26th Sunday - Fr. Leo
“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.” (Lk 6:31)
Jewish heritage is our heritage as well. Jesus was a Jew who’s life and meaning are routed in Judaism. Jesus’ goal was not to start a new sect of Judaism, but to bring people to live in the spirit of God revealed in the Old Testament. Eventually, the Jews who believed Jesus was the messiah, were separated from Judaism and were later called Christian.
So the early church’s message to the Jews is summed up in the last sentence of todays gospel from Luke, quoted above. The truth is that someone rising from the dead, didn’t convince the people of Lazarus own ilk. In his death, Lazarus comes to see that his way of life made him blind to Christ and his opening the gates of heaven to those who believe.
True faith for us then consists of our living in the same spirit of compassion that Christ lived. The homeless man at Lazarus’ door would have been Christ’s honored guest. In Christ, those in need are our brothers and sisters. The homeless offer us a challenge. Some are taking advantage of systems put in place to help the needy, but many are mentally ill and not receiving the help and environment they need because it was believed that new psych medications could main stream them and a lot of money could be saved by not having institutions to take care of them. So it was a Lazarus move and it hasn’t worked. We and the homeless today, are paying the price.
What can help turn the tide is for us to ask ourselves as individuals and as a church, did Jesus rise from the dead? And if so, what difference is that making in how we live our lives. Are our lives dedicated to God, or as we heard in last weeks gospel, Mammon?