manila. We have to keep ourselves righteous and to give to the poor is an act of rigteousness. Remember, the Church is and must always be a church of the poor.