There’s 2 points that I’d like to talk about from today’s gospel. The first is that the rich man is no Hitler. That might sound crazy; but when I was young and at university, universalism, the idea that everyone goes to heaven except maybe Hitler was that common thinking.

In this parable, the rich man is in hell, but there’s no indication that he murdered anyone, or committed adultery, or stole anything, or lied or cheated, or even broke the sabbath. In fact, in his conversation with Abraham, he even seems to show some concern for his brothers. He’s no Hitler. He’s in hell for one reason – he didn’t help his neighbor. He was right there at his gate. He could easily have helped him with something, but he did nothing and for that, he’s in hell. This is consistent with what Jesus says elsewhere, especially in Matt 25 with his prophecy of the final judgment when he separates the sheep from the goats and says to those on his left, I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirsty and you gave me no drink, etc.

So, there’s absolutely no question that if we have the means, we need to give to those who are poor. It’s loving our neighbor as ourselves, though it’s not the only way, and I’ll come back to that in a minute. But this leads to my second point.

Last week my wife Joni and I were blessed to be able to meet with our small group and talk about this weekend’s reading, and it became very clear to me that a lot of us deal with some guilt with gospels like this one and talk of money, so I want to address that.

On the one hand, we have to give. On the other hand, very few people are called to sell all they have, give it to the poor, and follow Jesus as a missionary or a monk or a nun or something like that. And I know from my own experience and from others that we can easily make ourselves crazy with our thoughts about what we should do with our money.

So, what does God say we should do? Other than the general command that we need to help the poor, the only positive command from the Church is the precept that Father Russo mentioned last week, “the faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities.” There’s no stipulation on the amount, no percentage requirement, just, we must provide for the material needs of the Church.

Now, what does God say in His word?  

Luke chapter 3, John the Baptist is preaching, and the crowd asks him, “what shall we do?” He answers, “He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise.” I remember Msgr. John Enzler, who was the President and CEO of Catholic Charities here for a while once shared with the deacons that when he was a boy, probably about 10, it was Sunday morning, his family was getting ready to go to Mass, and he was in the car, and he sees his dad come out and then start to talk with a guy on the street. The next thing he knows, his dad takes off his coat and hands it to the guy. Then he goes back into the house, gets another coat, comes to the car and off they go. He asked him why he did that, and his dad answered, “he needed it.” That was it. No fanfare. But it made a big impact on little 10-year old John.

The Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s gospel, Jesus said “Give to everyone who begs from you.” I was recently watching Michael Knowles, who is a good Catholic commentator, speak to a group of young people at a Turning Point event and a young man from the audience asked him about this verse. I wasn’t totally satisfied with his answer because he basically said, well, we can’t take this literally because we don’t have enough money to give to everyone who begs. Maybe. Depends on how many people beg us for money. When I worked in the city, I did encounter a lot of people on the street begging for money and in that case, it probably was true that I couldn’t help everyone, but I could help some. I could help one. Then the question is what do we do? We want to be charitable but if we give cash, the person might use it in an unhealthy way. One person in our small group said every week she would see the same woman begging for help. She started to pack a little brown bag with a granola bar and a piece of fruit or something like that and give that to her. Another guy I know would bring a bottle of water for a guy he would see every day. My son Eric usually would give something, and then he would always ask the person their name and tell them I’m going to pray for you. It was a beautiful little way to love the person and affirm them as a person with dignity.

Our 2^nd reading today is in a section where Paul is talking about money. Immediately preceding the text we read, Paul warns Timothy about the love of money which doesn’t just mean money per se, but all that money can buy for us like material goods, and security. He says “if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils…” Today’s parable is a perfect illustration of this warning. Notice that even in hell, the rich man is still the same; he looks down on Lazarus as a servant boy. He doesn’t care about him as a person. His heart has become calloused, and this is the big warning with love of money. We want to grow in love for our neighbor, and love of money can kill that.

Paul then goes on after the text we read today and says “As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed.” Notice Paul doesn’t say that they need to sell everything they have and follow Jesus in poverty. He simply says, be generous.

And here I have to say we are incredibly blessed here in Bowie. I’m constantly hearing about people helping each other. When somebody needs something, someone provides. A person gets in a financial bind, someone sets up a money tree or gift card tree. A person is ill or has surgery, someone sets up a food train. A mom needs maternity clothes, or baby clothes and another mom provides. This is love of neighbor, and it’s not always money, it’s whatever a person needs, and we’re very blessed here. People here are incredibly generous.

Here’s the main point I want to make. Some things in our Christian life are black and white. Sex is generally black and white. Sex outside of marriage – always wrong; sex within marriage that is not open to life – always wrong. This is simple. But what we do with our money is not like that. We know we must give because Jesus said so and that’s how we grow in love of neighbor; but exactly how we do that is not spelled out. We must discern what God wants us to do. We need to be attentive to our conscience. If your conscience is bothering you about money, take the time, make the effort, and discern why, what is He saying to you? Pray about it. If you’re married, talk with your spouse. Find a mature spiritual person that you trust and talk it through with him or her. Do what you need to discern God’s will and then do it.

Someone once asked Mother Teresa why she didn’t work to change structures in society that hurt the poor. She answered, “that’s not my call.” She did what God called her to do, and she wasn’t at all troubled that she wasn’t doing something else. That’s the key. I can tell you that for years my conscience disturbed me on this issue. The answer is to discern God’s will; what does God want me to do with the money He has given me, and then do it. God bless you.