26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Once a month, on a Saturday morning, a group from St. Vincent Seminary, where I go to school, travels to an abortion clinic in Pittsburgh to pray.

It's not a pleasant situation. You really come face to face with the tragedy of what is going on there. Part of what makes it so intense is that all of us where clerical clothes – priest clothes – there. It makes us stand out and clearly identifies us as part of the Church.

This attracts a lot of attention. The clinic is in a pretty bad neighborhood and there are many homeless people wandering around – and they go straight for us.

Regardless of whether we're really priests or not, we look like priests and people expect priests to be generous, to help someone in a bad situation.

Now, we've all heard the different ways people try to explain why they won't give money to a poor person – that they'll spend it on drugs or alcohol or that it's all an act to get money from people. It's very easy to assume the worst.

It can become very awkward. We're standing there, not going anywhere, obviously saying by our clothing and the rosaries in our hands that we believe in God - and they are very persistent. I have to admit, sometimes I've tried to ignore them or I make a point of not even bringing my wallet.

But the best response I've seen came from my friend Mike, who is a priest now. He was very comfortable talking to the people who approached us and, if they would accept it, would walk to the nearby McDonald's with him where he would buy them a meal and then sit and talk with them while they ate.

It's an incredible witness to me. This is what we should do for the poor: love them like Christ would, even if it makes us uncomfortable. And this is what the poor should do for us: call us to act out our Christian faith.

Like last Sunday's readings, our first reading today comes from the prophet Amos. Last week he warned the people of Israel that God would not overlook their cheating and dishonesty.

This week we hear Amos delivering God's message of warning because of the people's extravagance. From the prophet's description, it's easy to imagine the wealthy citizens of the country lying on couches, listening to the music of harps, drinking wine and eating gourmet food - all while the poor of the country went hungry and the Assyrians were getting ready to sweep Israel into exile. They were so caught up in their own desires that they were oblivious to the pain of their fellow citizens and to the disaster coming at them from outside.

It sounds very much like the Gospel reading we just heard, which takes a similar story and shows it on a much more personal level. A rich man lives a comfortable, easy life and has plenty to share, but he ignores Lazarus, his neighbor who suffers right outside his front door.

The unique thing about this story is that we get glimpse of what happens to these two men in the end. Lazarus goes to be with Abraham and the rest of the righteous dead while the rich man is in a place of torment.

It's important to note here that being poor does not automatically make someone a holy person, just as being rich does not automatically make someone a bad person. It's all about what we do with what's been given to us.

We don't know much about how Lazarus lived his life or what kind of person he was, but we have a clear picture of the rich man's character. He was self-centered self-indulgent. He was completely blind to the suffering of another human being right in front of him. Like the people of Israel in the time of Amos', this life leads him to disaster.

This story serves as a warning to the Pharisees listening to Jesus as well as a warning for us, but it shouldn't be that big of a surprise. The rich man showed a little bit of concern for other people when he asked for Lazarus to be sent to his brothers, warning them of the results of their selfish lives. Abraham refused, because his brothers already had all the warning they needed from the prophets of the Old Testament and even someone rising from the dead would not convince them of the error of their ways.

That part should really make us pay attention.

We too have Moses and the prophets to tell us how we should our lives; but someone has risen from the dead, Jesus. And if we don't listen to warnings like that of the prophet Amos, we have JESUS HIMSELF telling us this parable about wealth and poverty.

Every time we encounter human suffering, we get that awkward feeling – a feeling that I should help, that I should do SOMETHING - but I don't want to be inconvenienced. That feeling is a direct message from God. He's begging us to love him – in that poor person. Or in someone who is sad. Or in someone who is lonely.

All around us are people who need to meet Jesus and they need to meet him in US. And we can't judge what will happen to them when they finally come face to face with him in the end, but for our own sakes we should think about how we are using the gift of life God has given us.

I may have told you this before, but CS Lewis, one of my favorite writers, once said that every person we ever meet is going to live forever. Think about that. That means that the jerk that cut you off on the highway, the rude cashier at the super-market and telemarketer who called during dinner all week ARE ALL IMMORTAL BEINGS who will spend eternity either rejoicing because they made their lives a gift to the Father or stuck in the miserable, self-centered little world that they built for themselves during their time on earth.

The same goes for us.

Our actions during our lives reflect the kind of afterlife we are heading for, especially when it comes to how we act towards the helpless. Each time we are confronted with the opportunity to show God's love, we have the chance to say, out loud, that we are Christians.

In the second reading, Paul tells us to “Lay hold of eternal life.” We do this by loving others with the same generous, self-giving love that God has for us.