Thursday, March 20, 2003

The rich man in today's Gospel is suffering torment in the flames because of the evil he has done in his life. We can think Lazarus got what he deserved , since he was just a beggar and seemingly didn't have much to offer. Yet, in God's eyes, the two men are equal. All people are equal. In God's eyes, the rich man and Lazarus the beggar are exactly the same and both have responsibilities.

Poor Lazarus. We are not told how he ended up on the streets, but evidently it was through no fault of his own, but due to circumstances beyond his control that he ended up poor and sick and starving. We are not told how the rich man made his wealth, but we do know how he conducted himself with the wealth he had. He did not conduct himself in a very admirable way. We see the terrible inconsistency between the two men's lives on earth, and we see that there is justice in the life hereafter.

Sometimes, when we're in difficult situations, we think: How can this be when I've prayed and done what's right and tried to be good? How can it be that there is still injustice? Our Lord never promised us complete justiceÊ in this life or in this world. He did promise us justice, however, and there will be justice in the life to come. Everyone who has done good will be rewarded and everyone who has done evil, though they may seem to prosper during their time on this earth, will suffer greatly.Ê

In this life, everyone is equal. And, before God, everyone is equal. For that very reason, it is difficult because we see that, even though we have progressed in so many ways in our society and we talk a great deal about equality and rights and justice, at the same time we are plagued by war at the height of our civilization. We still resort to violence in difficult situations. Without passing judgement on the war in Iraq, we do know it has been very controversial and many people have felt it was too soon to resort to war, which is a very serious means of solving problems. At the same time, we know that the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that the moral evaluation of the decision to wage war must be undertaken by the public authorities, the people who are responsible for the public good. Our leaders must have sufficient reason to resort to force in order to bring about change. The debate waged for weeks and months, as we know, and our Holy Father was very eager to see war avoided if at all possible. We know how strongly he felt, sending his own ambassador to President Bush to try to persuade him to reconsider. Unfortunately, the matter is not only decided by the President of the United States, but by a number of countries allied with him -- 35 countries at this time.

Now that we are at war, we must pray that it end as quickly as possible and that as few people as possible suffer death and difficulty during this terrible ordeal. This is why the Holy Father has always railed against the use of war, because war is a terrible thing. It is probably as bad for those who wage it as it is for the people who experience its suffering. We know that, when people have to resort to violence, it changes their own lives -- even when it's for a good cause. Resorting to violence leaves scars on the people who have to carry out the mission. We should pray for our brothers and sisters in the Armed Forces because, win or lose, they suffer. We should pray for the people of Iraq because, win or lose, they suffer. No one wins in war. Ultimately, everyone loses. That's why war is such a terrible tragedy. Yet, here we are -- supposedly a tremendously advanced civilization -- and we still resort to war. War will be with us until the end of time. It will always be part of our existence on this earth, as evil will always be a part of our existence on this earth.

When faced with evil and injustice, we may suddenly worry that we haven't prayed enough. Perhaps, we have prayed a great deal. We may think that God is not listening to our prayers. Perhaps he is listening. We may feel that, somehow, we have to find a way to banish evil from this earth. Well, we do have to find a way. Yet, at the same time, we know that evil will plague us until the end of time and that our prayers, even though they are heard by God, are not always answered in the way we expect. In His great wisdom, God respects the freedom of men and women, who will at times make choices that will bring about hardship for the others on this earth. That is why, although we're all equal before God, each one of us can abuse that great priviledge and we can use our lives to do good or to do evil. We can be like Lazarus who suffered the indignities of his life in order to bring about good. This was his purification and sanctification. Or, we can be like the rich man who did not use his weath to bring about good, but only to satisfy his own selfishness.

You and I must see that God has given us great gifts and that we must use them as best we can to serve others. We have to overcome the evil that will always be in the world by an abundance of good, the good of our own lives of the good of our commitment to follow Jesus Christ faithfully. When others do not lead good lives, instead of becoming desperate or confused or losing heart, we should realize this is all the more reason to be good ourselves. Only goodness will conquer evil and, the greater the evil, the greater the goodness needed to overcome it. We pray especially to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace. The Holy Father has asked us to pray the Rosary for peace. There is even an article on the front page of the New York Times that says, among the troops, there is a huge shortage of rosaries. Rosaries and Bibles are in tremendous demand, and the troops can't get them quickly enough. This should not be surprising, considering that a large percentage of those in the Armed Forces are Catholic. In the coming weeks, let us pray for all those who may not have the opportunity to pray for themselves. We pray for them to Our Lady, using the great tradition of the Holy Rosary.

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