Story Time

 Luke 16: 19-31

Jesus told this parable to those among the Pharisees who loved money: ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.^* The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.^* He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’^{202122232425262728293031}

Storytelling is an amazing art and gift. Anyone who has sat in front of a good storyteller knows the beauty and the magic of a tale well told. Every story has a lesson and a good storyteller weaves the lesson into our hearts without us realizing what it is that we’ve received. I’ve often wondered if Jesus sat up at night thinking up these parables or if he told his stories off the top of his head, trusting in the Spirit to compose a story through him that would teach, admonish, comfort and exhort in a way that was needed right in that moment. He was definitely a talented storyteller for he always had an image and a tale at hand, often a multi-layered one with elements that probably went right over the heads of his listeners - and straight to our hearts.

Take this story of Lazarus and the rich man. Certainly, Jesus is once again painting a verbal picture of Kingdom reality for those Pharisees who loved money, trying to tweak them to a truth that had somehow become lost to them along the way, the truth about a God who desires mercy, not sacrifice, a God who hears the cry of the poor and invites them to come to the water as his special guests at no cost. This is one layer of the story being told.

It’s interesting to me that he used the name Lazarus for the poor man in his story. Had Jesus already raised Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, from the dead before he told this parable? Was Jesus subtly or not so subtly pointing out to the Pharisees that a Lazarus had already been raised from the dead and it certainly didn’t affect a change of heart in any of them? Or was Jesus speaking prophetically about how, in the future, they would fail to listen and understand when he brought Lazarus out of the tomb? And I can’t help but think he was speaking as well about the fact that he, himself, would be raised from the dead and even that would fail to convince those Pharisees as well as many people down through the ages that God is a God of compassion, a Father who seriously loves his anawim, his “poor ones”.

This parable contains something we women need to listen to and ponder upon. Each one of us needs to ask the question, “Has Jesus’ resurrection impacted the way I care for the poor?  Has his being raised from the dead spoken to my priorities in life and rearranged them so that I can see and respond to needs beyond my own?” I think I hear you answering that. I think I hear a resounding, “YES!”

Well, O.K. I don’t actually hear a resounding, “YES!” What I really hear is a lot of inner fumbling and mumbling and comments like, “Well, maybe. Sometimes. I hope it has, but I think I could do a lot better.”

All right. Fair enough. We can certainly all do a lot better. But I hope at least one of you is taking into account that lonely elderly person you’ve been listening to daily. And you who took your baby to visit some seniors so they could enjoy the beauty of an infant – was that not a sharing of your time and possessions? I know one of you has a home business and you send a great deal of the money you make to charities. Few people know that. Then there’s the woman and her husband who “adopted” a young single mom, helped her get off drugs, welcomed her children into their lives and have totally supported her as she tries to get an education and better her life. I humbly salute those of you who have volunteered talent, time and money to work with people in Haiti, Peru, Africa and other places where poverty or disaster have made life terribly difficult. And how often do you mothers act in mercy and compassion when your child is frightened, bewildered or sick and you rush to comfort and do all you can to ease the pain, teaching them at the same time that Jesus sees and cares about their anguish too? How many of you women belong to prayer chains and whenever there’s a need, the word goes out and the one in need is covered in prayer? How many of you have been seriously ill and have offered up the illness for the health of someone else? Who among you has made meals for someone who was laid up or grieving or have offered your home to help look after someone’s children in a difficult time? How often do you interrupt your work to listen to someone who has a heavy heart or just needs to know that they are worth listening to?

I could go on and on. When I think of all the women I know and how they all in so many ways, large and small, look after the poor in their path, my heart gets so full. I want to proclaim, “These women are my sisters and I stand in awe of their generosity and selflessness.”  It is so obvious that Someone raised from the dead has indeed spoken to these women. They have listened to the real heart of the law and the prophets and therefore they have inner eyes to see Jesus and inner ears to hear him say, “Comfort, comfort my people…speak tenderly to them…look to their needs.” Women instinctively know that a person doesn’t have to be in financial poverty in order to be a ‘poor one’.

Just because Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven doesn’t mean that he stopped being The Storyteller. All I have to do to is to observe women - and men - who have been touched by the resurrection to see The Storyteller walking among us, telling his stories again and again to a world that has difficulty listening to one who has come back from the dead.  Not only are these people of God portraying the story of God’s way to a mostly deaf world but they are also solidifying the foundational narrative of the whole Christian community. At the end of Mass we hear the priest say, “The Mass has ended. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” He could very well say, “Go in peace and be a parable.”

We are his story.