Focusing on the Right Thing

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Amos 6: 1a, 4-7; 1 Tim 6: 11-16; Luke 16: 19-31

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Sometimes we are focused on the wrong thing.  For most of us, we focus on avoiding things.  For example, we avoid things that we think are sinful.  After all, the commandments say thou shalt not kill or lie or steal or covet or a lot of other things.  And so, we try to avoid doing those things that might lead to temptation or sin.  But that sometimes means we avoid action altogether, reasoning that if I just don’t do anything, perhaps I won’t get in trouble.  We think “everything will be OK if I just don’t do something stupid.”  And so we settle into a comfortable impasse in our lives especially when we get a little older and begin to slow down.  I think the Church is trying to tell us today that we need to be careful of that.  We are always called to be proactive in some way.

Take the first reading for example.  There, the people of Israel are basking in relative comfort.  Their prophets are warning them of dangers to come, but they just don’t listen- they are comfortable, they don’t want to be bothered.  And what happens to them?  Well, in a thunder of activity they are invaded and forced into exile.  They lose everything.  They could have prepared themselves, but they didn’t.

We have a similar scene in the Gospel.  The rich man enjoys the comforts of life.  Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.  Let’s say he has worked hard for what he has; and so, he is now basking in the fruits of his labor in the relative comfort of retirement.  It is not so much that he was mean to Lazarus as it was that he just ignored Lazarus.  It was inaction, complacency, a reluctance to get involved, a preoccupation with self, perhaps even, he just never got around to it- helping Lazarus.  But when he dies, he learns that there is another life beyond our earthly life, and our comfort in that next life is determined by a different criteria than just looking out for ourselves in this life and avoiding doing things that can get us in trouble.  Rather, Abraham makes it clear that there is such a thing as a sin of omission.  We all required to share the gifts that God has given us in this world.  If we don’t do that, then we are guilty of the sin of omission.

But you know something.  Most of us cannot see ourselves in the rich man’s shoes.  Certainly, none of us here are in that category, are we.  Many of us feel like Lazarus, we are the folks suffering in the background.  So, is there a message here for us?  What gifts are we called upon to share?

I heard an interesting story that helped me understand what we may have to offer.  It seems there was a young girl, I will call her Marcella, who decided to dedicate her life to Christ.  And so she became a full time lay missionary.  But not long after embarking on this mission they discovered that she had Multiple Sclerosis, or MS.  Here she was, willing to devote her whole life to serving others, and she was hampered by a painful, debilitating disease that required painful shots for treatment, and which was slowly sapping all the life out of her so that others had to care for her.  She was angry with God because there was no reason for it.  She could not do for others as she had dreamed of doing.  She had no “gifts” or wealth to share with others.  The only “gift” she had, it seemed, was the gift of suffering.  That was what her life was all about.

In her anger, she prayed to God for an explanation; a reason; why is this happening to me?  And what purpose or good could come out of such suffering?  And then it came to her, a message from God.  Just as Jesus suffered and died for us, so she could offer her suffering up for others.  And so, she did just that.  She would observe how someone else was troubled or suffering- someone struggling with a vocation; someone dying of cancer; someone who had turned away from God.  Then she would offer up her suffering to God on behalf of that other person.

All of us, no matter what our station in life young or old, rich or poor, handicapped or healthy, has something special to offer, to share with others.  Even someone whose life is full of misery has something to offer.  What is important is that we are focused on God’s Kingdom.  It is a Kingdom of many, not just of our own internal making.  Even if all we have is time or prayer; we can offer that up to Christ for someone else.

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