St. Luke 16:19-31: We have here a story of two men whose states, both in this life and in the next, are dramatically opposed. The rich man had everything a man could desire on this earth and he set his heart on wealth, to such a degree that, he excluded all thought of God or of what followed after death. Abraham tells him, why he is in eternal torment: He abused his time on earth. He knows that, he has no one to blame but himself. Likewise, we openly profess to be Christians and recite so often the words of the Creed: "I believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." Yet, we are so busy trying to get the wealth and the pleasures of this life, or to increase. We have no time to spare for the thing that really matters like the rich man.
On the other half of the picture, we have a beggar. The beggar goes straight to heaven. Our life is also like Lazarus, one long continual struggle against poverty, disease and hardship —Let us pray to God, to give us the grace, to carry our crosses patiently with the love of God. The Lord, rewards great sevices with trials, for out of trials, springs love for God and envy of your neighbor and rebellion against God will only add to our pains.
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