Lazurus and the rich man

The story of Lazarus and the rich man has an eternal lesson:  God is always in front of us and in the least likely places. We do not need to know how Lazarus got to a place where he had to beg, how his health deteriorated to a point where his legs had sores, or anything else. All we need to know is that he needed help and a person who could have helped walked by him every day. Even after they both died, the rich man still treated Lazarus like a servant when he asked Abraham to send him over with water. We are reminded to not be myopic but to have our eyes wide open to God who is not far away.

We all struggle with what to do with the people who are begging at the entrances of plazas, at intersections, and other places. I do not have an easy answer because I am torn too. In one ear, I hear this Gospel but in the other, I wonder if I am enabling something else. I know we are not supposed to judge but this is a real moral conflict. Some people have told me that they keep little bags with socks, some easy food, water, etc. and give that instead of money. This is the best way to deal with this dilemma. One idea would be for us to generate a list of solutions that would fulfill the Gospel mandate and not enable a problem with giving cash.

In the time of Jesus, taking of the poor and needy was easier than today. The population was smaller and more intimate. Even in a city, the number of people was nowhere near what it is today. This is not excuse for not helping but it drives home the point that our world has become very complicated, which makes our moral dilemmas even more complicated. The rich man did not even try to help Lazarus. Anything we do to try to address these issues is a step forward.