Father Christopher Zugger

Galatians 6: 11-18 and Luke 16: 19-31

Jesus says in the parable today that “it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom” that is, the soul of Lazarus rests with Abraham in glory. And then he says abruptly that the “rich man died and was buried.”

When this rich man had his funeral, there were mourners from the family and friends and so on. It was probably quite the show. But Christ makes a point of saying simply that he died and was buried. Lazarus had been dumped at the rich man’s gate, now the rich man – who remains nameless in the entire parable – is dumped into the ground. He had a name, wealth, power on earth; he has no name in eternity as he has been forgotten. That rich man then cries out to Father Abraham, but John the Baptist and Jesus both warned that it was not enough to claim “we have Abraham as our father”; people must “do the fruits required of repentance.” People must live in a spirit of following the gospel, which calls us to believe, to live free from sin, and to repent for those sins that we do commit.

In America today, 74% believe in God, 67% believe there is a heaven, only 59% believe there is a hell. The vast majority of regular church-going Christians believe in these things – the question is, how do we live? Do we live in awareness of the last judgment, of a personal judgment, in awareness that what we do here and now will definitely affect where we end up.

We are taught in western countries to invoke God without invoking God, as people constantly say “Oh my God” to just about any event, or shorten it to simply OMG. We are taught that money is most important, a large number of followers on Tik Tok or Instagram is desirable, and that anyone now can be an internet influencer. Basically, we are taught to look for our rewards here on earth.

But when we die, when we are escorted into the magnificent and awesome presence of God for our judgment, when the book of life is opened, what will God focus on? He will not care about the number of our followers, or how well we played a game, or the size of our bank account – God will ask us instead, did you love as my Son loved? Did you allow the reception of His Body and Blood in Holy Communion to help you become more Christ-like?  Did you allow the gifts of the Holy Spirit received at baptism and chrismation to change you and did you use those gifts in daily life?

Lazarus was unknown on earth to all but the dogs and an occasional donor but Jesus makes it clear in this parable and in the sermon on the mount that the poor, the broken, the suffering, the sorrowful, the oppressed, the victims are well known to God. Lazarus’ patient suffering, his patient endurance, saved his soul. The rich man’s ignoring of the prophets and the Jewish religion have condemned him to eternal suffering.

It’s interesting that in the Gallup poll that I quoted earlier, the richer Americans are, and the more liberal their thinking, the less they believe in God, or heaven, or hell. The Blessed Virgin warned in 1917 at Fatima that too many people were lost in hell because no one prayed for the conversion of sinners, because of sins that offended God already in 1917, which we look back on as a time when Christianity strongly influenced people in North America and Europe. When she showed hell to the three children, the father of Jacinta Marto, who was present and watched the children, later said that “ Lucia gasped in sudden horror, that her face was white as death, and that all who were there heard her cry in terror to the Virgin Mother, whom she called by name. The children were looking at their Lady in terror, speechless, and unable to plead for relief from the scene they had witnessed.”

Our Lady gave to the children the short verses that we know as the Fatima Prayer today – O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need of Thy mercy.  The response of the three children was not only to recite that prayer in the Rosary and throughout the day, but also to offer sacrifices for the salvation of sinners, like skipping a meal or taking their prayer time more seriously. They worked at being co-redeemers with Christ, at praying and doing penances, and they of course changed completely. Jacinta Marto was only nine when she died, and her brother Francisco was only ten. Yet they are both canonized saints of the Catholic Church, because they exercised such profound spirituality.

In the epistle today, Saint Paul writes to the Galatians in chapter 6 that “far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is what those little children learned to do, through their own voluntary sacrifices, and when they suffered during the great epidemic of 1918 and endured that suffering for the salvation of souls and their own redemption. If a ten-year-old and a nine-year-old could reach that level of holiness, what can we do who are teenagers or adults?

Paul says that he is writing in his own large handwriting in the letter – that means he took over from the scribe in order to make a serious point. He finished the letter with these words: Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. He could be referring to the many scars he carried from being whipped and stoned; he probably meant he had been conformed to Christ’s cross through the celebration and reception of the holy mysteries of the sacraments. Much of the letter to the Galatians is about resisting the Judaizers who insisted on circumcision of males and following Jewish customs, but Paul insisted that instead we must not fear to embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ in our daily lives, in our personal spirituality, and that only through the Cross of Christ can we enter into God’s glory and be there with Him for eternity.

            What do I believe? Presumably everyone here today believes in the Holy Trinity; we believe that there is a heaven, a destiny for us. Hopefully we acknowledge that there is a Hell, a place of punishment for those who knowingly and willingly reject God and His love. We need to pray for the salvation of sinners and their conversion, and we need to daily reflect on what we have done well, and where we can improve. This parish has celebrated 50 years of life, 50 years of serving God, 50 years of spiritual and physical growth, from the front yard of John and Burnette Grega’s house, to worshipping in borrowed churches, to having its own homes, to the great experience of being full on Sundays at a time when American church attendance is declining. Let us continue to grow individually and as a faith community, to pray for the salvation of those who do not know God or have rejected God, and for the grace that we as a parish, and we individually, will know the love of Jesus Christ on the cross for us, and conform ourselves to that self-giving love.