Our first reading is again from the prophet Amos, and again he is having a go at the wealthy, who are concerned only with themselves and their own comforts. But we do get an idea of aspects of life and culture at that time: ivory divans, eating lamb and veal (fattened in the stall rather than the fields), lots of wine to drink, oil and music, which the prophet speaks of rather disparagingly. Obviously these wealthy folk are in the minority; the remainder of the population struggle on.

The Gospel parable picks up this theme and really highlights the gulf between the wealthy and the poor. It concerns two individuals alive in this world, and then alive after death in the next. The human players are described in vivid, graphic, perhaps exaggerated terms. One, who remains anonymous, though sometimes he is referred to as Dives (which in Latin means rich) is extremely wealthy. This finds expression in his highly fashionable dress: he habitually wears expensive purple outer garments or woollen mantles, purple being the colour of royalty and the elite, and also fine linen, usually a luxury import. All this was the sign of the highest opulence.

His counterpart is a poor man who has been left (literally thrown down or 'dumped') outside the gateway of his mansion, a destitute beggar, probably crippled, clearly visible. He is covered with sores, probably ulcers, and obviously quite ill. He is also hungry, and longs to eat the scraps that might fall from the rich man's table, which means the pita bread which the banquet guests used as napkins and then threw on the floor for the dogs to eat. His longing goes unrequited. The dogs scavenging in the neighbourhood come to lick his sores, adding to his indignity. The rich man, however, is aware of Lazarus, but fails to respond to his needs and offer help.

Death suddenly intervenes for both of them; their situations are dramatically reversed. This time it is Lazarus who is mentioned first. Without mention of a funeral, he is carried immediately by angels into Abraham's embrace. The rich man has a decent burial, as would be expected, but, surprisingly, he is now to be found in Hades, a place of torment. Instead of his gourmet feasting, he is racked with thirst; instead of fashionable clothes, he is engulfed by flames.

Earlier in the Gospel in the sermon on the plain in Luke's version of the beatitudes, Jesus states: 'Blessed are you who are poor now, for yours in the kingdom of God. Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.' In the parable Abraham renders explicit the divine reversal promised in that sermon on the plain: "My son, remember that during your life you had your fill of good things, just as Lazarus his of bad. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony."

There are also echoes of the words of Mary in her Magnificat hymn, when she speaks of God scattering the proud in the thoughts of their hearts, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry with good things, and sending the rich away empty.

The people of Jesus' time believed that riches were a sign of God's favour, and poverty an indication of God's disfavour. But Jesus says the opposite. God is on the side of the poor and hungry and struggling. Jesus isn't against our having things, but he expects us to use what we have for the good of others too, to be out-going, to be compassionate and generous and caring, not closed in on ourselves too much. And that was the problem of the man in the parable story.

On another occasion Jesus said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well."

Reflection by Fr Michael Winstanley SDB

Photo by Serafima Lazarenko on Unsplash