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From: Jeremiah 17:5-10

God Rewards People as They Deserve (Continuation)

[5] Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh
his arm, whose heart turns away from the LORD. [6] He is like a shrub in the de-
sert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of
the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

[7] “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. [8]
He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and
does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious
in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

[9] The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can un-
derstand it? [10] “I the LORD search the mind and try the heart, to give to every
man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

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Commentary:

17:1-13. This passage includes a number of short oracles in the style of wisdom
writing, graphically expressing themes that were constant in Jeremiah’s preaching.
Judah’s sin of idolatry was quite obvious: anyone travelling the country could see
people frequenting the places where Canaanite gods were worshipped; they were
everywhere one went (vv. 1-3a). That is why the Lord will abandon the Israelites,
who will be uprooted from their land and enslaved (vv. 3b-4).

Using words similar to those of Psalm 1, the prophet describes the misfortune
that will befall those who trust in themselves, as against the prosperity of those
who trust in God (vv. 5-8). St Thomas Aquinas’ commentary on Psalm 1 fits in
nicely with the simile here of the tree planted beside water (v. 8): “We are asked
to consider three things in the image of the tree—its being well-rooted, its fruitful-
ness, and the sustaining of its life. To be well-rooted, the tree must be well-wa-
tered, otherwise it will dry up and wither away; thus, we are told that the tree is
planted beside running waters, which symbolize the currents of grace. ‘He who
believes in me...out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’ (Jn 7:38). The one
whose roots draw on the living waters will bear much fruit in all the good works
that he does, and fruitfulness is the second aspect of the image that we are
asked to contemplate. ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness’, etc. (Gal 5:22). The tree does not wither a-
way: it is sustained in life. Some trees lose their leaves, but others never lose
their leaves; and thus it is with righteous men [...]; they will not be forgotten by
God even in their tiniest and least significant actions. ‘The righteous will flourish
like a green leaf’ (Prov 11:28)” (”Postilla super Psalmos”, 1, 3).

God cannot be deceived; he sees right into a person’s heart, and he will judge
each on his merits (vv. 9-11). The hope of Israel is the Lord (vv. 12-13), the fount
of water (cf. 2:13; Ps 42:2; Jn 4:10) without which none can live (cf. v. 8). To
show that those who forsake God will be judged and condemned, Jeremiah uses
an image (they “shall be written in the earth”: v. 13) that is reminiscent of Jesus’
gesture when he “judges” the men who accuse the woman caught in adultery (Jn
8:6). The wind will blow their names away: they will have no place in the book of
life.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Luke 16:19-31

Lazarus and the Rich Man

(Jesus told them this parable:) [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 Lazarus, 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 bo-
som. The rich man also died and was buried; [23] and in Hades, being in tor-
ment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom.
[24] And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laza-
rus 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 Lazarus in like manner evil things, but now he is
comforted here, and you are in anguish. [26] And besides in 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 tor-
ment.’ [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.’”

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Commentary:

19-31. This parable disposes of two errors—that of those who denied the survival
of the soul after death and, therefore, retribution in the next life; and that of those
who interpreted material prosperity in this life as a reward for moral rectitude, and
adversity as punishment. This parable shows that, immediately after death, the
soul is judged by God for all its acts—the “particular judgment”—and is rewarded
or punished; and that divine revelation is by itself sufficient for men to be able to
believe in the next life.

In another area, the parable teaches the innate dignity of every human person,
independently of his social, financial, cultural or religious position. And respect
for this dignity implies that we must help those who are experiencing any mate-
rial or spiritual need: “Wishing to come down to topics that are practical and of
some urgency, the Council lays stress on respect for the human person: every-
one should look upon his neighbor (without any exception) as another self, bea-
ring in mind above all his life and the means necessary for living it in a dignified
way lest he follow the example of the rich man who ignored Lazarus, the poor
man” (Vatican II, “Gaudium Et Spes”, 27).

Another practical consequence of respect for others is proper distribution of ma-
terial resources and protection of human life, even unborn life, as Paul VI pleaded
with the General Assembly of the United Nations: “Respect for life, even with re-
gard to the great problem of the birth rate, must find here in your assembly its
highest affirmation and its most reasoned defense. You must strive to multiply
bread so that it suffices for the tables of mankind, and not rather favor an artifi-
cial control of birth, which would be irrational, in order to diminish the number of
guests at the banquet of life” (”Address to the UN”, 4 October 1965).

21. Apparently this reference to the dogs implies not that they alleviated Laza-
rus’s sufferings but increased them, in contrast with the rich man’s pleasure: to
the Jews dogs were unclean and therefore were not generally used as domestic
animals.

22-26. Earthly possession, as also suffering, are ephemeral things: death marks
their end, and also the end of our testing-time, our capacity to sin or to merit re-
ward for doing good; and immediately after death we begin to enjoy our reward
or to suffer punishment, as the case may be. The Magisterium of the Church has
defined that the souls of all who die in the grace of God enter Heaven, immedia-
tely after death or after first undergoing a purging, if that is necessary. “We be-
lieve in eternal life. We believe that the souls of all those who die in the grace of
Christ — whether they must still make expiation in the fire of Purgatory, or whe-
ther from the moment they leave their bodies they are received by Jesus into Pa-
radise like the Good Thief—go to form that people of God which succeeds death,
death which will be totally destroyed on the day of the resurrection when these
souls are reunited with their bodies” (Paul VI, “Creed of the People of God”, 28).

The expression of “Abraham’s bosom” refers to the place or state “into which the
souls of the just, before the coming of Christ the Lord were received, and where,
without experiencing any sort of pain, but supported by the blessed hope of re-
demption, they enjoyed peaceful repose. To liberate these holy souls, who, in
the bosom of Abraham were expecting the Savior, Christ the Lord descended in-
to hell” (”St. Pius V Catechism”, I, 6, 3).

22. “Both the rich man and the beggar died and were carried before Abraham,
and there judgment was rendered on their conduct. And the Scripture tells us
that Lazarus found consolation, but that the rich man found torment. Was the
rich man condemned because he had riches, because he abounded in earthly
possessions, because he ‘dressed in purple and linen and feasted sumptuously
every day’? No, I would say that it was not for this reason. The rich man was con-
demned because he did not pay attention to the other man, because he failed to
take notice of Lazarus, the person who sat at his door and who longed to eat the
scraps from his table. Nowhere does Christ condemn the mere possession of
earthly goods as such. Instead, He pronounces very harsh words against those
who use their possessions in a selfish way, without paying attention to the
needs of others[...].”

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus must always be present in our memory;
it must form our conscience. Christ demands openness to our brothers and sis-
ters in need—openness from the rich, the affluent, the economically advantaged;
openness to the poor, the underdeveloped and the disadvantaged. Christ de-
mands an openness that is more than benign attention, more than token actions
or half-hearted efforts that leave the poor as destitute as before or even more so
[...].

“We cannot stand idly by, enjoying our riches and freedom, if, in any place, the
Lazarus of the Twentieth Century stands at our doors. In the light of the parable
of Christ, riches and freedom mean a special responsibility. Riches and freedom
create a special obligation. And so, in the name of the solidarity that binds us
all together in a common humanity, I again proclaim the dignity of every human
person: the rich man and Lazarus are both human beings, both of them equally
created in the image and likeness of God, both of them equally redeemed by
Christ, at a great price of the ‘precious blood of Christ’ (1 Peter 1:19)” (Bl. John
Paul II, “Homily in Yankee Stadium”, 2 October 1979).

24-31. The dialogue between the rich man and Abraham is a dramatization aimed
at helping people remember the message of the parable: strictly speaking, there
is no room in Hell for feelings of compassion toward one’s neighbor: in Hell hatred
presides. “When Abraham said to the rich man ‘between us and you a great
chasm has been fixed...’ he showed that after death and resurrection there will be
no scope for any kind of penance. The impious will not repent and enter the King-
dom, nor will the just sin and go down into Hell. This is the unbridgeable abyss”
(Aphraates, “Demonstratio”, 20; “De Sustentatione Egenorum”, 12). This helps
us to understand what St. John Chrysostom says: “I ask you and I beseech you
and, falling at your feet, I beg you: as long as we enjoy the brief respite of life, let
us repent, let us be converted, let us become better, so that we will not have to
lament uselessly like that rich man when we die and tears can do us no good.
For even if you have a father or a son or a friend or anyone else who [has] influ-
ence with God, no one will be able to set you free, for your own deeds condemn
you” (”Hom. on 1 Cor.”).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.