The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us;
so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers [and sisters]. (1 John 3:16)
September 30, 2025
Hello Everyone –
Wow! Could there be more sharper contrasts — more radical reversals — than in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? [Recall last Sunday’s gospel from Luke?]
There is Lazarus (a name that means “God helps”) and a rich man who is nameless. There is the one dressed in purple finery and feasting sumptuously while the other is found lying at the door covered with sores and being attended to by dogs. One is borne up by angels and conveyed to Abraham’s side and the other is buried unceremoniously and relegated to the netherworld. Wow!
A friend of mine shared his experience at a workshop on preaching that he attended a few years ago. The facilitator began by asking the participants to work out approaches to preaching on this particular passage. Quickly many of the participants decided that the moral of the story was that the rich man, though not mean or wicked towards Lazarus, simply did not notice him lying right there at his door. Not only should he have noticed him there, but he should have done something to provide for his nourishment and healing. Bottom line — too often we do not see and/or we do not act.
The facilitator listened patiently and then went on to show that this kind of moralizing was simply not enough. It would go nowhere with most congregations except to produce a “here we go again” reaction. Even if people listen carefully to that sort of message, what response would the preacher expect? Christian shame? Catholic guilt? Is that the way to go? And stirring up such reactions is not the purpose of the gospel. What good news would that be?
After all, the facilitator opined, most of us simply do not have the capacity to take in the hungry and wounded, the street person and the “leper.” Their real care and healing are often beyond what any of us can personally provide. And even if we started, where would it stop? Additionally, would we end up neglecting our primary responsibilities as spouses, parents, friends? What would ever be enough? And what would be left for me? Lastly, if one last Lazarus ended up at my door even after all my efforts would I still be netherworld-bound? In the end, we can suffer from “Lazarus paralysis.”
The facilitator’s reasoning as recounted by my friend has haunted me. I think it is a dance that every person of goodwill participates in as we look at the world around us today. There are so many complexities in the world beyond our door — of injustices done to people whereby their human dignity and integrity are completely disregarded — of media coverage of disaster after disaster — of mailings and emailings purporting so many needs and good causes vying for our attention — of complex and overwhelming crises in the human family, social and economic imbalances that seem only to increase with each passing day. There is a Lazarus everywhere we turn, crying out, tempting us to wish we were deaf.
While the parable under scrutiny reflects an insensitivity and numbness that can set in when people are bombarded by the plight of so many struggling individuals, other deeper elements of the parable wait to be uncovered — that truly reveal good news with an action dimension. For instance …
It is good news that God has such confidence in us, that God trusts us to be able to deal creatively with life’s most profound complexities.
It is good news that God believes in us and in our capacity to respond to his call for justice in mature and life-affirming ways.
It is good news that Jesus does not insult us with cliches or simple answers that God trusts our human potential to be critical of quick and easy answers, and to be fully engaged in both analysis of and response to the fact of “Lazarus.”
It is good news that God thinks we are tough enough to be challenged so deeply, and to have our ordinary ways of thinking critiqued so drastically.
As I do for you, please pray for me,
Most Reverend Jeffrey S. Grob
Archbishop of Milwaukee
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