LESSON ON GENEROSITY

SUNDAY, TWENTY SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Amos 6:1,4-7; Ps 146:7-10; 1 Tim 6:11-16; Lk 16:19-31

The Rich and the Poor

When we reflect on human society through the lens of creation at large, or the universe God created, we gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of riches and wealth. The whole creation relates and lives in dependence, each thing depending on the other for one thing or another. The interdependency of each thing on another makes the universe what it really is, a universe. It is a testimony of everything coming from a single source, the Creator. The universe is sustained in being and operations through the relatedness of one thing to another and by the all-powerful providence of God, its creator. Each thing mindlessly dispenses its goodness to all and takes from the generosity of all other things in its environment. They copy their maker and bear testimony to his goodness and providence by their respective generosity and dispensation of their respective goods. The word of God brings them into existence and sustains them; by their operations, they proclaim the goodness of God to us. When we say that creation is a divine school for man, we mean the essential and divine qualities of creation. The generosity and sacrifice characterising the operations of things in the universe proclaim the nature of God to us. It is a pity we rarely pay attention to creation and the word of God.

The words that prophet Amos directed to the men and women of Samaria addressed this lack of attention as sinful and evil. They lived and acted mindful only of themselves and never of the Lord’s will nor their neighbours’ wellbeing. “Woe to those ensconced so snugly in Zion and to those who feel so safe on the mountain of Samaria, those famous men of this first of nations to whom the House of Israel goes as client. Lying on ivory beds and sprawling on their divans, they dine on lambs from the flock, and stall-fattened veal.” The wealth and riches of these men are not a problem, for they are gifts from the Lord to them. So, their sin is not in what they possess and the enjoyment and merriments that accompany them. David was a rich king of Israel, and used his riches and merriment to serve and praise the Lord, as the passage noted. “They bawl to the sound of the harp, they invent new instruments of music like David, they drink wine by the bowlful, and use the finest oil for anointing themselves, but about the ruin of Joseph they do not care at all.” They imitated King David’s life, except in the essential aspect of his life, to be mindful of God’s will and bless others as God blessed them. They failed to learn generosity to God and to others from David and from creation. Since we are only stewards of God's providence, God threatened to take his blessings from them. “That is why they will be the first to be exiled; the sprawlers’ revelry is over.”

Just as the whole creation is dedicated to imitating God’s goodness and generosity, the Psalmist urges his soul to be dedicated to God in proclaiming his goodness. “My soul, give praise to the Lord.” We have the same vocation with the whole creation, that is, to be dedicated to proclaiming his goodness and love to all. Saint Paul urges Timothy and all of us to follow this vocation with utmost care. “As a man dedicated to God, you must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle.” Our dedication to God would have been natural to us if our first parents had obeyed the word of God given to them at the beginning. Distracted from following creation in obeying God’s will by the evil one, they learnt to hold back the self from God, the Giver of all good things, and became imprisoned and embattled within. Stinginess and selfishness characterise the society of men, our dwelling together. To live by faith became a battle, for it means focusing on God and not on oneself. “Fight the good fight of the faith and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called when you made profession and spoke up for the truth in front of many witnesses.” Created things are among these many witnesses of God’s goodness and generosity.

Our Lord Jesus Christ used the story of the rich man, Dives, and Lazarus to pinpoint the evil that takes hold of our souls when we refuse to learn goodness and generosity from God and his creation. “There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently every day.” Again, the wealth and merriment of Dives are not a sin, for these are God’s blessings to him. His sin is in looking away from his poor neighbour. “And at his gate there lay a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even came and licked his sores.” We must understand God’s ordering of all things in the universe for the good of all. The riches and merriments of Dives, and the poverty and sufferings of Lazarus are both gifts from God that complement each other. It is not by accident that Lazarus was found at the gate of the rich man, but by God’s design. God called both Dives and Lazarus to inherit eternal life, through managing the temporal gifts he gave them on earth in communion, sharing what they have now, to inherit the eternal goods. Lack of attention to God and creation costs Dives his eternal inheritance.  “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.” He went to Hades to suffer what he refused to share in this life. May God grant us the grace to proclaim the generosity and goodness of God in union with the whole creation and enter our eternal inheritance.

Let us pray: O God, who manifest your almighty power above all by pardoning and showing mercy, bestow, we pray, your grace abundantly upon us and make those hastening to attain your promises heirs to the treasures of heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.