There is a saying about Jesus’ life on earth: he came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. This shows up in Our Lord’s words throughout the Gospels, such as the parable of Lazarus and the rich man which we just heard, and in the warnings of the prophets, like the first reading from the prophet Amos. For us as Christians, we need to take these warnings that are found in Scripture to heart and examine if we have become too comfortable in our lives.
When we talk about being comfortable, we usually first think about having enough money and possessions to live a life without concern. In fact, I think most people read the parable in today’s Gospel as being only about the rich man not sharing his wealth to Lazarus. While the lack of generosity with his wealth is part of the problem, it was not the primary concern of Our Lord, but rather the complacency of the rich man towards Lazarus. The rich man could have done much to care for Lazarus, but was unwilling to do so out of his position of comfort.
In our lives, we can become comfortable, not merely by having enough money or possessions, but by falling into routines and practices that focus solely on ourselves and our immediate families. We become so concerned about what we want and desire and need that we lose sight of the needs and desires of those around us, even those we see every day, just as the rich man had to see Lazarus lying at his gate every day. This level of comfort, becoming oblivious to the needs of those around us, is exactly why Our Lord used the parable to berate the Pharisees.
To avoid becoming this comfortable, we need to follow St. Paul’s encouragement to “pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith” by performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. These 14 works, 7 physical and 7 spiritual, should be familiar to all those who attended Catholic school or religious education, as we all should have learned them early in our Catholic education. These works of mercy all come from the teachings of Christ within the Scriptures and have been developed into their current lists through the Tradition of the Church to guide us in following Our Lord’s command to love our neighbor.
In the corporal works of mercy, we are asked to perform acts of charity towards the physical needs of those in our community and world, while the spiritual works of mercy affect the spiritual needs that we all share, whether we realize it or not. As a reminder, the corporal works of mercy are: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, and bury the dead. The spiritual works of mercy are: admonish the sinner, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, comfort the afflicted, bear wrongs patiently, forgive all injuries, and pray for the living and the dead. Just in case you’re like me and can’t remember these important works of mercy, the pamphlet from the Fathers of Mercy in the back of the church does contain these lists.
If we truly wish to enter into the salvation promised by Christ, we will make performing these works of mercy very seriously, and will examine how we can change our lives to fulfill them. As part of our examination of conscience, which we should do every night before bed, we need to ask how we are living these works of mercy. For example: Do we seek out ways to help those who are in need locally, and support those organizations who serve those in need throughout the world? When is the last time we visited someone who is homebound or under nursing home care? Do we regularly pray for those who have died, especially those who have no one to pray for them?
By honestly asking these questions and seriously reflecting on the answers, we will seek to live out these works of mercy in our lives. May we join Our Lord in comforting the afflicted and avoid becoming one of the comfortable who are afflicted.
