Tonight's Gospel is Luke 16: 19-31, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. As I prepared for a reflection at Thursday Night Liturgy these texts came to me:
“When you give something to the poor, you are not giving him what is yours, but are just giving back to him what is his, since the goods of this earth belong to all, not just to the rich.”
St. Ambrose
“O man, if you do not have a coin, give a poor man your hand, because he shows greater mercy who by his own hand leads a poor man who is weak to his table. He gives his very self to the poor man who devotes himself to his service, makes himself the poor man’s servant.”
St. Peter Chrysologus
“The abyss was one a gate that could be opened easily, but with recurring choices to ignore the need of others the gate separates us and becomes inaccessible.”
“Today we are reminded to look to the gates in our lives and see who waits for us, for it is God who sits begging for us to notice.”
Megan McKenna
“The church is asking you to be attentive to the weak and the vulnerable, those in whom Jesus Christ rejoices because they see what has been hidden [from] the clever and the capable (cf. Matthew 11:25). Never forget this criteria: it is the most precious, the most certain, the most concrete criteria which will help you to recognize what Christ expects from you… The direction is clear: live poorly as Christ did, live with the poor in order to live with Christ. The renewal of the church always comes as we dare to live a covenant with the poor.”
Cardinal Roger Etchegary
a talk to young people in Rome for the new millenium
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