March 16, 2006 – Thursday of the 2nd
week of Lent
Jer
17, 5-10; Lk 16, 19-31
Ananda Matha Ashram,
HOMILY
Most of the parables of Jesus are teaching about his Father, in which he
wants, first of all o teach us who his Father is, and in which the moral
teaching is, so to say, secondary. But
there are a few other parables, like that of this morning where the teaching is
essentially moral. The parable was a
very well known form of teaching in Jesus’ time; and the technique of it
consisted in bringing the listeners to identify with one of the characters of
the parables are draw from that identification all the consequences and all the
teaching. This is the case of this parable we just heard, in which God is not
even mentioned.
Who is the person in this story to whom we are invited to identify
ourselves? Certainly
not the rich man, nor Abraham. Is
it the poor? No. The post important
person of this parable is – or rather the most important persons of that
parable are the five brothers of the
rich man, about whom it is said: “They have Moses and the prophets”. These brothers are still here on earth. We are these brothers.
Let’s have a look at the details of that parable. There was a rich man and a poor. It is not said whether the rich was a good
man or a bad one. No, the Gospel speaks
simply of rich dressed in purple and linen and who feasted splendidly every day
and of a beggar
named Lazarus, who was covered with sores and who has nothing to eat. The poor man longed to eat the scraps that
fell from the rich man's table. But it is said either that he asked for it or
that it was refused to him. These two
men simply live one besides the other, ignoring each other, without wickedness
and without jealousy. The only element of a certain intimacy in this is the dog
licking the poor man’s wounds.
The rich one is without a name.
He represents all the persons who have let themselves
be alienated by material possessions.
The poor man has a name the etymology of which is ‘el ‘Azar, which means « God helps » or « God comes
to the rescue ». Which
is somewhat ironical, since God does not seem to have rescued him so far!
What happens after their death? The poor who laid on
the ground is brought by angels to Abraham’s bosoms, that is the
That rich man was not a wicked man.
He was simple unconscious, during all his life. Now he suffers terribly; but since he has a good heart after
all, he would want to spare his brothers such a suffering after their death. He
wants Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to bring them out of their
torpor. But the answer is : “It is useless. The are
unconscious. They have Moses, that is
the Law, and they have the prophets. If
they don’t listen to them, they will not be convinced even if one should rise
from the dead.”
As I said at the beginning, we
are the five brothers of this rich man.
And we have not only Abraham and the prophets, but also Jesus’ message –
His Gospel. We could, of course, easily apply this Gospel to the relationship
between rich countries and poor ones and between rich and poor within each
country. For example, John Paul II,
speaking to the United Nations in 1979, alluded to that Parable and said that
it was urgent to translate it into economical and political terms and in terms
of human rights. But it might be more
practical for each one of us, here this morning to apply it to our daily
existence. Let us ask ourselves how much
we are aware of the needs – big and small – and of the suffering – big and
small – of persons around us, beginning with our sisters or brothers. Usually we are not wicked or bad towards each
other? But we can easily ignore them, or
ignore their needs or their pain. The
Gospel reminds them that this lack of awareness is as bad – and for us as full
of consequences – as a wicked attitude.
We are therefore to be as attentive and as full of compassion to one
another as God is to each one of us.
March
17, 2006 – Friday of the 2nd week of Lent
Gn 37, 3-4.
12-13. 17-28; Mt 21, 33-43. 45-46
Ananda Matha
Ashram, Makkiyad,
H
Both readings of this
Mass speak of violence. In the reading
from the Old Testament, that violence is committed by eleven of the twelve Patriarchs
of Israel against their brother. In his
Parable, Jesus speaks of the violence committed against Him by the chief
priests and the elders of the People. In both cases God knew how to bring
salvation out of human sin.
Jesus is not interested
in punishing the perpetrators of violence.
He is simply interested in his Church bearing fruits. When, after telling the parable he asks the
question : “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to those
tenants when he comes?”, his listeners answer : "He will bring that wicked
crowd to a bad end and lease his vineyard out to others, who will see to it
that he has grapes at vintage time." In his reaction to their answer,
Jesus retains only the second part of the answer: "He will ... lease his
vineyard out to others, who will see to it that he has grapes at vintage
time." Jesus is not interested in punishment and still less in
vindication.
There is no question
here of the Kingdom being taken away from the Jews, as a punishment in order to
be given to the Pagans, as a superficial reading could lead us to think. In
fact the House of God is and remains the chosen people to which the nations are
added. This parable is really about the
shepherds; and, of course, there is here a severe lesson for whoever has a
ministry in the Church. Any ministry is
at the service of the People and should never be used for personal
satisfaction.
What, however, comes up
more frequently in this parable is the need to bear fruits. There are five mentions of the fruits. And this must be a concern for all of us and
each one of use. We have not received the Gospel message simply for our
personal satisfaction or even our personal salvation. We have received it so that we may bear
fruits – fruits of justice and righteousness.
All of us together we are the Church; and the Church does
not exist for itself, but for the world.
Let us ask ourselves in our hearts whether our way of living out the
Gospel really contributes to the establishment of a world in which there is less
violence and more justice and love.
Armand VEILLEUX
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