WHO IS TRULY RICH?
“Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man’s table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. . . .” Luke 16:19-31
This is one of many stories Jesus addresses to the Pharisees, those men who thought they were the best examples of living good Jewish lives of faith. My personal tendency is to hear Jesus’ stories about them as words spoken out of frustration or condemnation, but how could this be? Doesn’t God love everyone – even those who don’t “get it” – those who think they know God but who really don’t know God? How much of a Pharisaic, i.e., self-righteous perspective, does my own thinking contain? What do Jesus’ stories reveal to me, and to us, about ourselves?
WHO IS TRULY RICH?
The last couple of days, probably not unlike yours, have been full of richly-graced moments:
I got a call from a person who knows her body is “falling apart.”
I was stopped, as I entered church, by a man who said his only child is no longer talking to him. He feels all alone and can only share this with me. (I didn’t know that my brief conversations meant that much to him.)
I got a chance to sit in front of a Sister whose heart is slowing down. She was slumped in a chair next to two wheelchair-bound elderly women awaiting service by a beautician. As I concentrated on gently awakening the Sister from a sound sleep, the two ladies asked to be included in my attention and we became a community.
I came home and called the Sister’s niece to tell her that her aunt is fine but seems to be a little closer to dying.
Then I called the woman whose body is “falling apart” to check on her and her daughter who is going through the sadness-laced blessing of assisting her.
These are all sadness-laced blessings for me, too. But, like the Pharisees to whom Jesus is talking, I don’t fully “get it.” However, this morning, my self-assessing mind clued me in. The day started well. My first thoughts were of God and of my needing God’s help with writing this reflection. Then I moved to the usual first two activities of my day: make the coffee and sit with God in prayer. But then the clue: I recognized that I was joyfully anticipating the pleasure of drinking a good cup of coffee and that shoved aside any joy at the thought of spending time with God in prayer. How Pharisaic (self-righteous) a tendency I (and we) have to think that God comes first in our lives.* Perhaps we need to hear the story Jesus tells to the Pharisees about the rich man and the suffering Lazarus as a warning to us that our richness is not in what gives us fleeting pleasure, but in caring, sharing and being with those around us who are longing for the richness of our inner Spirit-filled, ever-growing-more-perfect God-centeredness.
People need to have a knowledge of the presence of God and, as Jesus came to show us, God’s plan is for disciples to share this with everyone. But did not God create us with the free will to choose this or, if we choose, to go on without the fullness of God’s life, not only for ourselves but for each other, too? A knowledge of God being here now and hoping we will discover His grace-filled gifts will come to all of us only if we choose that. How much confidence God has in us!
Self-assessment is a good thing. I hope you self-assess often. And I hope you have as many genuine God-seekers in your life as I do.
Sister Loretta
*The processes we use to grow in our love for and fidelity to people are examples of the capabilities God placed within us, first, to use in forming these relationships but then to use to form our relationship with God. No relationship, not even that between me and God, happens unless both parties engage fully in it. Think about your human relationships. They only grow through commitment, discipline and hard work. But, as the relationship grows, as the love grows, what was once hard work become, not only easy, but fulfilling and joy-filled! How much commitment, discipline and hard work have we been putting into growing our relationships with God?