29 February 2024 - Only By Grace Reflections

TOPIC: HAVE I PURPOSELY CLOSED MY EYES AND HEART TO THE NEEDS OF SUFFERING PEOPLE AROUND ME?

First Reading: Jeremiah 17: 5-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 1: 1-2, 3, 4 and 6
Verse Before the Gospel: Luke 8: 15
Gospel: Luke 16: 19-31

In this Season of Lent, we are given the opportunity to open our eyas to the long-term view of life. What we have and experience in this world is only the beginning, not the whole story. Our decisions while we are here determine how we will progress and how we will spend eternity. There are two opposite ways we can choose to go, as our first reading and Psalm today describe ⏤ the way of the blessed and the way of the cursed, the way of the just and the way of the wicked. In the Gospel, our Lord gives us the correct point of view so that we can see more clearly the right way to live and the right way to relate with our brothers and sisters. In the parable, the rich man was living quite comfortable in his earthly life. He lived as if he did not need anyone or see anyone, including poor Lazarus who was lying right at his doorstep.

Our Lord is not saying that being rich, dressing nicely and eating well will lead us to hell. The rich man was condemned not for being rich but for failing to love his poor neighbor Lazarus. We ought to remember the words of our Lord in the Gospel of Matthew, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. … Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me. And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:40; 45-46)

This is the 1403rd installment of our CFC contemplation series focusing on the daily liturgical readings.

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