Pastor’s Column
August 21, 2011
Father Gary is on sabbatical. In his absence we are printing
some of his favorite columns. This one was originally printed
on September 26, 2004.
Here’s a bible trivia question for you: In the gospel of the rich man and Lazarus, what was the rich man’s name? The answer, of course, is that the gospel doesn’t say, but tradition gives him the name of “Dives”. Dives was a guy who had it all. He lived well, ate well, dressed well. It doesn’t appear that he was an obvious sinner either.
This leads us to the second Bible trivia question: what was the sin of Dives? (Not so trivial since he seems to have ended up in torment). What got Dives in trouble was not so much a sin he committed as one he omitted. In other words, Dives saw someone in need, day after day,
and did nothing. Dives did nothing and that was his sin!!
This must have been a shocking gospel for the people of Jesus’ time. They believed that the more money, wealth, health, success and good food you had, the more God loved you. We can sometimes tend to fall into the same trap. The incredible thing is that although Lazarus has infirmities, is a beggar, has little to eat, and wears rags for clothes; he is the one who is really blessed by God, and not the man who had it all. What Lazarus lacked in life turned out to be the best thing possible.
This gospel always makes me stop and pray about my response. When I encounter someone in need in my life, school, work, and church, do I pretend not to notice? I can’t respond to every needy person, but how often do I notice others? Sometimes all we need to give is a willing ear! The moral of the story is: God notices every act of kindness and he always remembers!
Father Gary