Luke 16: 19-31 (links validated 8/19/25a)

Back in 2018, when the McCarrick scandal broke—not just here in New Jersey, but across the entire Catholic world—I was overwhelmed by anger, disappointment, and a sense of betrayal. McCarrick had been Archbishop here during my own formative years. He ordained me a deacon and then a priest, and gave me my first parish assignment. The revelations were devastating. But what haunted me most that summer wasn’t just the headlines. It was the chorus of voices, saying, “We all knew.” How could so many look away? How could so many hear the rumors, see the signs, and do nothing? It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “That’s someone else’s problem, someone else’s responsibility.” But that moment forced me to confront a harder truth: the call isn’t just to demand accountability from others. The call is to pursue holiness and responsibility in my own life—to be the kind of priest, the kind of person, I want the Church to be...

When I was a kid I had two great pals—Scott and John. These were the dark, prehistoric olden days before the advent of video games. Our competitive recreation took the form of the board game Monopoly. I recently learned this antique pastime was invented back in 1903 by a lady named Lizzie Magie as a way to teach young people about the dangers of concentrated wealth and the virtues of a just system of taxation. Ms. Magie created the game with two sets of rules. In one version there was no taxation or shared wealth, and in the other was an anti-monopolist system in which all players were rewarded when wealth was created.[i] For most of it’s existence, however, the good folks at Parker Brothers and later Hasbro, the toy companies which now own the rights to the game, have offered only one version. Scott and John and I, like millions of other American kids of our generation, grew up playing Monopoly and learning its lessons of ruthless, rapacious greed...

Ebenezer Scrooge benefited from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future in A Christmas Carol. Through the experience he learns compassion and empathy and is warned about his own fate. Through his story, Jesus says that none of this is necessary—that we already have our guides for compassion and empathy from the law and the prophets and summarized by loving God with our whole selves and loving our neighbours as we love ourselves. For a rich person, that impact should be obvious: get to sharing those riches! A few years ago, there was a meme making the rounds. Usually on the backdrop of an outdoor party scene with a table reaching out of the frame, the words said, “When you have more than enough, build longer tables not higher fences.” I thought of that saying as I pictured Lazarus at the rich man’s gate. Did the rich man build up the fence and gate so that he couldn’t see Lazarus on the other side?

If you have ever had occasion to stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon, you know that its vastness is difficult to take in. The distances and depths appear unreal to human eyes unaccustomed to such magnitude. Our brains, dazzled and dismayed by the impossible scale, convert the ruddy vistas into a flattened expanse of painted scenery. We struggle to retain a sense of recognizable proportion. It is a defense mechanism, perhaps, against the sense of our own smallness in the bigger scheme of things. But vast it remains, this canyon, unmoved by the domesticating impulses of our consciousness. I am what I am, it says, carved by water and wind and time, unapologetic for its inscrutability. And so, you have a choice to make, standing at its edge. You can come as a pilgrim, trying and failing to comprehend what is beyond your comprehension, being humbled and altered in the process. Or you can come as a consumer of the merely picturesque: taking a selfie, seeing what you wish to see, but remaining unchanged by it. There are no other options available here at the place where earth and ego break open for honest inspection...

The parable that challenged Dr. Albert Schweitzer is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. This story Jesus told made a man with three doctoral degrees (one in medicine, one in theology, one in philosophy),to go back to school to study medicine, leave civilization with all its culture, and amenities and go to the jungles of darkest Africa to serve as a missionary doctor for 47 years. It was this parable which induced a man, who was recognized as one of the best soloists and concert organists in all Europe, to go to a place where there were no organs to play! It was this powerful parable which so intensely motivated a man that he gave up a teaching position as university professor in Vienna, Austria to go to help people who were so deprived that they were still living in the superstitions of the dark ages, for all practical purposes. At the age of 38, he became a full-fledged medical doctor with specialization in tropical medicine. At the age of 43, he left for Africa where he opened a hospital on the edge of the jungle in what was then called Equatorial Africa. He died there in 1965 at the age of 90. The man, of course, was Dr. Albert Schweitzer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952...

The tides of war often turn on the unexpected, such as attacking the enemy on an unanticipated front. General George Washington attempted to do just that when he assailed Philadelphia by way of Germantown on Oct. 4, 1777. What was then the American capital city was occupied by British forces under the command of General William Howe. The year before, the same strategy had brought victory against the Hessians at Trenton, but this battle proved to be a resounding defeat for the revolutionaries. In The Fate of the Day (2025), the second volume of his magnificent Revolution trilogy, Rick Atkinson records the aftermath of the fight, retrieving two details that speak to a battlefield compassion that has surely been echoed in armed conflicts down the centuries. Hundreds of curious sightseers made their way from Philadelphia to poke about. Even ardent loyalists could pity the seventeen rebels buried under a cherry tree near the front gate. Another thirty went into a single pit by the northwest corner of the house. A redcoat who found a speechless dying man urged him, “Pray now for your soul.” As a British burial detail collected the enemy dead from orchards and woodlots and bullet-perforated houses, an officer advised them not to “cast dirt in their faces, for they are also mothers’ sons.” How can those of us who have never known battle understand what it takes to kill others, whatever the righteously declared cause might be? And lacking that tested resolve, who can say how hard it is for compassion to return when the fighting is over? A British soldier comforted, rather than taunted, a fallen American while his fellows saw their own humanity in the corpses they were burying. There is a goodness native to the human heart. So why should we be surprised to find it on the battlefield?...

("She calls out to the man on the street, 'Sir, can you help me? It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep. Is there somewhere you can tell me?'...") (Song was written by Collins to bring attention to the problem of homelessness. You can view the video and listen to the song here.)

(lots of Greek exegesis)

[" The Forbes 400 regained lost ground in 2010, while most were still smarting from the recession. It has been a year of reclamation for America's richest. The total worth of the Forbes 400 was up 8 percent to $1.37 trillion, well out-earning the 1 percent rise in the S&P over the same period of time. More than half (217) are richer than they were a year ago..."]

(Always good insights!!)

(always excellent exegesis)

There was a man in the early 1900's who held three doctoral degrees; The first in medicine, the second in theology, and the third in philosophy. People also recognized him as one of the best organists in Europe and held a prestigious professorship in Vienna, Austria. But that man had eyes to see. Something persuaded him to give up the culture, amenities, and comforts, of a sophisticated life, and go to Africa to build hospitals and preach the Gospel of mercy. The man was Dr. Albert Schweitzer. What convinced him to go to Africa? This parable. It changed his life and focused his eyes on the needs of a continent and not European amenities. When he thought about the message behind the rich man and Lazarus, he realized that Africa was the beggar at the gate of Europe. The results were that millions received medical care and their eyes opened to the compassion of Christ...

A man not too long ago shared some real-life examples, without the TV cameras or editing – just his heartfelt posting online. He talked about how he’s just had an awful run of bad luck with his car. One time he had a fuse in his car burn out, another time he ran out of gas, and then he had a tire blow out on him – and each time, he found himself on the shoulder of busy highways. He recounted how all of these situations were stressful, tense, and annoying to begin with – but what made them worse was how no one seemed to help him. He describes the experience: I spent hours on the side of the freeway waiting, watching roadside assistance vehicles blow past me, for AAA to show. The 4 gas stations I asked for a gas can at told me that they couldn’t loan them out “for my safety” but I could buy a really cruddy one with no cap for $15. Empathy -or more simply – caring about someone else has always been a choice… and human beings since the Garden of Eden have always been gifted with free will. It’s interesting in all of those different scenarios the question isn’t what should you do… This implies that we know deep in our hearts and souls the answer to that question. Rather, the question is What would you do – recognizing that it’s a free will choice we have to make? To care – or not about someone in need...

What would you do? is one of those documentary, hidden camera, reality show that has been on television from time to time over the last decade. The show presents different scenarios and monitors how people react or respond to different issues, like: An older man needing to fill a prescription at a pharmacy, doesn’t have enough money to pay for it… Some teenagers beating up a homeless person in front of passers by… A waitress is sexually harassed by her boss in front of customers… The host asks what would you do if you were in that scenario as they roll film to show various reactions and responses. Part of the show’s popularity is that it highlights the “empathy crisis” we hear about that our nation (or maybe better said, our world) is facing. Empathy being the ability to understand what someone else is feeling, to put ourselves in other persons shoes – and then being motivated to do something about it. The program shows the wide range of reactions: There’s the heart-warming examples of the stranger runs up and pays for the person’s prescription. There’s the sad examples of the homeless person being beaten up and no one doing anything. There’s the awkward and uncomfortable reactions people have watching the boss demean, being rude and obnoxious to the waitress...

Once upon a time there was a rich man who dressed in fine linen and feasted sumptuously every day. Though, to be fair, he Once upon a time there was a rich man who dressed in fine linen and feasted sumptuously every day. Though, to be fair, he wouldn’t have called himself rich. If you were to press him, yes, he would admit that he had done well for himself. Were you to point out that he had just bought a house in the best neighborhood in town, he’d shrug and say, well, ‘every dog has his day.’ And as for fine linen, his shirt was actually a more wearable linen/cotton blend and while yes, it did cost $120, that was nothing considering how hard it is to find shirts that are made in factories that pay a fair wage...

Donald Hilton’s prayer in Blessed be the Table would have been a good one for the rich man. It’s definitely a good one for us: If it should be, loving Father of all, that, all unknown to us, our eating causes others to starve, our plenty springs from others’ poverty, or our choice feeds off others’ denial, then, Lord, forgive us, enlighten us, and strengthen us to work for fairer trade and just reward. Amen Lazarus’ community carries him, day in and day out, to the gates of the man who can help him. It is a visual protest as well as a call to action, and a way of trying to name and call for change. This way of speaking truth to power appears to cut across culture and time—and often, sadly, still seems to carry the same results. Remember those two months in late 2011, when Wall Street was “Occupied”? Those who camped out as representatives of “the 99%” were trying to raise awareness about income and wealth inequality...

David Brooks identifies the five biggest lies our culture tells, the ones he sees at the heart of our culture's shared spiritual sickness. He lists them: 1. Career success is fulfilling; 2. I can make myself happy; 3. Life is an individual journey; 4. You have to find your own truth, and 5. Rich and successful people are worth more than poorer and less successful people. His brief exposition of the Fifth Lie is penetrating and really identifies a central thread that runs through all of the aforementioned ones...

This story Jesus told made a man with three doctoral degrees (one in medicine, one in theology, one in philosophy), study medicine, leave civilization with all its culture, and amenities and go to the jungles of darkest Africa to serve as a missionary doctor for 47 years. It was this parable which induced a man, who was recognized as one of the best soloists and concert organists in all Europe, to go to a place where there were no organs to play! It was this powerful parable which so intensely motivated a man that he gave up a teaching position as university professor in Vienna, Austria to go to help people who were so deprived that they were still living in the superstitions of the dark ages, for all practical purposes. At the age of 38, he became a full-fledged medical doctor with specialization in tropical medicine. At the age of 43, he left for Africa where he opened a hospital on the edge of the jungle in what was then called Equatorial Africa. He died there in 1965 at the age of 90. The man, of course, was Dr. Albert Schweitzer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. The single parable that so radically altered his life, according to him, was our text for this morning, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the beggar. — That parable convinced Schweitzer that the rich, Europe, should share its riches with the poor, Africa, and that he should start the process...

James Parker currently closes each issue of The Atlantic with small meditations, insightful perspectives on everyday life. In the April issue of this year, he wrote of encountering a beggar on the street. Awkward, isn’t it? The system of which you are a functioning part has thrown the person before you into a transparent condition of penury and exile. Perhaps you feel a flickering of shame. And then a flickering of annoyance at the flickering of shame…their hands are out and their tin cups are rattling—why can’t they leave you alone? Affluence is no picnic. You have a prescription to refill, a phone to upgrade, a car to get repaired. This pullulating need—it’s too much. Here’s my tip: If you’re temperamentally indisposed, keep your money. A penny given a poor man “grudgingly,” wrote the French Catholic mystic Léon Bloy, “pierces the poor man’s hand, falls, pierces the earth, bores holes in suns, crosses the firmament and compromises the universe.” So don’t do that. But if you are inclined to give, then give wholeheartedly...

If you follow Facebook or read inspirational blogs, you may have come across the last words of the billionaire co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs: At this moment, lying on a sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.... You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you. Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost—Life.... Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down. Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well. Cherish others. Inspirational thoughts, aren’t they? Too bad he did not actually say or write them...

Once something becomes “ours,” we often have a hard time letting go of it. That was perhaps the problem that the rich man experienced. He had accumulated a great amount of money and goods, but he was not inclined to share those resources with Lazarus. In The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, Barry Schwartz explains the psychology that leads us to do that. Suppose you are part of a large group attending a meeting, and as thanks for your time and effort, you are given a coffee mug or a nice pen. The two gifts are approximately equal in value, and they are randomly distributed among the participants—half the people get a mug, half the people get a pen. Considering the fact the items are randomly distributed and considering the fact that both items are equal in value, you might conclude that half received the object they preferred and half did not. Therefore, you might assume that half of the participants would be quite happy to swap with someone. But in fact, very few trades actually take place. The phenomenon is known as the “endowment effect.” Once something is given to you, it is yours. Once that object becomes a part of your endowment, even after a few short minutes, giving it up feels like a loss to you. And psychologists point out that since we feel worse about our losses than we feel good about our gains (e.g., if you win a million dollars and then suddenly lose it, instead of feeling neutral because you broke even, you feel worse than you did before), we will tend to not trade the item that we have been endowed with, because the enjoyment of getting the item we trade for will not offset the negative feelings we experience over giving up the item we’re swapping...

Dickens’ short work, A Christmas Carol, begins by announcing, “Marley was dead: to begin with.” Jacob Marley was the business partner of one Ebenezer Scrooge, and he’s been dead for some time. Jacob Marley seems to be as close as Scrooge had to a “friend,” but even still Dickens makes sure to tell us that Scrooge wasn’t particularly broken-hearted over Marley’s death. In fact, Dickens doesn’t mince words in describing Scrooge. He says of Scrooge, “Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!” Dickens continues, “Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, “My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?” No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge.” “But what did Scrooge care! It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance.” Scrooge is alone, and he seems to like it that way. His nephew tries to reach out to him, to close the distance between them, but Scrooge rebuffs his efforts. When Scrooge expresses his typical “Bah, humbug” about Christmas, and his nephew tries to coax him out of his bad attitude, Scrooge responds: “What else can I be [but cross],” returned the uncle, “when I live in such a world of fools as this? Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas! What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer … “Nephew!” says Scrooge. “Keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.”...

Back in 1983 Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy starred in a movie titled Trading Places. It’s been a few years, but maybe you remember the movie in which a snobbish rich man played by Dan Aykroyd gets switched with a street con artist played Eddie Murphy. They find themselves in the other’s shoes, trying to make sense of their differing situations. This proves especially difficult for Aykroyd’s character because he’s not used to having to deal with life on the streets. While his previous life had been relatively easy, now it was much more difficult! While the plotline for Trading Places doesn’t exactly parallel that of Lazarus and the Rich Man, there is in this parable a reversal of fortunes. In a real way they traded places.

To be “in the bosom” evokes a lot of images. Most likely, it referred to the tradition of the ancient world of having formal dinners where you ate while reclining on your left elbow. If Abraham is the host, than the guy on his right hand—the side that he’s facing where his chest would be—is the guest of honor. Lazarus, the poor, sick slob locked on the outside of the gate, is now the recipient of all of the hospitality and honor of heaven.

it was more than a decade ago now. I was at the airport --- although time has erased for me my memory of which one. I do remember that I was on my way home and the journey which I was on the last leg of had been a long one. Jet lag had caught up with me and I was walking bleary eyed, just trying to put one foot in front of the other as I made my way to my connecting gate. My carry on bag was rolling behind me. I did not see her, truly I did not. In fact, I had no idea that my carry on bag had rolled over her foot until with eyes flashing she loudly (and rightly so) called my attention to it.

But there’s an antidote to opium: it’s called Narcan, and it features from time-to-time on hospital dramas. The one who’s overdosed wakes up with a jolt, within minutes of its administration. Christianity is more like Narcan than opium. The Eucharist is our weekly shot. By its power we are awakened to live more fully in reality, to see its resplendent beauty without denying the darkness caused by sin. And sometimes we’re awoken with a jolt.

Her comment reminded me of a passage from Story of a Soul, the autobiography of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Here’s how, in her journal, the young Carmelite nun described the relationship of this world to the next. I imagine I was born in a country which is covered in thick fog. I never had the experience of contemplating the joyful appearance of nature flooded and transformed by the brilliance of the sun. It is true that from childhood, I have heard people speak of these marvels, and I know the country in which I am living is not really my true fatherland, and there is another I must long for without ceasing.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a study looking at global warming and its effects on people in Sub-Saharan Africa. By the year 2020 over 200 million people will fall further into water scarcity and poverty. In some countries, yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50%. This means that people living in already impoverished countries with poor incomes will fall even further into poverty. By United States standards that means people living on less than $1.00 a day will end up living on less than $0.50 a day at the same time the cost of living is increasing.

“Sumptuously” - now there’s a wonderful, evocative word. It’s an interesting word too, with a long history. It comes from the Latin word - “sumptus” - expense . Throughout history nations have passed what are called “sumptuary laws”, laws which govern what people of different classes are allowed to wear. In Ancient Rome, only the Emperor was allowed to wear purple, dyed with the fantastically expensive Tyrian purple dye made from the tiny murex shell . Senators were allowed a purple stripe on their togas, but that was all. There were sumptuary laws in Medieval England too, laying down what kinds of fabrics and furs different ranks were allowed. Again, purple was a restricted colour. Only the royal family could wear it on outer garments. Lower ranks of the aristocracy could have it in the lining of their clothes, but ordinary people couldn’t wear it at all. The whole complicated business was designed to reinforce the pecking order. Just by looking at someone you could tell how important they were.

Over time, the bosom of Abraham became synonymous with Heaven itself. In the picture above, it is the infant Jesus who sits on the lap (in the bosom) of Abraham and both child and patriarch find themselves in Paradise. Clusters of dates are so plentiful that the branch bends down with the weight.

I remember the time I tried to introduce my daughter Lily, then two years old, to one of my favorite children's books, "There is a Monster at the End of this Book" starring lovable, furry, old Grover. To begin with, Lily was excited about Grover--even if she thought he was Elmo--and allowed me to read her the book. About halfway through the book, though, she grabbed it out of my hands and slammed it shut. "That's a scary monster," she told me. "I don't want it." As disappointed as I was, I said, "Ok, we don't have to read it," and I put the book back on the shelf. The next day I found the scary monster book in the refrigerator freezer--at Lily level.

Another thing that would be thoughtful when we interact with people in need, is to ask their name and have a conversation with them. If you read “Down and Out in Providence” by Bishop Geralyn Wolf of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, you would read her journal written during the time that she lived among the homeless for her sabbatical. She talks about how important it is to be acknowledged by name – how desperately alone and invisible the homeless feel when no one speaks their names. Read her book. It’s life changing...

("It may have been Ella Fitzgerald or maybe Sophie Tucker who first said: 'I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better.' Doesn't matter. It's true, other things being equal - but 'other things' are not equal. The United Nations General Assembly is now holding its annual meeting in New York...")

("A Grade 9 student arrived for the first day of school and was set upon by a group of six to ten older students who mocked him, called him a homosexual for wearing pink and threatened to beat him up. The next day, grade 12 students David Shepherd and Travis Price decided something had to be done about bullying...")

"Every Christmas since I can remember I have watched (or had the opportunity to watch) the movie, A Christmas Carol starring Alistair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge. Mr Scrooge has become synonymous with wealthy and uncaring skinflints and even has a counterpart as Scrooge MacDuck in the LooneyTunes cartoon series..."

("A few years ago a woman named Sara Miles walked into a church, and she has never been the same since. She talks about that day in her book Take This Bread: 'One early, cloudy mourning when I was forty-six, I walked into a church, ate a piece of bread, and took a sip of wine. A routine Sunday activity for tens of millions of Americans--except that up until that moment I'd led a thoroughly secular life...")

("In 1892 the French writer Émile Zola went to Lourdes in search of a miracle. Zola, a dogmatic atheist, declared, 'I only want to see a cut finger dipped in water and come out healed'. In Lourdes he met a young woman called Marie Lemarchand, who was in an advanced and terminal stage of tuberculosis. Zola himself described how the 'ulceration had spread and was hourly spreading and devouring the membrane in its progress...")

("Recently I read the newsletter from my seminary in Saskatoon. In it there was an interesting article written by a bright, young seminary student, Melissa Hoehn. She shares her reflections on a life-challenging trip that she and other seminary students made to Ethiopia. Her experiences in Ethiopia are similar to what is happening in today's gospel parable. Listen to what she says...")

("In my Poverty, Wealth, and Justice course, students still read Jonathan Kozol's 1995 bestseller, Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation, which includes the author's interviews with children in Mott Haven, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the South Bronx. It is striking how many of these kids bring up theology in their reflections...")

("'One billion dollars is no longer enough.' So begins the 25th anniversary edition of the Forbes 400, a listing of the richest Americans...")

In American Beauty, a darkly comic film about suburbia, Lester Burnam is a man who has lived a meaningless, almost trite life...

("perhaps you heard the story of the Lutheran, Baptist, and Methodist missionaries who went to serve a cannibal tribe...")

("Aunt Emma was married to a tight-fisted man who was also a little strange. He made a good salary, but they lived frugally because he insisted on putting 20 percent of his pay-cheque under the mattress. The money, he said, was going to come in handy in their old age. 'When Uncle Ollie was 60, he was stricken with cancer...")

(a good read)

("Raymond Moody wrote a book The Light Beyond, a research done with those who have had near-death experiences. His research led him to conclude that something leaves the body at death, and that something continues to exist. Moody through his research discovered that nine traits of the near death experiences are common...")

("Once upon a time, about thirty years ago, two young men, friends fresh out of college, began working for the same company. Tom, a real go-getter, was determined he was going to be an important person in the company, even if he had to step on a few toes to achieve his goal...")

("Hilaire Belloc wrote a poem to Dives, the traditional name for the rich man: 'Dives, when you and I go down to Hell, Where scribblers end and millionaires as well, We shall be carrying on our separate backs Two very large but very different packs...")

("Like the young woman sitting in the first class section on a plane, heading for Sydney. The flight attendant approached her and requested that she move to economy since she didn't have a first class ticket. The young woman replied firmly, 'That's too bad. I'm here now, I'm going to Sydney and I'm not moving.'...")

("Once upon a time, not so very long ago, a new girl came to the seventh grade at St. Mary's school. Annie had come to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents, brother and sister had been killed in an auto accident, Annie had managed to roll out from under the car and was not physically damaged...")

("Mother Teresa was walking with a visitor taking supplies of rice to the poorest of the poor families in Calcutta. They went into a home where there was a mother with two or three children. They poured rice into the family's rice container. The mother took it and poured half into another container. They asked her why. She said, 'Well there's a neighbor family and they are without food also, so I am sharing half of my rice with them.'...")

("Rabbi Joshua, the son of Levi, traveled to Rome in the third century. He was astonished at the magnificent buildings he saw. He was especially struck to see how the statues were cared for, because they were covered with fine cloth to protect them from summer heat and winter cold. As he admired these statues, a beggar pulled at his sleeve and asked for a crust of bread...")

("August 10th was the feast day of Laurence, Deacon of Rome. His ministry was to the poor and abandoned people of the streets of Rome. He administered the diocesan treasury to feed and clothe and help the poor. When the church was under persecution by the Roman Empire, Laurence was ordered by a magistrate to round up the treasures of the church and turn them over to the government...")

("There are many books that I have enjoyed about Mother Teresa, but the one I have enjoyed the most is by Malcolm Muggeridge, entitled Something Beautiful for God. In his book about her, he says when she was interviewed by journalists who came to sit at her feet; when anybody came to talk with her, at the end of the conversation, she always asked in her rough, coarse, peasant voice, in English, with a twinkle in her eye, 'You want to do something beautiful for God?...")

("Albert Schweitzer was a man from England and he was enormously gifted. He had degrees in music, medicine, and theology; he could do almost everything and anything. One day, Albert Schweitzer came to church and heard a sermon preached about the parable, the rich man and Lazarus, and his life was changed...")

("You don't have to believe in heaven or hell to go see Robin William's latest movie What Dreams May Come. The movie is a metaphysical romance that takes literally the notion that life after death is what each individual imagines it to be. Williams plays a character, Chris Nelson, whose children are killed in a traffic accident two years before he meets a similar fate...")

("'Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner....")

"There was a king of Iran who said to a dervish, an Islamic holy man, 'Tell me a story.' The dervish said: 'Your Majesty, I will tell you the tale of Hatim Tai, the Arabian King and the most generous man of all time; for if you could be like him, you would indeed be the greatest king alive. "Speak on," said the king..."

("In January of 1988, I received a phone call from a friend in Medicine Hat. 'Would you like a kitten?' the familiar voice asked. Seems my friend's wife had found a kitten cowering in the parking lot of the Medicine Hat Mall, shivering and dirty. She'd taken the poor little thing out to their home in the country and were now canvassing their friends and neighbors....")

("Like so many of his stories, Jesus tells a parable of reversal. Someone low is going up; someone high is being brought low. Bob Dylan captured the thought in his song The Times They are a Changin'. The ballad came out of the turbulent 60's; an era of dramatic social change. In poetic rhyme, Dylan warned that 'The line it is drawn The curse it is cast'...")

("Every January, a special section in Life magazine reminds us that many rich, famous and creative writers, musicians, scientists, sport figures and movie actors have been removed from this earth by death in the year just past. The magazine prints their pictures and makes admiring comments about them...")

("If you have watched the television program Touched By An Angel, you know that in every episode the angel of death makes an appearance. He is a good looking man who comes in a light colored suit to bring the news to someone that their time is very short...." and another illustration)

("A pastor tells the following story about a man in his parish who also had a problem with his eyesight. 'Years ago a woman in Brooklyn, New York, bequeathed her eyes to the eye bank. Upon her death, her eyes were flown to Philadelphia where the corneas were transplanted into the eyes of a man I had known for many years', said the pastor...." and other illustrations)

Donald Hilton’s prayer in Blessed be the Table would have been a good one for the rich man. It’s definitely a good one for us: If it should be, loving Father of all, that, all unknown to us, our eating causes others to starve, our plenty springs from others’ poverty, or our choice feeds off others’ denial, then, Lord, forgive us, enlighten us, and strengthen us to work for fairer trade and just reward. Amen Lazarus’ community carries him, day in and day out, to the gates of the man who can help him. It is a visual protest as well as a call to action, and a way of trying to name and call for change. This way of speaking truth to power appears to cut across culture and time—and often, sadly, still seems to carry the same results. Remember those two months in late 2011, when Wall Street was “Occupied”? Those who camped out as representatives of “the 99%” were trying to raise awareness about income and wealth inequality...

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("It was 1969, and I was part of a choir premiering the folk musical "Good News" in Europe. One of our stops was a large gathering in Berne, Switzerland, of Baptist youth from all over the world. Bag lunches were served every day to all of us at the Youth Congress, several thousand people. The meal included a piece of luncheon meat. I remember distinctly that it was tongue one day...")

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Well . . . what would you do if someone appeared at your door claiming to be your late Uncle Robert who had always been considered a no-good beggar, the black sheep of the family? You say, 'What do you mean, you are my Uncle Robert? He has been dead for years now!'...

("Frances Paschal Landers's life was changed at age 58 when she and her husband went on the first of what would be 24 mission trips in Haiti: 'She made her first trip to Haiti in 1977, accompanying her late husband, Gardner, an ophthalmologist, on a medical mission trip. Together, they made more than 20 medical mission trips to the country...")