Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)

Sunday, September 30, I heard two homilies on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

In the neighborhood chapel of San Martín, Padre Fausto talked about this “terrible” parable and spoke forcefully against the imbalance in the world and in the Honduran society where a few have much and don’t see the many poor in our midst. (This week several people have mentioned that the nine or ten families own most of the wealth here.)

A few hours later, Padre Efraín, speaking to a church full of poor campesinos in San Agustín, talked of the need to notice the needy in their midst and to care for them.

I needed to hear both messages as do most of us. This parable is rich; in many ways it presents the Kingdom of God as the exact opposite of the world we live in. But what especially struck me is that though the rich man is unnamed Jesus names the poor man Lazarus – “God helps.” The question that should be asked today in all the churches of the world is “Do you know the names of the poor?”

Sad to say I am very bad with names and so I forget the names of the kids in the kindergarten in the Colonia Divina Providencia.

But I think the first step in combating poverty is getting to know the poor personally. And so I am looking forward to starting up the “comedor infantil” – the lunch program for street kids and other poor kids. I am glad that St. Thomas will be helping this.

I am also hoping that I can raise funds for the community center in Colonia Divina Providencia, a poor community of about 90 families with about 300 children. The city donated the land and the residents will supply the people power; about $5000 is needed for materials and hiring a mason to supervise the work. Last Monday, September 24, Sor Inés took me to meet with the community council, headed by a woman, who explained the project and their hopes for the future. The center will be a good place for workshops for the residents of the community as well as for all sorts of programs. (I can foresee taking students there to help tutor kids.)

This past week there have been a few forward steps in my hopes for involvement of Catholic University students with the poor. A woman student came up to me and we talked briefly about her interest in service. I’ll be meeting with her and a few of her friends this coming week to see what we can do. Saturday, I offered my help to a young professor of a class that gets students involved in service projects; I will be helping two groups to contact two places that need assistance.

But I still hope I can begin to find a rural parish where I can help. Sunday, September 30, I went out to Padre Efraín’s parish, Dulce Nombre de Copán. There was a Mass in San Agustín, about 22 from Dulce Nombre. The church was packed and there were about 18 baptisms after Mass – infants, kids, and two men in their late twenties. There were a fair number of young people since a team from Dulce Nombre had just finished a two day workshop for the youth in the towns that make up this sector of the parish. It was great to see this effort to work with the young and to train youth leaders, especially since probably half of the people in Honduras are under 19 years of age.