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“There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’ ”
God our Father wants each one of us to be with him for eternity in an embrace of mutual love. Since love can only be given freely, God gives us the freedom to cling to him or turn away from him. And, day after day, he provides us with opportunities to use our freedom.
This was the case with the rich man and the beggar in Jesus’ parable. Their circumstances were entirely different, but God loved them equally and offered both of them opportunities to love him. Lazarus, as St. John Chrysostom observed, had the choice of bearing his condition with patience and trust in God. The rich man had the choice of relieving Lazarus’ pain.
As it turned out, Lazarus cooperated with God’s purposes; the rich man did not. He had “Moses and the prophets,” that is, scripture. And, more importantly, he had Lazarus at his gate. Day after day, Lazarus’ presence was a God-given invitation for the rich man to lay aside his selfish desires and respond to a fellow human being in need. Because the rich man refused God’s love, he ended up in misery. He became the beggar, while Lazarus entered eternity with the Lord.
As a young nun, St. Thérèse de Lisieux was asked to care for an elderly sister. This older nun complained about everything Thérèse did for her. But Thérèse trusted that the Father was using this situation to forge a love in her heart that she could not generate by her own power. God was offering her his heart! Every day, the Lord provides us with similar situations where we can lay aside our selfish desires and embrace Jesus through caring for our brothers and sisters. The Father wants to give us new hearts that delight in his ways.
“Father, thank you for your perfect love for me. I give you my heart so that you can work through me as you want. I long to be with you forever!”
Often I feel like the older Nun around my Beautiful Wife as I complain about this and that..
I pray that St Therese will give me the Grace to stop my petty complaining and start Praising my Wife because I truly Love my Wife; as I am sure the older Nun Loved St therese !!