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<\/p>\nAre we open to others and capable of mercy, or do we live locked up within ourselves, slaves to our selfishness? On Thursday morning, 25 February, the Gospel parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31), presented in the day\u2019s Liturgy, guided Pope Francis in a reflection on the quality of Christian life. Referring also to the entrance antiphon (taken from Psalm 139[138]:23-24), the Pontiff emphasized the importance of asking the Lord for \u201cthe grace to know\u201d whether we are \u201con the path of lies or on the path of life\u201d.<\/p>\n
Francis explained that we are in the wake of the reflection that, in previous days, spoke of \u201cthe religion of doing\u201d and the \u201creligion of talking\u201d. He drew inspiration from two Gospel characters, the rich man, described as a man who was \u201cclothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day\u201d. The characterization might seem a bit contrived, but it means to show us a person who \u201chad it all, every opportunity\u201d. Compared to him there is \u201ca poor man named Lazarus\u201d at his gate, \u201cfull of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man\u2019s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Pope analyzed the description of the characters and pointed out that the rich man, \u201cwho is seen in the final dialogue with Father Abraham\u201d, was a \u201cman of faith\u201d, who had \u201cstudied the law, knew the commandments\u201d and who \u201csurely went every Sabbath to the Synagogue and once a year to Temple\u201d. In short, he really was \u201ca man who had a certain religiosity\u201d. At the same time the Gospel narrative shows that he was also \u201ca closed man, locked up inside his own little world, the world of banquets, clothes, vanity, friends\u201d. Closed within his \u201cbubble of vanity\u201d, he \u201cdid not have the capacity to look beyond it\u201d and did not \u201crealize what was happening outside of his closed world\u201d. For example, \u201che did not think about the needs of many people or of sick people\u2019s need of company\u201d. Instead he thought only of himself, \u201cof his wealth, of his good life: he was given to the good life\u201d. He was, said the Pontiff, concluding his analysis, a \u201cseemingly religious\u201d man. He was, in fact, a perfect example \u201cof the religion of talking\u201d. The rich man \u201cdid not know the peripheries, he was completely locked up within himself\u201d. Yet the periphery was \u201cclose to the door of his house\u201d, but \u201che did not know it\u201d. This, Francis explained, \u201cis the path of lies\u201d, from which, in the antiphon, we asked the Lord to free us.<\/p>\n
From this description, the Pontiff expanded on the interior analysis of the rich man, a person who \u201ctrusted only in himself, in his things\u201d, and \u201cdid not trust in God\u201d. He was a long way from the \u201cblessed man who trusts in the Lord\u201d, who is contrasted in the Responsorial Psalm, taken from Psalm 1. \u201cWhat legacy\u201d, the Pope asked, \u201cdid this man leave?\u201d. Surely, he said, again quoting the Responsorial Psalm, he is not \u201clike a tree planted by streams of water\u201d, but rather \u201clike the chaff which the wind drives away\u201d (Ps 1:3, 4).<\/p>\n
This man had a family; he had brothers. The Gospel narrative recounts that he asked Father to send someone to caution them: \u201cStop, this is not the path!\u201d. But he died, Francis explained, and \u201che did not leave a legacy, he did not leave life, because he was only closed within himself\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Pontiff emphasized that the aridity of this life was accentuated by a particular detail: in speaking about this man, the Gospel \u201cdoes not say what his name was; it only says that he was a rich man\u201d. This detail is significant, because \u201cwhen your name is only an adjective, it is because you have lost: you\u2019ve lost substance, you\u2019ve lost strength\u201d. One might say: \u201cthis person is rich, this one is powerful, this one can do anything, this one is a career priest, a career bishop…\u201d. It often happens, the Pope continued, that we begin to \u201cdesignate people with adjectives, not with names, because they do not have substance\u201d. This was the reality of the rich man in the day\u2019s reading.<\/p>\n
At this point Francis asked a question: \u201cDidn\u2019t God who is Father, have mercy on this man? Didn\u2019t he knock at his heart in order to move him?\u201d. The answer: \u201cYes, he was at the door, he was at the door, in the person of Lazarus\u201d. Lazarus: this man has a name. Lazarus, the Pope added, \u201cwith his needs and his miseries, his disease, was actually the Lord who was knocking at the door, so that this man would open his heart and mercy could enter\u201d. Instead, the rich man \u201cdidn\u2019t see\u201d, because \u201che was closed\u201d, and \u201cfor him there was nothing beyond the door\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Gospel passage, the Pontiff said, is helpful to all of us at the midpoint of the Lenten journey, in order to raise a few questions: \u201cAm I on the path of life or on the path of lies? How many locks do I still have on my heart? Where is my joy: in doing or talking?\u201d. Moreover, is my joy \u201cin going outside of myself in order to meet others, in order to help\u201d, or \u201cis my joy in having everything organized, locked up inside myself?\u201d.<\/p>\n
As we consider all of this, Pope Francis concluded, \u201clet us ask the Lord\u201d for the grace \u201cto always see the Lazarus who knocks at our heart\u201d and for the grace to \u201cgo outside of ourselves with generosity, with an attitude of mercy, so that God\u2019s mercy can enter our heart\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Are we open to others and capable of mercy, or do we live locked up within ourselves, slaves to our selfishness? On Thursday morning, 25 February, the Gospel parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31), presented in the day\u2019s Liturgy, guided Pope Francis in a reflection on the quality of Christian life. Referring also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":19766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[1878,1879,388,725,133,136],"class_list":["post-19768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-morningmass","tag-banquets","tag-generosity","tag-gospel","tag-lazarus","tag-morning-mass-homily","tag-pope-francis"],"yoast_head":"\n