March 09, 2023

Lk 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.’”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Toward An Ever Greater “We”

This year, our school’s theme is “towards an ever greater ‘we’,” based on Pope Francis’ theme for the 2021 World Day of Migrants and Refugees. In an age of “us versus them,” we journey together to cultivate a culture of “we,” where there is a deep sense of belonging to one another, with mutual care, concern, and compassion. In today’s Gospel, the rich man is not condemned for being mean or cruel to Lazarus. He is condemned for overlooking Lazarus, for ignoring Lazarus, in all of his sores and suffering, because Lazarus was not part of the rich man’s “we.” We wouldn’t dream of allowing “one of our own” to go hungry, or be covered in sores, or find comfort for their suffering in animals. Jesus invites us to expand our understanding of who is part of our “we,” and in doing so, expand our attentiveness to the hungry, the sick, the lonely, the poor, the marginalized, the invisible, the lost, and the forgotten, and minister to their needs with compassion and mercy. 

Today, consider the ways in which you can expand your “we” to include the vulnerable and marginalized.

—Jackie Schulte is the Dean of Faculty Formation at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Prayer 

Holy, beloved Father,
your Son Jesus taught us
that there is great rejoicing in heaven
whenever someone lost is found,
whenever someone excluded, rejected or discarded
is gathered into our “we”,
which thus becomes ever wider.
We ask you to grant the followers of Jesus,
and all people of good will,
the grace to do your will on earth.

Bless each act of welcome and outreach
that draws those in exile
into the “we” of community and of the Church,
so that our earth may truly become
what you yourself created it to be:
the common home of all our brothers and sisters.
Amen.

—Prayer for an Ever Wider “We” by Pope Francis