HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT, LITURGICAL CALENDAR  – YEAR B

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT, LITURGICAL CALENDAR  – YEAR B

THEME: The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA

READINGS OF THE DAY
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Psalm 1:1-4,6
Luke 16:19-31

LITURGICAL COLOUR
PURPLE/VIOLET

INTRODUCTION
Good morning my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Thursday of the Second Week of Lent, Liturgical Calendar Year B.

ALSO RECOMMENDED: HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 2ND WEEK OF LENT. 

FROM OUR FIRST READING
In our first reading today, we hear prophet Jeremiah,who spoke to His people regarding how they all should not put their trust in mankind, and how they should instead believe in the Lord and place their faith in Him. The context for this was that, at the time, the kingdom of Judah, to whom the Lord had sent Jeremiah to, had been beset by many troubles and difficulties, and was in fact in the last years of its existence, just before it was wiped out and destroyed by the Babylonians, who would conquer and destroy Jerusalem, ransack and tear down the Temple of God that King Solomon had built for the Lord, and carry many of the people of Judah into exile in distant lands.

FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the parable between Lazarus and the rich man, in which Lazarus, a poor man and beggar, who sat by the doorway of the house of a rich man, suffered greatly from his predicaments, and the rich man did nothing to help the poor Lazarus, and although he was in the position to help Lazarus, but he did not lift a finger or even offer anything from his table to help. Lazarus as we heard was truly poor and without anything, and he was hoping to get just even the scraps of food from the rich man’s table, and instead, wild dogs came to lick his sores, and he eventually died in suffering and loneliness.

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THIER EARTHLY LIFE?
At the end of their lives Lazarus was in the bosom of Abraham, not because he was poor and incapacitated, but because he did not lose hope in God. His eyes were set on a treasure stored up for him in heaven. While the rich man when he died was in torment in the netherworld, why? Actually he did not molest Lazarus; he was in torment not because luxury is evil. He was in torment because, like many of us, he did nothing so that the life of Lazarus will become better; he did nothing about the rights of the poor and did not extend help to them; he was in apathy and indifference. He failed to see beyond self and earthly existence. He did not take wealth as God’s gift and that its true value is not in keeping it for self alone but in using it for the benefit of others.

CONCLUSION
Dear brethrens, the same thing can happen to us all as well if we ignore the plight and the needs of all those around us who may not be so fortunate as we are. The Lord has given us all various means and opportunities to help those around us who are in need, and for us to share our blessings and good things with them, that they may be strengthened and cared for by our love and compassion. But we often allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted by various worldly temptations and attachments, and by the many allures and false paths all around us that we end up failing in these things and responsibilities that the Lord has entrusted to us, in ignoring the opportunities that we can do and make good use of, in helping those who we are perfectly in position to help.
The Lord be with You.

FOR SIMILAR HOMILY, CLICK HERE >>>