March 4, 2010
Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, the LORD, alone probe the mind and test the heart, to reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds. Jeremiah 17:9-10
“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.'" Luke 16:29-31
Piety
Psalm 1
Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers.
Rather, the law of the LORD is their joy; God's law they study day and night.
They are like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season; Its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers.
But not the wicked! They are like chaff driven by the wind.
Therefore the wicked will not survive judgment, nor will sinners in the assembly of the just.
The LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.
Study
The two Lazarus stories by Luke and John in the Gospels deal with similar resurrection stories and illustrate how difficult it is to change the human heart. Despite his pleadings, the formerly rich Lazarus can not convince the Lord to send him back with a message for the rest of his family. More tortuous than all else is the human heart. Not even the return of someone from the dead will succeed in getting people to repent.
In John’s Gospel, when Jesus goes to Bethany to be with Mary and Martha after the death of their brother Lazarus, Jesus ends up so moved to pity that he brings Lazarus back from the dead. You would think that this might have changed all the people in the region but instead it moved people to plot against Jesus with more vengeance. More tortuous than all else is the human heart.
Underlying the theme of resurrection and getting through to people, Luke’s gospel also further illustrates the issues of people who are rich and poor and how money gets in the way of the message and behavior sought by Jesus. The poor man who is not even named by Luke attains heaven. The rich man gets a named place of honor in the story but he is eternally condemned to the fires of hell. As we recall from the earlier passages in Luke’s sermon on the plain: And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh." Luke 6:20-21
Action
Our attitudes toward the poor also are severely tested in how we treat those whom we pass by each and every day. When I drive to work, right before cars turn onto the Key Bridge in Rosslyn, there are two homeless people standing on the street with signs begging for money from the Mercedez-Benz, BMW, Chevys, Fords and Toyotas that are speeding past. Sometimes, you can sense drivers gunning the gas pedal to get through the intersection and avoid eye contact with the poor as the commuters head to their jobs in the city.
Dozens and hundreds of cars can drive past without any window rolling down. Not even a few quarters get passed out the window to the men.
Once downtown, park benches in McPherson Square and Farragut Square also are populated with people who obviously slept on the street the night before beneath layers of blankets and coats. People jumping off a bus or emerging from the Blue/Orange line metro train step in double-time to avoid an encounter with the poor.
We are content to leave the care and feeding of these people to the formal charities. Many homeless veterans are a part of this cross section of humanity and they subsist on the kindness of charities just blocks form the headquarters of the Federal cabinet department assigned to their care. Maybe these women and men will get a hot dinner from the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker volunteers. Maybe they will get soup and a sandwich from the van that makes its morning and evening rounds from DC Central Kitchen. But it is very unlikely that they can ever expect a quarter or a dollar from the scurrying workers rushing past like Lazarus.
What would you say to get people to stop and share if you were on that park bench some cold morning and there was no hypothermia shelter to feed you and keep you warm the previous night?
