Refusing to Share with Others God’s Blessing
Refusing A Share in God’s Kingdom
(see Lk 16:19-31)
Dear
Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
The
Gospel story about the rich man and Lazarus tells us the reality of today’s
society where the gap between the rich and the poor gets bigger and bigger to
the point that it is impossible for people at the one end to reach those at the
other.
Reading
the story in details and meditating carefully on it, we come to know the reason
why the rich man was in torment in the netherworld. It is not simply because he was rich. to be rich is not a sin at all. To have possessions,
to accumulate properties, to enjoy comforts and to spend your money on beautiful
dress and delicious food is not a sin either. It is absolutely fair and legal for you to eat
the bread which you earn from your hard and honest labor. It is absolutely fair and legal, too, for you
to spend the money which you inherit from your parents.
The
right to private property is natural. The Book of Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 29,
reads: “God also said, ‘See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the
earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food.’” Put it in short, the earth and its natural
riches are free gifts from God, the Father of all, given to all peoples for
their common good and for their service of God and of neighbor. Man needs enough food and drink to conduct a
decent life. To earn a living, therefore,
man needs the means for their work. To
farmers, land is the means for their survival.
To fishermen, the clean and well-preserved sea environment is the vital
means for their life and the life of their children.
Recognition
of and respect for the right to private property of every citizen, therefore,
should be the obligation of all civilized people, in particular those in public
positions. Violation of the right to
private property is obviously a crime against humanity and deprivation of the
right to private property is a sin against God the Creator Who made man in His
image and gave man the use of the resources of the earth.
Back
to the story of the rich man to see why he committed sin while using his
property. The Gospel clearly reported that he “dressed in purple garment and
fine linen and dined sumptuously each day” but ignoring the presence of his
poor neighbor, “lying at his door”, hungry and “covered with sores, who would
gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.”
It
is not a crime to have property which you earn from your honest work. It is not a sin to enjoy the comfort of
dress, food and drink which you buy from your clean money.
But
to become too selfish to share your dress, food and drink with your friend is a
sin because you refuse your obligation to recognize God’s Holy Will that
natural resources are meant for all people.
But
to become indifferent to the needs of your neighbor and blinded to the
suffering of your friend is undeniably a serious crime because the riches which
God gave you are intended to make you more and fully human with a loving and
caring heart, not to turn you into a heartless and insensitive person.
The
Christian moral teaching on the spirit of poverty and the control of greed for
money and power is by no means hostile to legal and honest riches but it is
rather a timely and helpful warning of the danger of the misuse of money and
power.
Refusing to share with others God’s blessing is tantamount to
refusing a share in God’s Kingdom.
Fr. Francis Nguyen, O.P.
