Gospel Reflection on Luke 16:19-31

September 26, 2025

“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 Laz′arus, 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 Laz′arus in his bosom. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz′arus 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 Laz′arus 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 cross 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 someone 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.’”

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Our age today is marked by amazing technological advances. And let's be honest, they have lots of positive consequences. But they also have serious human repercussions.

Take something as simple as Google Maps. When we're using that, we don't notice the real world. The country around us, where things are, in relationship to other things, to the road we're on, we just follow a voice.

The same with our phones and our texting world. We reduce people to brief messages. These are examples of a kind of form of passivity, of disconnection.

This message is present in today's Gospel reading where a rich man who wore robes of purple and fine linen lavishly failed to realize how this comfortable life was affecting him.

He had lost his awareness of the people and the world around him. And we can become like that too.

We become lethargic and passive. And in a way, fruitless as a result of our self-indulgence

and our constantly pampering of ourselves.

The story of Lazarus is of a poor man who lives surrounded by people who do not see him, who do not even notice that he's there. The detail regarding the dogs that lick his wounds is very revealing. The rich are so distracted with their comforts and satisfaction that they have become less human. The dog surpasses them in sensitivity. Think of that. The dog is more sensitive than they are.

God sometimes allows us to suffer pain or inconvenience so that our eyes will be open and our senses come alive again. That we will really feel something. If I live a life of complete self-indulgence, my senses will become so dimmed that I wouldn't recognize the risen Christ even if he were standing before me.

In order for our senses to start working, we have to use them. We must be resensitized. And that's why crosses, sufferings, inconveniences happen so that we'll open our eyes again.

Resume listening. Start feeling again. Return to ourselves.

The poor around us are a kind of opportunity for salvation. These sometimes irritating people who make us so uncomfortable are really a gift from God for us. The sufferings of those around us is our chance to open our senses again. The Lord visits us with the opportunity to respond to grace.

The appetites we meet around us. The very real appetites of those in need are our opportunity to feed them and to reawaken our appetites so that we can become in touch again with the physical world in which we live and the people that surround us.