OMELIE / Omelie EN

28 set 2025

28/09/2025 - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

28/09/2025 - 26^th Sunday in O. T. - year C

Reading 1 AM 6,1.4-7 Psalm 145 Reading 2 1 TM 6,11-16 Gospel LK 16,19-31

Jesus continues to reflect with his disciples on the influence that wealth can have on the human heart. His reflection is also supported today by the clear denunciation of the prophet Amos: there are people who think only of themselves, busy spraying perfume on themselves, listening to music, eating and drinking without the slightest concern for their own people: “They drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the best oils; yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph.” This could be a color snapshot of the current situation in many parts of our planet.

Is there anyone today who seriously thinks about tomorrow? Is there anyone who thinks about ensuring that their children will not be alone tomorrow, without siblings, cousins, nephews, or relatives? Today’s society, and even more so that of the future, will be steeped in selfishness, and therefore at the mercy of the strongest. “They shall be the first to go into exile, and their wanton revelry shall be done away with,” warns Amos. Jesus’s warning is also healthy. He uses a parable, from which various lessons emerge.

Wealth, though a gift from God, can be deceptive if the heart, which should always be grateful and obedient to the Father, attaches itself to it. Those who covet them fail to notice the presence of the poor, and fail to realize that they are brothers, loved and protected by God.

Those who fail to pay attention firstly to the Word of God, use riches only for themselves, committing grave injustices. The solution suggested in the parable is precisely to listen to the Law and the Prophets, that is, the Word of God. Indeed, God gives us his gifts to give us the ability to love as true children of his. If we fail to do so, we prepare ourselves for a future of despair, like that of the rich man in torment.

“I am suffering torment in these flames”, says the rich man. This suffering is without end, and is excruciating, precisely because it knows no communion and solidarity. Whatever modern right-thinking people may say, that “flame” is a reality. Abraham and Lazarus, however, are in joy and peace, thanks to their faith and their obedience to God. Those who rejected faith in the God of Abraham and refused to share in His mercy—where are they, and where will they be?

Here on earth we prepare our eternal future: our obedience to God is crucial, an obedience exercised by caring for others, alleviating their suffering, and sharing the goods entrusted to us by heaven.

Unfortunately, only dogs, as they can, come close to the wounds of poor Lazarus. We know, however, that the term “dog” does not refer only to animals, but is also a term used to indicate pagans, the godless. The rich man, who thought he was saved by default simply because he belonged to the people of God, without showing mercy, will be surpassed by the pagans: in the kingdom of heaven, they will take his place.

To help the rich open their eyes to their miserable situation, what can be done? We should perform miracles that shake them, says our self-interested common sense. Miracles amaze and astonish, but they fail to convert, says Jesus. Even “If someone should rise from the dead,” the rich and the selfish dissolute will not “be persuaded.”

Jesus is already thinking about his response to his disciples, who cannot understand why the Jewish leaders are so ferocious against him and them, despite the astonishing fact of his resurrection. Those who do not believe in the Word do not believe in miracles either. Those who do not convert to preaching will not convert even if they see the dead rise again.

You will not seek miracles, nor will you seek those who claim to perform them: instead, you will seek the Word, you will seek to be obedient to it. This is precisely the pressing exhortation of Saint Paul to his disciple Timothy: “I charge you to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Obedience to the Word certainly requires effort and is even met with contempt and persecution, but it is the only blessing that unites us now and in the future to Jesus, witness to the light of the invisible God before Pilate and all the people.