The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus: Reflection

Here's a reflection from Fr. Godwin during the mass last Sunday.

There are two questions drawn from today's Gospel:

1. Why was the rich man led to Hades?

2. Why was Lazaro led to Heaven? 

To answer the first question, we have to reexamine ourselves. How do we look at sin? We have to be reminded that there are two kinds of sins: sin of commission and sin of omission. The latter refers to the good things which we are capable to do but we did not do. In the Confiteor, we say, "I confess to Almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts, and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask the Blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord, our God." 

The rich man was led to Hades not because He did something wrong, but because He did not do anything. He was given the opportunity to help his needy brother, Lazarus, but He never showed care. All he thought of was his personal pleasure, his temporary riches. 

To answer the second question, we need to realize that this is the only parable which mentioned a name: Lazarus. It is so because that name is powerful. And it tells us why Lazarus was led to Heaven. Lazarus is a Greek name which translates to Eleazar in Hebrew. Both names mean "God is my help."   

Lazarus, despite his poor condition, never blamed God nor anyone. He was still, confident that God will never forsake him. He put his absolute trust in the Lord. He was completely dependent on his Creator. He totally surrendered his life to the Almighty. Such things made him eligible to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

The reflection in 365 Days with the Lord has a similar message.

•   Use properly your riches. The parable invites us to reflect not so much on hell but on how we use our riches. The warning of Jesus is evident: "Do not focus your attention on the means but on the end. Do not let riches hinder you from becoming more human. Instead, let riches make you more in solidarity with the needy."
• Trust in God, not in your riches. Nothing is said if the rich man has gained his treasures unjustly. The Gospel does not accuse or condemn the fact of merely being rich. It condemns those who are rich yet do not care about the welfare of others. Jesus calls foolish those who put their trust in things that are "passing" and not in God. These could not be their "passport" to life. The rich seem to have everything but come empty-handed before God.
• Sin of omission. The rich man does not do anything evil to Lazarus. He does not hurt Lazarus. But neither does he do anything  good for Lazarus.

This happens not only among rich and poor nations but also among families, ecclesial communities, and concrete persons. Sometimes we forget the finality of the material goods of the earth. We are called to share with others what we have. This is an invitation for both the rich and the poor. 

The Gospel and Technology: If only Saint Paul were alive.

I just finished (well, almost finished) the Great Bible Adventure Bible Study and I'm very much amazed at how Saint Paul would go around the world, proclaiming God's love and mercy, even to those who don't him. How he would untiringly offer his life in spreading the Gospel. No wonder that he screams this at the top of his lungs I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).


You guys know that I've been blogging here since time immemorial and I share with you everything that I've experienced, reflected and all the learnings that I've gained in order to share with you who God is in my life and how He has loved me well. However, I stopped blogging because of the following reasons:

• I don't think that there are people reading my reflections and sentiments here.
• I get tired of work and forget about my reflections about God.
• Pressure from my ex-girlfriend then to write most of my blogs about her.
• I've never recognized God's presence in my life and how He as moved me to places.

Sadly, this is my life. I was not the man that I used to be who is writing about God much in my life.

Until one day that I saw a new feature of Blogger which has Stats. I wondered what could this be, so I tried it and clicked it. Once the page was loaded, I was shocked to what I found out.

This is a geographical image of all the people who have been reading my blogs since I start this. I was amazed at how my reflections have reached people from around the world and from all parts of the world.

Then I felt that God told me this, See my son? Your reflections are contributing much to the building of my Kingdom on earth. Be my instrument of light and not of darkness. Be my missionary.

If only Saint Paul were still alive in our generation, I bet he would be blogging in his desk and everyday write reflections, teach people about God, and reach out to people in bringing everyone to God.

Truly, technology have brought about this, and I believe this fulfills what Christ said before He went back to the Father.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1: 8).

Living Stones

I got this story from watching The Great Bible Adventure.


There was once a stone that was placed by a builder that is so white and so smooth. He said to himself, "I'm the best that he has." As the builder continued placing other stones beside him, the other stones beside him were very jealous of him because of his smoothness.

As soon as the base layer was done, the builder started putting another layer of stones on top of them. When the builder placed a stone which has a huge dent on top of the smooth stone, this stone said to the builder, "What are you thinking? Can't you see that you're putting this old, dented and dirty stone on top of me? Can't you see that this does not fit? Are you blind? It took me many years for me to achieve this."

Then the builder said in reply, "You know, you're right!" and he took that stone and placed it beside him. When he saw that, he said to the rest, "Now I don't want to see what will happen to that!"

Without him knowing, the builder took out his chiesel and carved that perfect stone on top. The stone shouted in pain, "What are you doing? You're hurting me so much!"

The builder said to him in reply, "I'm making room for him to fit into you." Then, he took the stone and it was a perfect fit to him.

What kind of stones are we?