There is a famous story of contest for the shortest short story. According to the legend, one man won with a piece having only 6 words. I would recite it to you but it is extremely sad and would trigger some people. If you want to read it, look up Ernest Hemingway’s 6-word story.
The key here is any short story writer will tell you every word counts, nothing is wasted. Today, we read one of Jesus’ well-known short stories and every word counts, so does every character. As I considered it for today’s homily and after doing my research, I figured the most important characters are in the background. They say volumes. Who are they? The dogs.
You have this poor man Lazarus. Outside the door of the rich man who is so self-absorbed that to him Lazarus is invisible until he needs him when he is in the abode of the dead.
The dogs see him.
Now contrast this with the story of the Good Samaritan when the man who does not step over the one set upon by robbers. Notice he dresses his wounds and brings him to shelter.
The rich man does not even see Lazarus until he needs him in the abode of the dead. Notice something else, he was a rich man, he could have hired Lazarus as a servant and paid him even a pittance and he would have treated him better. But to him he was invisible. The dogs reveal to us that to God Lazarus was quite real and visible. In fact, it is possible the dogs were the agents of condemnation to the rich man. They are demonstrating the humanity of Lazarus and literally care for him as if he was their master, while the rich man pretends he does not even exist. Remember, hatred is not the opposite of love it is indifference. Why does the rich man do this?
Who is the rich man’s god?
He embodies the first temptation: “You will be like gods.” He is like a god in his own mind and he serves and worships himself as a god. Lazarus is not in his universe so he ignores him. Meanwhile, with every lick the dogs give to him, they condemn the rich man for the idolatry he practices. For the dogs know their creator.
We can assume the rich man went to temple meaning he was a practicing Jew. I bring that up for one simple reason. Jesus is speaking to a Jewish audience and in a Jewish context. So, we need to translate that into a Catholic context that it was actually written by Luke so we can better understand the lesson to us.
Notice the man knows about Moses and the prophets, so he was aware of the teachings of his faith.
How many know the word abomination in the Old Testament? How many know that one of the most common uses for it is those who go to Shabbat every Saturday and turn a blind eye to the poor? The word is also used for charging a high amount of interest making it impossible for someone to pay their bills.
Jesus is telling a story that embodies this admonition in the Old Testament following liturgical rules and working to live life obeying the commandments, doing nothing else.
Would the rich man care about church rules?
There was a bit of a war in the Church this past week. If you do not know, Pope Francis is focused on defining the Eucharist in the context of the banquet that Jesus talks about and says that everyone is invited to it in Desiderio Desideravit
A group of bishops, priests and laypeople mostly from the United States penned a letter to the Pope. They disagree with the pope’s words. I thank they misunderstood then for I understand what he was saying.
Those who disagree with the pope cite the council of Trent that one must first receive sacramental absolution in confession if one has a mortal sin and should not receive the Eucharist. That is Church teaching which I speak about here as you know. Let me ask you. I believe elements in the story indicate the rich man went regularly to Shabbat. If he was Catholic he would have gone regularly to Mass. Do you think if the rich man was a Catholic, he would be aware of committing mortal sin in the way he treated Lazarus? Where did he end up at the end of the story? So, he was obviously in mortal sin but blind to it.
This is my point. The man lived a narrow concept of his faith. The Pharisees do the same.
By the way, his place is not Hell according to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, it is more a holding area until the final judgement. I still do not believe that will go well for him.
What is his sin?
Idolatry blinds him to the needs of others. The dogs represent those who serve God as king. The rich man is a dig to the Pharisees who were so focused of living the law or the rules, they used it to enrich themselves and remain blind to the needs of the poor.
Prior to Gandhi coming to India, the rich man would be a man of virtue. You see in any religion that embraces reincarnation there is no forgiveness. So someone like Lazarus was suffering for his actions in a previous life. Helping them was a sin in those religions. Jews and Christians believe in forgiveness. So there is no previous life for us to suffer. Instead at your baptism, your sins are forgiven, and you became priests, prophets and kings. Confession restores you to that same forgiveness of sins at Baptism.
We have a mission to be agents of the true king and treat others as God treats us. If we do not then we are practicing a form of idolatry. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI teaches: “Love can be commanded because it has first been given.”
We can look at the model of the dogs. They acted as agents of the king. The man in a covenant with God as are both Jews and Christians is acting as his own god honoring himself and condemning others to suffer. He is cast out of the Kingdom because he has no relationship with the true king.
Let us bring to our prayer this week the question: Is there anyone invisible in our lives and may we ask God to help us see them?
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When the Dogs See What We Don't