Letters of
Aquila and Priscilla
Volume 5 Issue 6 Reflections of Jun and Jean Uriarte September 2006
God chose those who are poor of the message of the Parable of the Rich Man
to be rich in faith and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31). In the parable, the
Js 2:5 rich man does not recognize the presence of
Lazarus who is lying right at his door. The
God’s preferential love for the poor is parable does not mention any unjust or ruthless
expressed unequivocally by James in his letter: exploitation of Lazarus by the rich man. Rather,
Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose it describes a total lack of concern for Lazarus.
those who are poor in the world to be rich in
faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised The parable does not mention anything
to those who love him? (Js 2:5). Because God especially good that Lazarus did. He is just
has chosen the poor to be rich in faith and heirs living in penury. Similarly, the rich man does
of the kingdom, the Church has to increasingly not do anything particularly bad or evil. He is
become the Church of the Poor. This means that just living in opulence. The parable does not
the Church must make a total commitment for mention either the crimes of the rich man or any
an option for the poor. In practice, this requires merits of the poor man. It simply underlines the
working with the poor, being with the poor, and revolting contrast between extreme wealth and
learning from the poor their real needs and abject poverty.
aspirations.
In contrast to the rich man’s feasting,
The very first step in working with the poor Lazarus is hungry and will gladly have eaten the
is dialogue. An authentic dialogue with the poor scraps that fall from the table. These scraps
is one that begins at the psycho-social level but include the bread that is used to wipe one’s
does not end there. The dialogue, in order to be hands and then thrown on the floor. In contrast
authentic, must gradually rise to the spiritual- to the rich man, clothed in purple and fine linen,
theological level. Dialogue with the poor is one Lazarus is covered with sores that dogs lick.
that meets the material needs of the poor but Unlike sheep or oxen, dogs are considered
does not stop there. True dialogue must have, unclean animals. By mentioning this, the
from the very beginning, its sights set on the evangelist wants to emphasize the extreme
spiritual while urgently working on the misery of Lazarus, his condition of being an
temporal. It is one that considers a person as a outcast, by showing him in the company of dogs
whole being – body and soul. that lick his sores.
Brothers and sisters, our mission ad gentes This is the only parable where a name is
in Asia must encompass dialogue with religions, given to a character. Lazarus means “he whom
dialogue with cultures, and, most importantly, God helps”. The evangelist gives the poor man a
dialogue with the poor. Evangelization in Asia, name because he wants to convey the message
where majority of world’s poor live, cannot that God knows the poor. He wants to tell us that
succeed without true dialogue with the poor. the name of the poor is already written in
This dialogue starts when we recognize the heaven.
presence of the poor in our midst. The inability
of many who are wealthy to recognize the The parable also makes it clear that the rich
presence of the poor in their midst is at the core man and Lazarus are separated by a door, that
there is no communication between them. The This is an immense area for dialogue. The
rich man is inside his house, enjoying his food. missionary experience of the Church shows that
The poor man is lying outside, awaiting the these people often feel drawn to the person of
scraps. The rich man does not ask him to leave. Christ. Our dialogue with them requires that we
The poor man does not shout out to beg. There is make available social services such as education
complete silence between them. The rich man and medical care. While respecting their
does not enter into communion with the poor traditional values, we should help them help
man. They are separate. There is no dialogue themselves while proclaiming the Good News of
between them. salvation in Jesus Christ. And once they have
accepted Christ, they can become the
A decisive turning point occurs at the death evangelizers of their own culture and society.
of the two characters in the story. There is a
radical reversal. They are now mentioned in Another target of dialogue are the poor
reversed order. In the beginning of the parable, living in slums, shanties and other marginal
the rich man is mentioned first. The poor man is settlements many along river banks, railway
mentioned last. In life, the rich is first and the lines and under bridges. We must provide them
poor is last. When they die, the poor man is with decent housing, basic social services and
mentioned first. The rich man is mentioned last. training to enable them to acquire skills to earn a
In death, the poor is first, and the rich is last. living. In a number of Asian cities, many of
these poor are migrants from the rural areas and
The poor man does not even have a funeral. immigrants or refugees from neighboring
But his soul is carried by angels. The rich man is countries who find themselves friendless,
buried – and presumably he gets a first class culturally estranged, linguistically disadvantaged
funeral, with professional mourners and an and economically vulnerable. Our dialogue with
expensive casket. But his soul is cast into the them requires that we provide support and care
netherworld, where he is in torment. to preserve their human dignity. Our
evangelization work must provide them a
On earth, the rich man is on top and the poor welcoming home, as Jesus would welcome the
man is at the bottom. The rich looks down on the weary and heavy-burdened. Through us, they
poor. But in the afterlife, the rich man “raised must find Jesus who will give them rest (cf. Mt
his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus 11:28-29).
at his side” (Lk 16:23). Now the poor is on top
and the rich is below and the rich has to raise his Then there are the children – the street
eyes to see the poor. But Abraham is “far off”, children, the out-of-school children, the
which recalls Psalm 138:6: “The Lord is on exploited children. These are the victims of child
high, but cares for the lowly and knows the labor, pedophilia, and crime and drug
proud from afar.” The rich and the proud are syndicates. These are the children who come to
“afar” from the Lord. the windows of our cars begging for a coin.
These are the children who rummage through
Brothers and sisters, this is the message of garbage in search for food or something they can
the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus – we sell to buy food. Our evangelization must first
cannot ignore the poor because God knows their and foremost help these children overcome such
names, and thus we must enter into dialogue deprivation and evil. And then we should seek to
with them, otherwise the separation and lack of guide these little ones to the love of Jesus, for to
communion will become permanent in eternity such belong the Kingdom of God (cf. Lk 18:16).
and we will find ourselves far from God, far
from the poor who will be with God. Brothers and sisters, our dialogue with the
poor must come from the heart. It must be
It is for this reason that dialogue with the driven not by numerical targets but by
poor is essential for our salvation and our committed love. We should not become just
mission. This mission must focus on the poorest social workers but true witnesses of the love of
of the poor. Among them are the aboriginal God for the poor. Then and only then will our
populations, the indigenous and tribal people. dialogue with the poor have true meaning.
2