Father Paul Weinberger
Saint William the Confessor Catholic Church
Greenville, Texas
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 30, 2007
Abraham said, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen
Friday there were four pictures side by side on the front page of the Dallas Morning News. The pictures were of something that happened in Canada and will now happen at the State Fair of Texas. At the fair in Toronto this dare devil, or in a former age we would call him a fool, was being shot out of a canon. This sequence of pictures shows him emerging from the canon. In the caption beneath the photos is a quote from his father.
Now, this will be taking place at the State Fair in Texas. The man, David Smith Jr., evidentially makes his living this way.The launch is the easy part; the trick is landing in the net.
It is probably obvious that some of us resemble canon balls. But, still, a canon is not the proper place for man, woman, or child to be. I was rejoicing when I read this because so many Catholics are just “making it up” as they go along; they just make up their own faith and go around telling people about it. I have heard laypeople and clergy alike announce at funeral after funeral, over the last 48 years, that Uncle Joe or Aunt Suzie, who have died were in perfect health all their lives, but, just never got around to going to Church. But, now that they are dead they are automatically in the arms of Jesus; it is like they have been shot out of a canon.
Quoting David Smith Sr. again,
The trick is landing in the net and we know that the Church teaches that the “net” is Purgatory. Believe it or not, this Gospel today is part of our basis for the constant teaching of the Church on Purgatory. I know what some Catholics say and what some non-Catholics say; they say that Purgatory is just something we made up. NO! This business about being born, being baptized, and living however you want…but, not as a Christian…then, when you die you are shot out of a canon into the arms of Jesus is made up. The trick is landing where you say you are going to land and the Church has a doctrine on Purgatory, which the Holy Father affirms in his most recent book, “Jesus of Nazareth.”The launch is the easy part; the trick is landing in the net.
It is interesting that I spoke on silence last week, seems like a paradox, but everyone is talking about silence, but, nobody is doing anything about it. Last Sunday, I quoted from pages 211 and 214 out of the book, “Spirit of the Liturgy” and if you have the book, “Jesus of Nazareth” the Pope begins the treatment of this parable on page 211. Now some of you are going to think that I just buy the Pope’s books and I don’t read them, and that I just start at page 211 and read three or four pages. [Laughter] That is not the case; I guarantee it. If you do have the book, please read the Pope’s words on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The Pope offers many insights into something that you and I have heard for many years. For example he writes,
That was the custom of the rich at the time; they used bread to cleanse their hands and possibly to dry their hands and just toss them on the ground.This story once again presents us with two contrasting figures, the rich man, who carouses in his life of luxury and the poor man who cannot even catch the crumbs that the rich bon vivants drop from the table. According to the custom of the time, pieces of bread they used to wash their hands and then threw them away.
There is no doubt that having the dogs around consoled Lazarus. We hear how he was so poor that the dogs used to come and lick his sores. Blah! They also came and to scarf up the bread that was on the ground that came from the rich man’s table. That is an interesting little insight about the custom of the time.
On page 215 the Holy Father mentions where the rich man is.
I heard a scripture scholar once, and he was speaking of this gospel. Another reason he gave that this man was in Purgatory, and not in hell, a temporary place of torment, but, he is assured of heaven, is because he was concerned about his five brothers and their eternal souls. If you know what the Church teaches about hell, people in hell are concerned only about the three most important things, which are me, myself. and I. People in hell are not concerned about anyone else, they are self-absorbed. This man in question is obviously not in hell, and the pope makes mention of this, which is very interesting. This man is in Purgatory and so many don’t have the eyes to appreciate it.It is important to note that Jesus invokes here the idea of the intermediate state between death and the resurrection, which by then had become part of the universal patrimony of Jewish faith. The rich man is in Hades, conceived here as a temporary place, and not in Gehenna (hell), which is the name of the final state.
Where does this parable originate but from Our Lord Himself! It is important to notice that the rich man is in purgatory, but, not because he was rich. Lazarus is not in Heaven just because he was poor. Remember the novel, “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens? Do you recall the name of one of the figures, the Artful Dodger? He is a young man, who organizes other young men and trains them to be pickpockets. He is poor, but, not virtuous. Just because someone is rich doesn’t make them worthy of hell or Purgatory, but, it depends on how the person used his life. This Gospel tells us that the poor do have a special place in the eyes of God. Listen to the lecture of Abraham.
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.
The rich man is there because he didn’t notice Lazarus, and not because he was rich.
Last week something happened to me that has never happened before. I am 48 now and so I went to get my eyes checked, and I have to get my first pair of reading glasses, ok? Welcome to 48. What I have seen happen to other people will probably happen to me. People wear glasses and then shove them upward on their head, rubbing their tired eyes and letting them rest, and then after awhile comes the inquisition.
“Have you seen my glasses? Go out in the car and check to see if they are there. Oh, I think I left them in the sewing room, go look in there.”
Everyone around you is snickering, right? So, that will probably happen to me. [Laughter]
The rich man was oblivious to Lazarus, but he knew him; he was right under his very nose.
“Lazarus? Where? Is somebody poor around here? Where? We don’t have any poor people.”
He was right under his nose. We know that he knew Lazarus because he lands in the safety net of Purgatory and he sees Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. The rich man is in Purgatory and already he is giving order to Abraham.
“Clap! Clap! Come on, send Lazarus over here!”
Abraham probably said,
“Is there anything else you want in Purgatory?”
The rich man is already rearranging Purgatory. He probably did this during his life and now in death he thinks everyone is going to hop when he says something.
Father Abraham, send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.
We notice how he identifies Lazarus; he recognizes Lazarus so he did see him at least once during life and probably long enough to get his name and say to the servants,
“Get Lazarus outta here…blah…the smell! And oh, something about those dogs! ”
So, the man recognized Lazarus, and his heart was not moved to do anything about him.
I mentioned before Mass, that if it were not a Sunday, we would be celebrating the Feast of St. Jerome. The Bible, in its current configuration, is largely the work of this man. St. Jerome had a very different second half of his life as a priest. I love St. Jerome. The first half of his life was spent in Rome stirring up trouble and making a lot of people mad, and then, the pope finally told him to get out of town because things were kind of hot there. He went to Bethlehem, where he lived in a cave. I can’t remember who else lived in Bethlehem in a cave, hum. It will come to me. There St. Jerome scoured the best remnants of the Old and New Testaments. The Church, through a council of bishops, ratified the work that he did. We have the Bible in its current configuration from the early work of St. Jerome, who died in the year 420. In one of his commentaries on the Prophet Isaiah he wrote,
As St. Paul says, Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the Power and Wisdom of God then ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.
That really packs a wallop.
The way that Our Lord speaks about the poor is embodied in the life of St. Vincent de Paul, whose Feast Day was Thursday. Like St. Jerome, St. Vincent has a cushy first half of his life as a priest, and then, he had a “come to Jesus moment”. He was the Chaplain or Confessor to the royalty of France, and then, he saw firsthand the plight of the galley slaves on the ships, and he in turn, used the second half of his life as a priest to serve the poor. This is from a writing by St. Vincent de Paul.
The last line of this writing says,Even though the poor are often rough and unrefined, we must not judge them from external appearances nor from the mental gifts they seem to have received. On the contrary. If you consider the poor in the light of faith then you will observe that they are taking the place of the Son of God, Who chose to be poor. Although in His Passion He almost lost the appearance of a man and was considered a fool by the gentiles and a stumbling block by the Jews. Christ showed them that His mission was to preach to the poor. He sent me to preach the Good News to the poor. We also ought to have this same spirit and imitate Christ’s actions; that is, we must take care of the poor, console them, help them, support their cause.
This is from somebody, who saw both sides of the tracks and he recognized that we must take care of the poor by consoling them, helping them, and support their cause. Taking what St. Jerome said about ignorance of Scripture and what St. Vincent de Paul said about the poor, when we serve the poor we are serving Christ…anyone who denies serving the poor is ignoring Christ; ignorance of the poor is ignorance of Christ. To say it in a parallel way, ignorance of the Scripture is ignorance of Christ, and any way you read the New Testament, if you try to see it any other way, you are making stuff up! So, if you believe that you are a Christian, the way you can tell is how you serve the poor, and I can do the same thing.With renewed devotion we must serve the poor, especially outcasts and beggars; they have been given to us as our masters and patrons.
Our standard of poverty is so high that other countries would see it as middle class or better. The poor cannot be written out of our lives; if we do, then it will be no surprise when we land somewhere that is not Heaven. Remember the guy on the front of the Dallas Morning News?
You can just see him coming out of that canon and almost hitting the net, right. He lands on the asphalt and there are people probably standing around at the fair breaking his landing. We can picture him in a full body cast on the front of the Dallas Morning News and he is quoted saying,The launch is the easy part; the trick is landing in the net.
Almost ain’t good enough! [Laughter]I ALMOST hit the net
The poor are given to us and we don’t have to go looking; they are right in our families or next door or across the desk from us at work. I will give you an example, and how providential it is. Last Thursday, on the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, we had a funeral for a man who was 54 years old, and even though Rome has not formally declared this man to be a saint, he is indeed a saint; he is in the Divine Embrace. His name was Dee Dee Barnett and he was born with Down Syndrome. Now, Dee Dee’s mother died six months ago, and we had her funeral here. When she died, they worried about how Dee Dee would take it. They told Dee Dee that his mother was on an airplane. The mother had never left his side, so he wasn’t satisfied with that, so they told him she was with God. He liked that. Everyone who has heard how old Dee Dee was, were amazed that he’d made it to that ripe age. It is terrifying when you talk to someone like the parents of Dee Dee. Christian people have approached them saying,
“Couldn’t you have done something?”
It is as if the right thing to have done is the wrong thing. You know what I mean! There is no one poorer than the child awaiting birth. We can hear them ask to just let them be born, and they will be ok, especially if one of Mother Teresa’s Sisters can be found. They take care of unwanted children.
Dee Dee is missed. His mother and his four sisters cared for him 24/7, 365 days a year and they are beside themselves now, missing what many in the world would consider a burden or a trial. It wasn’t easy for them, but to see someone baptized and never sinned? That is what our Church says. Anyone who is baptized and never commits a sin goes immediately to Heaven. That is what happened to Dee Dee. He wasn’t shot out of a canon into the arms of Jesus, but went straight to the Bosom of Abraham, and this is what the Church teaches. It is not my opinion or what I feel Many people say that when Uncle Joe or Aunt Sue died, but, had not practiced their faith in years or stepped foot in Church by their own design, they feel she or he is in Heaven. Really? You tell them that this is not what the Church teaches, but, because they feel it, it must be so. I always like to tell them that maybe what they are feeling is gas. [Laughter] It influences me and other physical maladies can have the same effect. Are they sure this is what they are feeling? Maybe their feeling is WRONG!
We can test it against what Christ and His Church teach. Maybe their feeling actually coincides with reality, or maybe they missed Heaven, and they landed in the safety net, or maybe…right! If you aim for Purgatory, and miss, you don’t get a second try. The poor should be sought out by us to serve them, who are our masters, says St. Vincent de Paul and Our Lord. The rich man refused to pay now, but, had to pay later, and flames torment him. Again, who is telling us about this intermediate state, but Jesus Himself? So many people refuse to help the poor.
It would be like someone leaving Texas and going north to Kansas, and their car breaks down in Oklahoma. They get it to the mechanic, and ask if he can fix it, and the mechanic tells them that the good news is yes, but the bad news is that they will have to wait…IN OKLAHOMA! [Laughter] The more you ask for them to hurry they will just break something else. You are really making him mad and the bill is going up. The good news is that you will be on your way to your final destination, but, you had to spend more time than necessary in OKLAHOMA! [Laughter] God doesn’t want you there, right?
This intermediate state is God’s gift to us, if we fail to help the poor in our midst while here on earth. On page 216 the Holy Father continues.
There are so many people who want to weigh up our Catholic Faith as if they are analyzing a pound of sugar on a scale. They say we will just have to be clearer and send a sign. Our Faith tells us that Jesus Christ is the Heart of God the Father revealed to us; he is True God and True Man and the Fullness of Revelation of God. But some want a better sign. How insulting! If you ever say that, stand far away from me please; the lightening will probably not strike in my direction. The fact is that we demand a sign, and yet Christ came, and told us foxes have lairs, birds have nests, and the Son of Man has no place to lay His head. He was poor and worked many signs, and was not believed.The rich man looking up to Abraham from Hades says what so many people both then and now say or would like to say to God, “If you really want us to believe in you and organize our lives in accord with the revealed word of the Bible, you will have to make yourself clearer. Send us someone from the next world, who can tell us that it really is so.” The demand for signs, the demand for more evidence of revelation is an issue that runs through the entire Gospel. Abraham’s answer, like Jesus’ own answer to His contemporaries demand for signs in other context is clear; if people don’t believe the word of Scripture then they will not believe someone coming from the next world either. The highest truths cannot be forced into the type of empirical evidence that only applies to material reality.
The Holy Father continues on page 216 to speak of Lazarus, but not necessarily the Lazarus in this Gospel; although it could be the same man. He is referring now to the brother of Martha and Mary. Jesus Christ raised Lazarus from the dead. The Pope talks about how many of the Jews came to believe in Jesus after they saw His power to raise the dead to life. Some of the people who converted thought that this was such a great sign and no one could refuse it, so they got the bright idea of talking to the scribes and Pharisees.
“You are not going to believe what this Jesus of Nazareth just did; He raised Lazarus from the dead. Come on now, He is the Messiah!”
Instead of following they held a secret meeting and decided that Jesus was going to cause problems with the Romans, and the problems would come back to bite them, so they’d better kill Him and Lazarus, too. If you read St. John’s Gospel, which is what it says. You wonder how someone could see Lazarus raised from the dead, and then plot to kill him. What are you going to use to kill him?
The fact is, that there is no shortage of the poor, and not just material poverty, but, spiritual poverty as well. Blessed Mother Teresa said that the poverty that afflicts this country is loneliness. How many times has someone told you that they just got off the phone with someone, and they thought the phone was going to grow to their ear because the other party just wouldn’t stop talking? Then the other person says,
“Well, how is Fr. Paul?”
[Laughter]
It could be a neighbor or relative, or a shut-in, but the poor are all around us and ignorance of the poor won’t cut it. Ignorance of Scripture won’t cut it either.
Abraham said, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”
If you have to be convinced about this point any further then there is no sense talking to you.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen