Lk 16:19-31
[Jesus said to the Pharisees,] 19“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. 20And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. 22When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ 25Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
26Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ 27He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, 28for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ 29But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ 30He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
A poor man named Lazarus. This is not a story of the rich versus the poor, or heaven versus earth. The parable is a simple reminder that we are responsible for one another.
The song “Pananagutan” expresses this beautifully: “Walang sinuman ang nabubuhay/ Para sa sarili lamang/ Walang sinuman ang namamatay/ Para sa sarili lamang./ Tayong lahat ay may pananagutan sa isa’t-isa.” (No one lives or dies for oneself. Everyone has a responsibility for one another.) Composed by Jesuit Fr. Eduardo Hontiveros, this song echoes St. Paul: “None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom 14:7-8).
Lazarus. “Lazarus” comes from Hebrew ‘el-azar, “God has helped.” Two persons bear the name in the Gospels: the beggar in the parable of Luke and the friend of Jesus and the brother of Martha and Mary in John 11-12. The contrast between the rich man and Lazarus is strongly drawn: the rich man feasts, while the poor man suffers.In the next life, the rich man invokes family solidarity. But Abraham refuses to help him because his concern remains primarily his own elite family.