3/21/2019 6:06:47 AM
The rich man saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side
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“Abraham was very rich,” Scripture tells us (Gn 13:2)... My brethren, Abraham wasn't rich for himself but for the poor; rather than keeping hold of his fortune, he intended to share it...This man, who was himself a stranger, did not hesitate to do all he could so that the stranger might not feel himself to be a stranger. Living in a tent, he was unable to let a passer-by remain without shelter. Perpetual traveller, he unfailingly welcomed the travellers who came his way... Far from taking his ease in God's bounty, he knew himself called to spread it abroad: he used it to protect the oppressed, set prisoners free, even to snatch those about to die from their fate (Gn 14:14)... Abraham did not sit but remained standing before the stranger he had received. He was not his guest's host but made himself his servant. Forgetting that he was master in his own home, he himself brought the food and, concerned that it should be carefully prepared, called on his wife. Where he himself was concerned he relied entirely on his servants, but for the stranger he had received he thought it barely enough to entrust it to his wife's skill. What more could I say, my brothers? It was so perfect a consideration... that drew God himself to Abraham's home and compelled him to become his guest. Thus the very one who would later claim to be welcomed in the person of the poor and the stranger, came to Abraham, rest for the poor, refuge of strangers. “I was hungry,” he said, “and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me” (Mt 25:35). And again, we read in the Gospel: “When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham." Isn't it only right, brethren, that Abraham should welcome all the saints even into his own rest and should exercise, even in the blessedness of heaven, his service of hospitality?... Doubtless, he could not have considered himself wholly happy unless, even in glory, he was able to continue to practice his ministry of sharing.