26th Sunday of Ordinary Time
9-29-19 |
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Many people used to come to Mother Teresa.
They wanted to get involved in her work. Mother Teresa being a wise
woman could tell if they had what it took to work with her sisters. Most
of the time she would smile and tell them gently, “Go back to your home
and find your own Calcutta.” In other words, bloom where you are
planted and tend to the needs of others where you live.
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The rich man in the gospel is not condemned
because he is rich. He is condemned because he never saw Lazarus, who
lived out his miserably poor life right outside his gate. When he did
see him, it was too late. Perhaps, one of the most terrifying dangers in
having possessions is that they threaten us with blindness. The sin of
the rich man was not that he ordered Lazarus removed from his property
he didn’t. It was not that he kicked Lazarus or shouted obscenities at
him as he passed, he didn’t.
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The sin of the rich man was simply that he
never noticed Lazarus. He accepted him as part of the landscape of life.
The sin of the rich man was that he accepted, without question, the
fact that Lazarus was poor and he was rich. The sin of the rich man was
not a sin of commission; which is doing something he should not have
done. The sin of the rich man was a sin of omission, which is not doing
something he should have done.
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The sin of the rich man was basking in his
own personal wealth. And not lifting a finger to help Lazarus in his
dire need. The sin of the rich man was the same sin that is being
committed over and over today. It is this sin that is beginning to cause
grave concern. Not only because of what it is doing to the poor but
also because of what it is doing to society. If a free society cannot
help the many who are poor it cannot save the few who are rich.
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In other words, our lack of concern for the
poor is destroying not only the poor but also the very moral fabric of
our society. The Lazarus’s of the world do not always want material
help. Sometimes they need emotional and spiritual support, an ear to
listen, a hand to touch. Find your own Calcutta; it is probably nearer
than you ever imagined. Raise your eyes to see the Lazarus’s among us.
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I want to tell you about a young man, Jeff, a
resident of St. Christopher’s Inn (SCI). SCI is a drug and alcohol
rehab recovery treatment program as a ministry of the Friars of the
Atonement. He was mandated by a judge to go into a drug recovery
program. He was uncooperative and incorrigible. Jeff would normally be
asked to leave, but we cut him some slack because if he left he would go
to jail. But he was still a problem client. It was a very cold winter
and a company had given a large consignment of blankets to the Inn more
than we could use. We decided to take some blankets to the city and give
them out to the homeless.
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A Friar and five men went in the van to
distribute the blankets, by some mistake, Jeff was included. When they
arrived at the location a large crowd of homeless gathered around the
van. When all the blankets were given out, the men got back in the van
to return to the Inn. Jeff was in the front seat next to the Friar and
it had started to snow. When the Friar looked down, Jeff had no shoes
on. The Friar asked, “Jeff where are your shoes?”
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Jeff answered, “I gave a man a blanket but
he had no shoes, so I gave him mine. He found his own Calcutta.” It was a
gospel moment. From that time on Jeff’s whole attitude changed. He
started to cooperate with the program, and today, he is happily married
with two children. So the question is does your heart go out to others?
Or are you just nice to the beautiful people…to the educated,
sophisticated and the smart?
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What about the others, those who bore you or
those you simply cannot stand? Those who ask not for money or food? But
for your time and your compassion and understanding? For your comfort
few, if any of you, will be asked by the Lord to sell what you possess
and give it to the poor. But for your discomfort every single one of you
will be asked by the Lord, how much did you care and for whom? Look
around you, your own Calcutta is closer than you think.
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