Sister Consuelo Covarrubias
Mary Gjernes, Cojourner Candidate & PC College Employee
Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
Readings: PS 1:3 and Luke 16:19-31
The Rich Man and Lazarus
We were touched by Luke’s story of the rich man who dined sumptuously each day and totally ignored the poor starving man at his door step.
Didn’t the rich man have eyes to see what was happening at his door step?
How blind could he have been to others on his property, who like Lazarus were ill and had nothing to sustain them?
However, instead of judging and pointing a finger at the rich man, Lent asks us to look at ourselves.
What is it that I do not see in myself, my home, my community?
Am I like the rich man blind to my neighbors?; members of my family?; Those suffering from domestic violence who end up with no funds or a place to live?
Even the poor in poverty stricken countries, like the children in Africa who need food, education and medical help?
Ponder on these and add those situations that you know to your list.
If we have hope in the Lord, then there will be hope for the world. We can ask God to help us see from the heart, then we will be like Psalm 1:3 tells us, ”like a tree planted near running water that yields fruit in due season and whose leaves stay green”. We will have new life because it is God’s presence in us that gives new life each day.
Place yourself near God and God will assist you in what you believe and desire. Luke 8:15 says. Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.
Lord, may the harvest and the open heart you give me, enable me to reach out to change the world we live in today. Amen.