Some brief thoughts in lieu of a homily* for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 25, 2022
Am 6:1a, 4-7, 1 Tm 6:11-16, Lk 16:19-31
Everything we have is a gift, even if we are convinced otherwise, even if we are convinced that we did it all ourselves.
Even if we supposedly earned or won everything we have on this Earth, we earned it or won it with innate skills or talents or intellect or sheer dumb luck that themselves were gifts.
Gifts from our Almighty Creator.
If we have enough of what we consider to be the stuff of a good life, we’re blessed.
If we have more than enough, then we’re doubly blessed.
And if we’re doubly blessed, then we’ve also been challenged, because many of our sisters and brothers in this life do not have enough of what makes for subsistence, let alone a good life.
In Jesus’s telling, our fellow humans in need are embodied by the poor man Lazarus, who competed with the dogs for scraps that fell on the floor, and who relied on those same dogs to salve his wounds.
We who have received countless gifts from our loving God are challenged by God to find the Lazaruses in our lives and work to lift them from the floor to a place of dignity and security.
We know how. We know we have God’s grace to support us and to open our eyes and ears.
Our time is now. Our time is always now.
* Thank you for allowing me this brief reflection. I was at a college alumni gathering in Central Pennsylvania.
