Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
This Week’s Intention: For a spirit of compassion and generosity among all who are able to share what they have with others, especially with those who are most in need.
Today’s Gospel | 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.’“
Lenten Reflection
We live in a hectic world. Driven by the hyper-speed of today’s technologies, the pace of modern life rarely slows. Most of each of our days is spent in frenetic activity, as we try to keep up with a seemingly non-stop barrage of professional and personal demands on our time and energy. In order to achieve this, we sometimes will choose to focus intensely on certain responsibilities or interests while shutting out whatever does not immediately present the same importance or urgency. Performing this high pressure triage on the tasks of daily living may seem to successfully get us through our never-ending to-do lists, but the success can come at a very high cost.
The problem could be described as leaving our lives behind. Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh once said, “Life is available only in the present moment. If you abandon the present moment you cannot live the moments of your daily life deeply.” In other words, the greatest danger of hurried and distracted living is loss of the now. Our anxiety over what needs to happen next pulls us away from the richness of what is already taking place both within and all around us. Moreover, as the tormented souls in Luke’s Gospel learned too late, it is only through the now that God can come to us. When we push ourselves too far too fast, we dash past the places where, in fact, he has placed the very gifts of meaning and wholeness that we seek. And there they remain, in the voices to which we really did not listen, in the faces that we really did not see, in the surprises and adventures that did not fit into our schedules, in the epiphanies of all of the little things in life for which we just did not have the time.
In the season of Lent, we are invited to deepen our awareness of our dependence on the grace of God. Such awareness comes only if we are mindful of God’s presence and activity here and now. There is a reason why Jesus chided those who “have eyes but fail to see and ears but fail to hear.” While they were looking and listening for many different things, they never bothered to pay attention to the important things that were in their midst. By striving to live in the now, we can be both awake to and grateful for God’s gifts in our lives, instead of being too busy to ever open them.
Prayer
Eternal Father, your son went willingly to the cross to pay the price for our sinfulness. In this time of Lent, help us to repent and let you make our lives whole again. Teach us to seek your will in all things, to make wise decisions and to live as good people. Above all, open our eyes and our hearts to one another so that we are not blind to each other’s needs. Give us ears to hear your word and zeal to live your will for the sake of your Kingdom. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts forever.