An Open Heart
Some primary children asked me a question last week: ‘Father, we have been reading the Bible and we found out that Jesus has said that it is never too late to come back to him. What we want to know is, can you get out of Hell if that is where you have gone to after continually rejecting God? And, if you cannot get out of Hell, why not?’
I immediately thought of the parable that Jesus tells us in the Gospel this weekend. We have the rich man who feasted sumptuously every day and ignored the poor man at his gates. Lazarus was full of sores and only desired to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.
The rich man ended up in Hades — Hades is the Greek place of the dead, the nether world of shades, equivalent to the Hebrew sheol (a chasm or gulf that cannot be crossed) — meanwhile the poor man was in the bosom of Abraham. So the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to quench his thirst, but Abraham reminded him that in his life he received good things, while Lazarus received evil things. At no point in the parable did the rich man admit his sin in ignoring poor Lazarus on his doorstep. It was his choice.
As our late Pope Francis, in reflecting on this parable, said:
‘As long as Lazarus was outside his house, the rich man had the opportunity for salvation, to thrust open the door, to help Lazarus, but now that they are both dead, the situation has become irreparable. God is never called upon directly, but the parable clearly warns, God’s mercy toward us is linked to our mercy toward our neighbour; when this is lacking, there is no room to be found in our closed heart, and he cannot enter. If I do not thrust open the door of my heart to the poor, the door remains closed. Even to God. This is terrible.’
When the rich man asked Abraham to warn his brothers who were still alive, Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.’
Now is the time we need to open our hearts to God’s word. He is calling us to love him and our neighbour. The rich man knew the word of God but he did not let it enter his heart.
Lord let me hear your word, that it may enable me to open my eyes and have compassion on those who are in need. Let me take to heart the words of Pope Francis: ‘The word of God is alive and powerful, capable of converting hearts and leading them back to God. When we close our heart to the gift of God’s word, we end up closing our heart to the gift of our brothers and sisters.’
