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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.’”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Do you remember the old tv sitcom, Cheers?
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Can you visualize Sam, Woody, Carla, Cliff, and Diane all gathered around the bar?
There’s something incredibly comforting about sharing our troubles with friends, at times over a pint or two.
Perhaps that’s why the theme song was so catchy:
“Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see the troubles are all the same. You wanna go where everybody knows your name.”
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Speaking of knowing people by name, this is the only parable in the Gospels when Jesus mentions a character by name.
Think of the parable of The Prodigal Son, for example. There are no names given; they’re only referred to as the father, the older brother, and the younger brother.
But today Jesus mentions this wretched man covered in sores by name – Lazarus – reminding us that what Lazarus needs is not only food or a healing balm for his sores; he also needs to be known by name.
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Knowing people by name hasn’t always been a Catholic strong point.
We go to Mass, we pray together, we exchange socially distant signs of peace, but how many people do we actually know by name?
My goal is to cultivate and expand the goodness found in the people here at Saint Pius X. I dream of making this a community where everyone is known by name.
We hear the cry of the poor – and we know them by name. We engage our youth – and we know them by name. We pray for our neighbor at Mass – and we know them by name.
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Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.
So, why not come to Saint Pius X?
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