Daily Gospel Reflection: Thursday of the Second Week in Lent
Bishop Robert Barron
February 28, 2024
Thursday of the Second Week in Lent
Gospel: Lk 16:19-31
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.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied, 'My child,
remember that you received what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing
who might wish to go from our side to yours
or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him
to my father's house,
for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said,
'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.'"
*United States Conference of Catholic
Bishop Robert Barron
Friends, today’s Gospel reading is the story of the poor man Lazarus, who sat outside the door of a rich man and “would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.” The rich man isn’t named, and that’s very interesting. In the ancient world, the rich and powerful were the ones who deserved to have their names mentioned. Whose names weren’t mentioned? The poor and the marginalized. So this is a very interesting reversal that is going on here.
And we know this story well, right? Day after day, the rich man walks past Lazarus, in and out of his house. When Lazarus dies, he’s taken to the “bosom of Abraham.” But the rich man dies and he’s taken to the underworld. Again another reversal. You’d expect that God has blessed the rich and powerful and cursed those who are poor and hopeless. But that’s not the way the Bible imagines this situation. It’s Lazarus who’s carried to paradise and the rich man who’s carried downward.
There’s the revolutionary quality of the Bible, turning our expectations upside down. How much do we care for those who are poor? Can we name them, or are they for us, as for ancient peoples, just a nameless mass of suffering people? And are we committed to helping these people by performing the corporal works of mercy?
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