FIRST READING: Amos 6: 1; 4-7. Thus says the Lord, the Almighty: "Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria. 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; who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David invent for themselves instruments of music; who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! Therefore they shall now be the first of those to go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves shall pass away." EXPLANATION: Last Sunday we heard the prophet Amos condemn the rich men of the northern kingdom, Israel, for their injustice and their oppression of the poor. In today's extract from the same prophet, we see him denouncing the luxurious living of the leaders in Judah, and foretelling a day of retribution which awaits them. lie upon beds of ivory: Their wooden bedsteads were inlaid with ivory, an expensive and completely unnecessary ornamentation.
stretch . . . couches: They had so much wealth that they could loll all day on their comfortable couches.
lambs . . . calves from the . . . stall: Lambs and milk-fed calves---the most expensive of meats.
sing . . . of the harp: Musicians played for them while they ate.
Like David: David was king and musician himself---there is no record of music being played while he ate his meals. Their lives are far more luxurious.
wine in bowls . . . anoint. . . oils: Wine in moderation was usually drunk at meals but these people drink it in bowlfuls. They also use the most expensive oils to anoint their bodies.
Ruin of Joseph: Joseph stands for Israel, the northern kingdom. It is about to fall a prey to Assyria. But this does not worry the leaders of Judah, even though the citizens of Israel are their blood-relations, their blood-brothers. They think of nothing but their own luxurious comfort.
first . . . to go into exile: A prophecy fulfilled in 597. In that year the king of Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem and took Jehoiachin the king, with his officers and nobles prisoner to Babylon. Ten years later, the poorer classes of the city and of the land were made prisoner (2 Kgs. 24: 12).
revelry . . .away: As prisoners in Babylon, they did not quaff wine and loll on expansive couches all day. APPLICATION: This warning of the prophet Amos, who was only an uneducated shepherd before God called him to the prophetic ministry, does not come from Amos but from God, in whose name he spoke. God's Chosen People, to whom he had in his goodness given the land of Canaan to be their homeland for all time, were about to lose their land and their freedom, because they had forgotten their divine Benefactor and thought only of themselves and their own comfort. While the well-to-do, to whom Amos speaks, were wallowing in luxury and sin, there were thousands of their fellow citizens who went short of the bare necessities of life. This did not worry these selfish, self-centered egoists. Nor did the warning sent them through the prophet awaken any sense of guilt in their long-silenced consciences. They continued their licentious way of life until finally the wrath of God caught up with them. They lost not only their luxuries; they lost their freedom and their homeland forever. Is there not a very practical lesson for our day and age in these words uttered nearly three thousand years ago? Four fifths of the wealth of our world is in the hands of one fifth of the population of this earth. To translate this into practical cash means that for every 80 dollars a relatively wealthy man has to spend on himself, four of his less fortunate brothers have to survive on 5 dollars each. The proportion is even worse in parts of our world. There are thousands dying of sheer hunger in many parts of the under-developed nations, while most, if not all, of these countries are continually living on the border-line of starvation. Even in the wealthy parts of our world the inequitable distribution of goods, which God gave for all, is a disgrace to our humanity. The leftovers from a banquet of company directors would feed a poor family of ten for a week. The price of the second or third car in the rich family's garage---a mere status symbol to keep up with the Joneses---would keep three poor families in bread and milk for more than a year. We wonder why our world is in turmoil. We are annoyed by protest marches and shocked by the absurd demands of civil rights groups. Agitators and up-setters of our "status quo," we call them! Lazy, good-for-nothings is what they are! We ask why they do not provide for themselves, though we have taken all the provisions! We are disgusted that they will not bake bread for themselves when we have locked all the flour in our safes! Communists have come forward with a specious answer---the state own everything, no individual has any rights to possess personal property, each one works for the common good and all things are evenly divided. An excellent solution for the proper distribution of the goods which God put in this world for man's use if, but what an if, all men were honest and free from sinful selfishness. There are millions in the communist countries who know from sad experience that, apart from any religious tenets, the system of common possession of all the goods of the earth, will not work unless men become angels and then they will not need the goods of this earth! The answer to this pressing problem is, of course, a return to Christian justice and charity. Thank God, there are moves in this direction in the last decade. We have societies giving of their time and of their personal property, to help their less fortunate brethren at home and abroad. We have brave, generous young men and women who are dedicating their lives to teaching others how to help themselves. Every true Christian should be ready to lend a hand to help these apostles of Christian justice and charity. Many cannot do much because of their own straitened circumstances, but there are few who cannot spare a little of their time and of their possessions to help a neighbor who is in greater need. Today, take a little time out to look at your way of living. It may not be the type of luxury condemned by God through Amos. It may have lots of little comforts and extras however, which you would not miss but which would be a boon and a god-send for a poorer neighbor. Please God you may be able to boast that you have never been unjust to a fellowman, but were you always, and are you now, charitable to all your neighbors? If your Christian justice and charity are as they should be you are playing a big part in making this world what it ought to be and what God wants it to be---a home for all his children.
SECOND READING: 1 Timothy 6:11-16. As for you, man of God, aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 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. 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, I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 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. EXPLANATION: On Timothy and on this epistle see the Twenty-Fourth Sunday of the Year. In these verses St. Paul is exhorting Timothy to strive to become daily more perfect in his observance of the Christian faith. He had made a public and noble profession of that faith on the occasion of his baptism (he was then a young man). He must continue to profess it.
Man of God: A title given to Moses and the prophets of the Old Testament. It aptly describes Timothy who has dedicated his life to preaching the word of God and is now the leader of the Church in Ephesus.
righteousness . . . gentleness: Paul mentions some of the virtues which he must practice every day : "integrity," honesty in all his dealings; "faith and love," a firm belief in the revelation of God and trust in his promises, as also true love for God and neighbor; "steadfastness"; perseverance in his good resolutions no matter what the opposition, finally "a gentle spirit" that is kindness and meekness in his dealings with all men.
Fight the good fight: St. Paul knew something about boxing and other Greek athletic contests and uses these as examples. Any boxer who throws in the towel loses his fight automatically.
take hold . . . life: He must always retain and keep before his mind the reason of his vocation to be a Christian, to gain eternal life.
make . . . witnesses: He was an adult when Paul baptized him, together with his mother and grandmother (2 Tim. 1: 5), during his first missionary journey. It was evidently a public ceremony and Timothy had publicly accepted the Christian doctrine as taught him by St. Paul.
God . . . life to all: Paul charges him in God the Creator's name, and
Christ Jesus: In the name of Christ Jesus who "made his noble profession before Pontius Pilate," that is, who died willingly on the cross, under Pontius Pilate, to prove his claim that he was the Messiah and the Son of God. It was on this last claim that the Sanhedrin found him deserving of death.
until . . . our Lord: Timothy must continue to the end, living his faith and bearing witness to it. Paul did not know when the "parousia" the second coming of Christ as Judge, would be, but Timothy would meet the Lord at his death or at the parousia, whichever came first.
This . . . time: All Paul can say of the second coming is that God alone knows it and he will bring it to pass when the time he has appointed arrives.
only . . . King of kings: It is generally agreed that Paul is here quoting a doxology or hymn of praise already in the Christian churches. Most of the titles given to God were given to him already in the Old Testament, from which the Christians borrowed them.
no man . . . or can see: A pure spirit cannot be seen by human eyes, whose objects are material things. But in our risen, glorified bodies, we shall be able to "see" God in our limited, finite way (Mt. 5: 8).
to him . . . dominion: "Thy kingdom come," to all men, for all time. APPLICATION: All Christians are "men of God," for through our baptism we have been made new men, sons of God. We are no longer mere mortal men. We are no longer mere citizens of this world. We are destined for a new, everlasting life in heaven. So even though we are not bishops or official leaders in the Church, we are all, in our own way, preachers of the Christian faith to others. St. Paul's instruction to Timothy therefore, applies to all of us. Each one of us must be a witness, a testimony, to our fellow-Christians and to non-Christians, of the faith that is ours. We must seek after "integrity" that is, our lives must correspond with our faith. The Christian who is unjust in his dealings with his fellowman is not only sinning against God and his neighbor, he is also betraying the faith he professes. Instead of being a light to lead others to the faith, he is a hindrance to people who might feel attracted to it. He will have a lot to answer for. We must practice the virtues of faith, hope and charity, but especially charity, the queen of all the virtues. It is how one treats one's neighbors who need spiritual or temporal aid, that it will distinguish the true Christian from the nominal one. There are Christians who try to excuse themselves from helping others by saying that they have more than enough to do to look after themselves. If they act on that false premise, they certainly will have more than enough to do to get to heaven, in fact they will fail ignominiously. The Christian who ignores his neighbor on the road will not stay long on the right road himself. He has left it already when he makes such a statement. We must be "steadfast" in our Christian way of living. Life has many difficult moments for all of us. We must be ready to take the rough as well as the smooth. The boxer in the ring, whom Timothy is told to imitate, must be ready, and know how to take blows as well as to give them. He knows he is not dealing with a punch-bag. So, too, we must be willing to bear sufferings when God sends them to us, and to remain as close to God in the storm as we do in the calm. This is steadfastly living the Christian faith. We must develop a gentle spirit, a spirit of kindliness towards all. Many devout Christians seem to think that they are obliged to frown all the time on this sinful world of ours. They often see evil where there is none. They feel they must have the hard word of disapproval for even minor departures from their own Christian standard. The gentle, kindly Christian, will always try to make allowances for others' weaknesses, and when out of true Christian charity he corrects his erring brother, it will be in a truly gentle and kindly way. St. Francis de Sales said one catches more flies with a spoon of honey than with a barrel of vinegar. Finally, we must "take a firm hold of the everlasting life to which we were called," on our baptism day. We were then made brothers of Christ, heirs to heaven and adopted sons of God. Our life's span on earth is really a homeward voyage to our true home. We must ever keep our eyes on the compass of faith, we must see to it that no storm blows us off course. When the going gets hard let us remember our leader, Christ Jesus, who for our sakes bore the tortures of crucifixion. Our sufferings will never be as severe as his, and we are suffering for our own sakes.
GOSPEL: Luke 16:19-31. Jesus said to the Pharisees: "There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.' 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. 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 come from there to us.' And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 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.'" EXPLANATION: In last Sunday's Gospel, taken from this same chapter of St. Luke (16:1-13), our Lord told the parable of the unjust manager or steward. He drew the conclusion from it that one cannot serve God and money. "The Pharisees who loved money," we are told in verse 14, "heard all this and laughed at him." So our Lord tells another parable, the one we read today, and it was directed at the Pharisees. It is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
a rich man . . . feasted . . . every day: The rich man is nameless while the beggar's name is given as if to reverse the world's opinions. This nameless rich man had more of this world's wealth than he could use. He dressed as a prince and feasted splendidly every day---he led the life of the idle rich.
at his gate lay . . . Lazarus: It was customary at that time for a family or friends to place a cripple at a street comer or at one of the gates of the city or near the entrance to a rich man's home so that he could collect enough alms to eke out some kind of living.
full of sores: As well as being crippled he suffered from some skin disease.
dogs came and licked his sores: The dumb animals showed more interest in him than did the rich man. This was also an expression of his degradation.
the poor man . . . and rich man . . . died: Now the scene changes. Lazarus is now happy in the bosom of Abraham, the abode of the just. The rich man is in torments.
Father Abraham have mercy upon me: He calls on Abraham to help him. He is told it is too late now, the time for mercy has past. He had his happiness on earth, Lazarus has his now.
I have five brothers: He admits that he abused his wealth and his time on earth, but he pleads on behalf of his five brothers. Let someone go to warn them now---someone from the dead---or they will do as he did and suffer the same consequences.
They have Moses and the prophets: What they should do has already been revealed to them. There is no need for any special messenger from the dead.
If they do not hear Moses: The rich man argued that if Lazarus went back from the dead his brothers would heed his warning. Abraham says that is not so. If they do not heed Moses and the prophets then they will not listen to Lazarus returned from the dead. APPLICATION: We have here a story of two men whose states, both in this life and in the next, are dramatically opposed. The rich man had everything a man could desire on this earth and he set his heart on this wealth, to such a degree that he excluded all thought of God or of what followed after death. It was not that he was ignorant of God or of a future life (our Lord was addressing the parable to the Pharisees); he admits that he had Moses and the prophets, but he paid no heed to them. He was too busy trying to squeeze the last ounce of pleasure out of his few years on earth. On the other half of the picture we have a beggar, a man not only in dire destitution, but suffering bodily pains as well. He bore his lot patiently. He was quite content if he got the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, which he probably did not always get. He must have been disappointed that this rich man never thought of giving him a helping hand but there is no mention of his ever criticizing or blaming him. He left these things to God. Both men die eventually. The beggar goes straight to heaven to a state of endless happiness. His bodily sufferings have ended forever, he will never be in want again. The rich man fares very differently. His enjoyments are over forever. He is now in torments and he is told that he can expect no relief. They will have no end. Abraham tells him why he is in his present state: he abused his time on earth. He sees the truth of this. He knows that he has no one to blame but himself which must add greatly to his torments. It is also a cause of additional grief to him that his bad example will lead his brothers (his fellowman) to a like fate. All the parables of our Lord are based on everyday happenings. While we hope and pray that the case of the rich man described here is not an everyday occurrence. We cannot doubt but that such cases have happened and will happen again. This rich man is not in eternal torments because he was rich and even very rich, but because he let his wealth become his master and forgot God and his neighbor and his own real welfare, eternal life. There are men like him in our world today, men who completely ignore their real future. While they are convinced that their stay on this earth is of very short duration and that they will have to leave it very, very, soon, they still act and live as if they had a permanent home here. This is true not only of those who try (ineffectively most probably) to keep from their minds all thought of a future life, but even of some who openly profess to be Christians and who recite so often the words of the Creed: "I believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." Yet, they are so busy trying to get the wealth and the pleasures of this life, or to increase all they have of them already, that they haven't a moment to spare for the thing that really matters---their future unending life after death. God forbid that any of us should be numbered amongst these foolish people, for there is no greater folly on earth than to miss the real and only purpose in life because of a few trivial, passing attractions. We are not forbidden to have some of this world's goods. We need some, and God it was who provided them for our use. But we must use them properly and we must not set them up as idols to be adored. On all sides of us there are Lazaruses placed at our gates by God to give us an opportunity to exercise fraternal charity. Be a true brother to them now and you will not have to envy them hereafter. If on the other hand your lot is that of a Lazarus---and many there are whose life is one long, continual struggle against poverty, disease and hardship---try to carry your cross patiently. Envy of your neighbor and rebellion against God will only add to, and do not cure, your ills. The day of judgment, which for you will be the day of reward, if you are humble and patient, is around the corner. Eternal happiness is worth twenty lives of earthly ill-fortune.-c347
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