For the last few Sundays Jesus’ parables in the Gospels have emphasised the value of friendship and relationship with one another. Put simply, the parables are another effort of Jesus to teach what love is. This week the message is no different.

We are faced with two extreme images; a rich man extravagantly dressed and eating magnificently every day and a poor man, Lazarus (the only one named) dressed in rags, hungry and struggling to survive with sores on his body that dogs lick. 

Unfortunately, the rich man takes no notice of Lazarus, it appears that he does not even see him. I think this is the point of today’s passage. The rich man is so caught up with managing his own wealth and looking after his own affairs, he is blind to the overwhelming poverty and suffering of Lazarus.

The passage reminds us that material wealth must not take precedence over people. We are like the rich man when we are no longer touched by the enormity of suffering the world over, when we develop numbness towards the pain and suffering of others.

In last Sunday’s Gospel the steward declared that he was too ashamed to beg for his livelihood. I remember at school how difficult it was to convince children who really needed the school lunches to accept them.

They were afraid of being seen as poor. Indeed what Lazarus experienced was dehumanising. The two extreme images are not ideal life situations but they challenge us to recognize that we need each other.

The passage calls us to relationship with people, all people, not a selected few. It describes Lazarus as not only poor but “covered with sores” and longing to eat the scraps that fall from the rich man’s table. His only comfort is the dogs licking his sores.

No one must be allowed to reach the state that Lazarus reached, it tells of a people blind or numb to the harsh realities of the poverty and suffering around us.

The rich man in the story is symbolic of unimaginable material extravagance, a world where violence, greed and individualism are glorified.

Lazarus is symbolic of those who sit at the gate hoping to be noticed, like:
· HIV sufferers
· The handicapped
· The marginalised
· The lonely
· Ex-prisoners
· Street dwellers
· Women living with abuse
· The poor

They long for relationship; even if it is the scraps that fall from the master’s table.

This passage brings to mind the many organisations in our country that have responded to the cry of the poor and have set up foundations to help eradicate poverty and restore human dignity, enabling people to experience the fullness of life of which Jesus speaks.

I think of groups like the Desmond Allum ‘Cotton Tree Foundation’, ‘The Toco Foundation’ guided by Michael Als and the ‘Hope Project’ under the direction of Sr Rosario Hackshaw.

All these groups work towards improving the lives of the poor by creating an environment where people can develop themselves and their community. They search for creative and sustainable ways of alleviating poverty and social inequalities in the region. 

The poor is encouraged to work hard to develop strategies to depend less on degrading forms of charity and to awake in themselves their own resourcefulness and self worth and to stop looking to the wealthy to supply their needs.

They are empowered to discover their worth and power and work for the day when they no longer have to survive on the crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table. That day they will experience life, the fullness of life and know they are secure in the bosom of Abraham.

Thank you, Jesus, for teaching us that relationship with others is a far better choice than dressing in purple and fine linen and feasting magnificently every day. You teach us to place our hope in relationships rather than in material things and power. You teach us to use our wealth to bring people together not blot them out of our world.

Lord, we thank you for groups like the Hindu Women Organisation whose objective is to reduce poverty by engaging women in community work and empowering them to become self-sufficient and take control of their lives. Lord, we pray for all other groups in the society who work tirelessly for the eradication of poverty.

Lord, forgive us that we are blind to the needs of the poor. We are so taken up with our own affairs and our own glory - dressed in purple and fine linen, feasting magnificently every day that we ignore them and their plight as they sit at our gates longing to fill themselves with scraps which fall from our tables.

Lord, we pray that rich nations will not only give aid to poorer nations but that they will assist them to help themselves so that they can mange their affairs with dignity and pride.

Lord, there are times when we are preoccupied and busy about many things. We do not notice an aged parent longing for our company or our children yearning for our attention and affection.
Teach us that unless we care for their needs our only option will be to die and be buried.

Gospel Meditations for September are by Bernadette Salandy, a former primary school teacher and member of the Movement for a Better World, Ms Salandy is now on the staff of the Metropolitan Tribunal.