GATES AND CHASM: THE HERE AND THE HEREAFTER

READINGS: TWENTY SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

In the gospel of this 26th Sunday in ordinary times, year C (Luke 16:19-31), we read about the parable of the rich man (Dives) and Lazarus. The parable begins with a gate separating these two, in life, and ends with a chasm separating them in eternity. On one side of the gate was Lazarus, a symbol of suffering humanity, in need of compassion, love, pity, and care. On the other side of the gate was Dives, a rich man, a symbol of our insensitivity to suffering humanity, and for whom the purpose of life is the satisfaction of all human appetite, with little or no care about storing up treasures in heaven through human wealth on earth. The story ends with a chasm separating these two in eternity. 

What is important for us to note is that the chasm that separated Lazarus and Davis, in eternity, is simply a manifestation of the gate that separated them in the world. The gate that separates and divides us in this world is not a condition of circumstances—rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, Christian or Muslims, etc.—but a condition of the heart and the chasm that separated them in eternity is not a matter of spatial distance, but in the manner of life lived. Aristotle defined four kinds of people, from worst to best, and labeled them (a) the “Tyrant”, (b) the “Incontinent”, (c) the “Continent”, and (d) the “Virtuous”. The “Tyrant”, he described as the one who gives in completely to human appetite, vice, and passions, with no worries about the hereafter. The “Incontinent” he described as the one who struggles to live with virtue and very often falls into vice because of the lack of true convictions about the hereafter.  The “Continent” he describes as the one with many virtues but falls occasionally into vice due to human weakness. The “Virtuous” he described as the one with firm convictions about the hereafter and either never falls to vice or very rarely does so. 

What we see here is the great chasm between the “Tyrant” and the “Virtuous”. No wonder, in the 2nd reading (1 Timothy 6:11-16), St. Paul exhorts Timothy, “But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called” 

My friends, our call is to eternal life in heaven. We must, therefore, use everything we have in this life, and do everything we can, to lay hold of it. We, therefore, ought to look deep into our hearts and identify gates that separate us from ourselves, from our neighbors, from our loved ones, and ultimately from our God. It could be fear, greed, pride, loneliness, addiction, indifference, apathy, past hurts, unforgiveness, resentment, envy, jealousy, cynicism, wrath, you name it. We must also evaluate our lifestyles and, speaking truth to our conscience, identify where we fall on the scale between the “Tyrant” and the “Virtuous”. The distance between these two rests on the way of living. Am I closer to the virtuous man, or, God forbid, to the tyrant? Scripture says, “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). May we continue to seek God’s grace, on a daily basis, as we fight out way towards the path of the virtuous. Amen!