Saturday, September 24, 2016

Take care of others

26th Sunday of OT Year C 2016:
As many of you know, I’m a bit of a golf-addict.  And I usually golf with Fr. Mark Gurtner, who is the pastor of Our Lady of Good Hope.  Fr. Mark will freely admit that he is a lucky golfer.  In fact, he always says that he is the luckiest golfer in the world.  It’s true.  I’ve seen him hit it into ponds, only to have it skip the water and land on the green.  I’ve seen him shots that would go yards past the hole, only to hit the flagstick and go right in.  I like to say that he could hit it into the woods and a squirrel would bring it out for him.  I’m the opposite.  I always seem to get bad breaks, especially with cart paths.  My ball will be heading for the green, hit a cart path and go miles.  So, I always say that on the golf course, I’m Lazarus, and Fr. Mark is the rich man.  He gets all the good luck, and I get the bad.  I always tell him: this parable is about you, and it doesn’t end well for you.
Of course, that is just a joke.  But, this parable is actually quite serious, it’s also about all of us.  This parable is a powerful reminder for all of us to be thankful and generous.  The rich man in the parable ends up in the place of torment, not because he received good things in this life, but because he didn’t use these good things for the betterment of others.  Rather he spent his money on fancy clothes and expensive food.  Poor Lazarus sat by his doorstep, and the rich man didn’t even notice him.
My friends, we are all the rich man.  God has blessed us in so many ways.  But, we don’t want the story to end badly for us.  Take some time this week to reflect on the many ways that God has blessed you.  Then ask: what am I doing with all these gifts?


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