Don't look for excuses, go do something for the poor - Sunday's reading reflection

"Woe to the complacent..." "Blessed he who keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry."

On the heels of the memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, a remarkable friend of the poor, we hear in both the first reading and the Gospel, not to mention the Psalm, about the importance of getting off your bum and doing something, anything, for a truly poor person (people).  Draw close.  Do not keep a safe distance.

The rich man kept Lazarus at a safe distance. He refused to reach out to touch, a very needy person. He also resisted being touched by the poor man. That's never a good thing but especially not when the name "Lazarus" means "God is my help". His grace is not something to keep at arm's length.  Here is just a simple statement. Every person I know who has been touched through their personal contact with the poor, in its many forms, is a deeper person for that contact. That depth has to do with the awareness of the more important values of life.

(Adapted from Fr. Larry Gillick, SJ)

Ah, to hell with them.

Only once did Moses forget his own story and where he came from.  And for that he was punished by God and no longer able to lead his people, after 40 years, into the promised land.  Moses, taken up out of the water, lucky to be alive, grows up well but then commits murder.  God later calls him and empowers him to work miracles.  Claiming as his own the power of God, because of his lack of patience, he exalts himself and condemns others while working God's miracle in his own name.

Self-righteousness is no little thing.

What happens to the self-righteous in the Gospel? Jesus says of Capernaum, the town know as "home" during his Galilean ministry, "And as for you, Capernaum: ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’"  (That might be where my Irish grandmother, brogue-and-all, got the staying, "Ah, to hell with them.")  Pretty strong words.

We never really know where people are or what they're going through, especially when they make decisions that confound us.  It might just be that when they're feeling like the Psalmist, "I am sunk in the abysmal swamp where there is no foothold; I have reached the watery depths; the flood overwhelms me," they need more compassion and understanding, not less.  

Better to default to mercy then to self-righteousness and condemnation.  The last thing you'd want to hear at the moment of death is Jesus saying what he said to Capernaum, brogue-and-all, "Ah, to hell with ya."