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. (Lk 16:19-31)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032025.cfm
And so begins one of the most terrifying of all the parables of Jesus. Pope Saint John Paul II preached this parable in his first pastoral visit to the United States in October 1979, and was roundly condemned by some Catholics for daring to preach it. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1979/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19791002_usa-new-york.html We still haven’t learned the lesson.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Thursday II, Lent
