Love and Kindness

09-29-2019Weekly ReflectionFather Prince Raja

The gospel text of today invites us once again to reflect on the meaning of love and kindness. There is the unnamed rich man who has a poor neighbour named Lazarus. 'Lazarus' literally means, 'God helps'. The poor man is very visible because he lies at the gate of the rich man. Lazarus yearns for the love of his neighbour, which he does not receive. He relies solely on the love of God. The parable should not be taken to justify laziness or to discourage hard work. There is no reference to both in the text. There is no glorification of material poverty either. The text is about our attitude to God, and our attitude towards our neighbour. So, does the gospel answer our initial question: Why love? I think, the gospel text of today teaches us that love and kindness are important for our lasting well-being and true happiness. Three things seem to emerge from the text:

1. Love of our immediate family may not be good enough for our general well-being.
   There is a difference between love and kindness. Love is primarily a relationship with people whom we know and who are able to respond to our movement towards them. On the other hand, kindness is truly an altruistic attitude of reaching out to someone without expecting anything in return.
2. We could become victims of the gap we ourselves create with our neighbours. We begin to deprive ourselves of happiness and well-being.
3. Those who truly trust in God will enjoy well-being, because they will be able to be compassionate.

Though Jesus in his preaching repeated the Golden Rule proposed by the Law and Prophets (Mt 7:12; Lk 6:31), his invitation to love is based on the experience of the love of God Himself. In Lk 6:36, he would say, "Be compassionate, even as your Father is compassionate."

How do we share our time, talent, and treasure? One way is helping in the programs and ministries in our parish and diocese and in service opportunities. There are organizations that feed the poor and so provide them with groceries, provide counseling and medical help and specialize with the needs of children and expectant mothers. We do not need special training to help, only the desire to assist someone in need.

In the larger community, there are many opportunities to help those in need. There is a place that fits our unique talents and skills provided we should have the time. If our time is heavily involved in raising a family, we can help others as a family and teach them love for others in need. And so we have time, talents and treasures and they are not ours to keep but to share. If we have a good family, then, we are blessed and rich. We are rich because we have Jesus in us especially His presence that makes us different from the rest. Because of Jesus, we are rich with true friends, hope and meaning of life. Let us not allow ourselves and our family to be destroyed because of material things.