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Regnum Christi

Too Late for Change?
U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY
February 25, 2016 - Thursday of the Second Week of Lent


 

Luke 16: 19-31


Jesus said to the Pharisees "There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man´s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, ´Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.´ Abraham replied, ´My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.´ He said, ´Then I beg you, father, send him to my father´s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.´ But Abraham replied, ´They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.´ He said, ´Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.´ 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.´"

Introductory Prayer: Lord, although I cannot see you with my eyes, I believe you are present to me now, in my innermost being, and that you know me far better than I know myself. I also know that you love me much more than I love my own self. Thank you for loving and watching over me, though I don’t deserve your love. In return, I offer you my sorrow for my sins and my hopes to love you more each day.

 

Petition: Lord, help me to be generous and serve the needs of my neighbor.


  1. Self-centeredness Is Useless and Sinful: The rich man lived in isolated luxury, absorbed with the latest in fashion and the finest in dining. He did not hurt anyone: He didn’t run Lazarus off his property. He didn’t mind Lazarus hanging around his table for the leftovers. He didn’t criticize him for not getting a job to earn a living. Then what was the rich man’s sin? He didn’t treat Lazarus as a person. To the rich man, Lazarus was simply a part of the landscape. How many people do I come in contact with, perhaps repeatedly, who are nothing more to me than part of the landscape?


  1. Suffering Helps Us Grow: Our words “compassion” and “sympathy” come from Latin and Greek roots that mean to “suffer with.” Our personal suffering makes us more humane and opens us up to the plight of others. Our vision becomes more perceptive of other’s hardships, and our hearts become quicker to respond compassionately. Yet suffering can be a double-edged sword. It can also push us into envy, hatred, bitterness and isolation if we are proud, or if we forget that God permits trials to purify our love. How have I responded to suffering in my life? Has it made me more compassionate or more bitter and self-centered?


  1. There Is More to Life Than Riches: Suffering also makes us more zealous for souls, more apostolic. Unfortunately for his brothers, the rich man’s zeal was a “zeal come lately.” Because he spent all his energy and fortune in avoiding suffering, he was totally absorbed in self. The meaning of his life was completely temporal, and in the end he had nothing to show for it. One of our greatest sufferings in purgatory will be the realization that we could have done so much more for the salvation of souls.


Conversation with Christ: Lord, I have had a chance to look more seriously at myself in this meditation and to examine if my heart is set on you, if you are my treasure. Perhaps in some areas I still cling to the treasures of this world. But now I want to get rid of them completely. I know that my heart can be set on only one thing and that it will radiate with whatever fills it. Fill me with yourself, so that I may radiate you. Anything that is not you cripples my efforts to give you to others. Rid me of my selfishness. Make me your apostle.

Resolution: I will pray for someone who is difficult for me to love, and I will be kind to a stranger.


35 posted on 02/25/2016 6:52:51 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 32, Issue 2

<< Thursday, February 25, 2016 >>
 
Jeremiah 17:5-10
View Readings
Psalm 1:1-4, 6 Luke 16:19-31
Similar Reflections
 

FASTING AND LISTENING

 
"…they will not be convinced…" —Luke 16:31
 

During the 19th century, the rich in England were said to have not wanted to be Catholic because then they would have to "worship with the help," that is, the servants, since the Catholic faith was open to all, both rich and poor. On this topic, St. Paul corrected the Corinthians, for in their very early Christian "meetings," the rich ate plentifully while the poor went hungry (see 1 Cor 11:17ff). The early Church focused on being "mindful of the poor" (Gal 2:10). When the widows complained, the apostles prayed over and imposed hands on seven men chosen to oversee the just, daily distribution of food (see Acts 6:1-6).

As we read last Sunday, Jesus conversed with Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration, and it was a conversation in which all three members had done a forty-day fast (Mt 4:2; Ex 34:28; 1 Kgs 19:8). If the living brothers of the rich man would not listen to Moses and the prophets (represented by Elijah), who had fasted for forty days, then they wouldn't listen to a person who rose from the dead, that is, Jesus, who had fasted for forty days (see Lk 16:31). One of the effects of fasting is to bring solidarity with the poor, who also often miss meals for financial reasons. Another effect of fasting is to become one with the Lord. One who fasts empties himself or herself of the things of the world, such as food, to be filled with God.

People who wish to be separated from the poor are in great danger of wishing to be separated from the Lord. There is such a place reserved for people who refuse to listen to the Lord. It's called hell. Therefore, start fasting, so as to hear the Lord and serve the poor.

 
Prayer: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord" (Jer 17:7).
Promise: "The Lord watches over the way of the just."—Ps 1:6
Praise: Peter volunteers at a supper-time soup kitchen to serve Jesus in the poor (see Mt 25:40).

36 posted on 02/25/2016 7:01:18 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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