Mtr Mary Trainor

How many times have you heard someone say
If I had his money I could do things my way…*

Dear friend,

Rich man, poor man. In our U.S. American culture, wealth is the great definer. If you’ve got it you have great housing, best healthcare, elaborate vacations, power, and popularity even among strangers. If you don’t have it, you struggle to make ends meet, if you even have the means to have housing, a car, a job.

During my childhood if you were asked what do you wanted to be when you grew up, “rich” was among the popular answers. For kids like me and my brother, who were reared by people of very modest means, “rich” sounded pretty good. We could have all the latest toys. Even for adults, wealth is still about having the latest toys.

The Gospel reading today from Luke examines this scenario in the well known parable of an unnamed rich man, and a poor man named Lazarus, who begged (with no good outcome) at the rich man’s gate. They both died. Lazarus goes to what we would call heaven; the rich man to Hades, where intense flames tormented him.

Money can't buy back your youth when you're old
Or a friend when you're lonely, or a love that's grown cold...

The rich man speaks across a great chasm to Father Abraham, who he sees tending to Lazarus. Now it is Lazarus who is blessed with life and heaven’s treasures, and the rich man learns there is no crossing of the great chasm, even though he can speak and be heard and be answered.

It’s a story of polarities from which you and I may draw different messages. For me, it’s a cautionary tale about humility, being mindful of the needs of others, especially those with less than we have. No one grows up wanting to be poor, it’s something life throws at us. But another Bible passage talks about God’s preferential treatment of the poor. And there’s a lesson there, too.

But one thing's for certain when it comes my time
I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind

Mtr Mary

*Selected verses from A Satisfied Mind, written by Joe “Red” Hayes and Jack Rhodes. Its timeless message has been shared with the world by such disparate artists as Glen Campbell, Ella Fitzgerald, Joan Baez, Ian and Sylvia, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson.