September 28, 2025 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03This Sunday, we're presented with an
2. 0:06in-your-face type of challenge.
3. 0:10All of us are engaged in a common
4. 0:13struggle.
5. 0:15Not a battle fought with swords or
6. 0:17armies, but one that takes place within
7. 0:20the hidden depths of our souls.
8. 0:23It is a struggle that we all have
9. 0:25between two spirits. the spirit of
10. 0:28generosity,
11. 0:30the spirit of self-sacrifice and love.
12. 0:33And then we fight with the spirit of
13. 0:36complacency,
14. 0:37self-satisfaction,
15. 0:39selfish indifference.
16. 0:41This conflict is subtle,
17. 0:44does not flash across the sky in
18. 0:47dramatic signs, but is hidden behind
19. 0:50rationalism and sometimes can sound
20. 0:53harmless or even comforting.
21. 0:56Yet the stakes could not be any higher.
22. 0:59Nothing less than life or death for our
23. 1:02souls.
24. 1:03The parable of the rich man and Lazarus
25. 1:06makes us uneasy.
26. 1:08And it should. Jesus here isn't telling
27. 1:11some quaint nice little story. He is
28. 1:14confronting us with a truth that's
29. 1:17pressing us to act before it is too
30. 1:19late. Our desire to be masters of our
31. 1:23own lives collides with this call to
32. 1:26always depend on God.
33. 1:29And once we hear the hard teachings of
34. 1:32Jesus, if we ignore them, they remain
35. 1:35lodged in our they remain lodged in us
36. 1:38like a stone in our shoe nagging our
37. 1:42conscience until we act.
38. 1:45This parable is unique.
39. 1:47It is the only time Jesus gives a poor
40. 1:50man a name. Lazarus is remembered. The
41. 1:55rich man is forgotten. Why? Well,
42. 1:58because Jesus wants us to understand
43. 2:00that the poor are not faceless
44. 2:03but individuals.
45. 2:05Each one a person with a name, a
46. 2:08history, a dignity stamped with the
47. 2:11image of God.
48. 2:13Poverty is not merely about lacking
49. 2:16possessions, just as wealth is not
50. 2:19always about money.
51. 2:21The position of selfishness can lodge
52. 2:24itself in any heart.
53. 2:27The rich man's sin was not his wealth,
54. 2:30but his indifference.
55. 2:32He knew Lazarus by name. He saw him
56. 2:36daily
57. 2:37starving and covered in soores just
58. 2:39outside of his gate. And yet he did
59. 2:42nothing.
60. 2:45His indifference hardened into a
61. 2:48permanent chasm that separated him from
62. 2:51God.
63. 2:53Meanwhile, Lazarus was not saved simply
64. 2:55because he was poor, but because he
65. 2:57trusted in God in the midst of his
66. 3:00suffering.
67. 3:02Here, Jesus tears down the false gospel
68. 3:05of prosperity.
69. 3:07The lie that material success is proof
70. 3:10of God's favor.
71. 3:12Instead, he insists that what matters is
72. 3:14how we respond to those who are
73. 3:17physically or spiritually poor.
74. 3:20This parable is about values.
75. 3:24The rich man's failure was not
76. 3:26ignorance.
77. 3:28He had Moses. He had the prophets. He
78. 3:31had the teachings of God. He had the
79. 3:33law.
80. 3:35His failure was neglect.
81. 3:38Deliberate. a deliberate choice to close
82. 3:41his eyes and to do nothing.
83. 3:44That's why the question presses on us
84. 3:46today. Do we allow the gospel to
85. 3:50challenge us to shape the way that we
86. 3:52respond to the people that are on our
87. 3:55gate?
88. 3:58Are we willing to move from the abstract
89. 4:01idea of the poor to the concrete
90. 4:04realities of faces and names and stories
91. 4:08and then demand compassion,
92. 4:12our compassion?
93. 4:14Notice how complacency crept into this
94. 4:17rich man's life. He didn't suddenly one
95. 4:20day, one morning, wake up and ignore
96. 4:22Lazarus. His heart grew numb little by
97. 4:27little, dulled by comfort, distracted by
98. 4:31pleasure, until he never until he no
99. 4:34longer even saw him Lazarus lying at his
100. 4:38gate. That's a real tragedy.
101. 4:41Not that he had wealth, but that he was
102. 4:44blinded by his wealth.
103. 4:46And so Jesus sounds the alarm. He says
104. 4:50very clearly, "Beware. Be very careful
105. 4:54of complacency.
106. 4:56Beware of the narcotic that says, "I'm
107. 4:58fine. I've got everything I need. I
108. 5:01don't bother anyone. I live in my own
109. 5:03bubble. Life is good."
110. 5:07Beware of that.
111. 5:09Beware of the sleep that numbs us into
112. 5:11people who do not see those around us
113. 5:14who are starving for hope, who are
114. 5:17starving for a kind word, who are
115. 5:19starving for love.
116. 5:22Because rich in this parable is not only
117. 5:26about bank accounts.
118. 5:28It is about what we cling to for
119. 5:30security.
120. 5:32Some of us are rich in comfort. Rich in
121. 5:35the routines that we have. Rich in the
122. 5:37thought that I'm already done. I've done
123. 5:40enough. I'm good. I'm comfortable.
124. 5:43That's false wealth.
125. 5:46It's the most dangerous of all because
126. 5:49it blinds us to the needs of those who
127. 5:51are around us and slowly starves our
128. 5:55souls.
129. 5:57Think about it.
130. 5:59Who was really the poorest man in the
131. 6:02parable?
132. 6:03Not Lazarus,
133. 6:05though he suffered and in the end was
134. 6:07carried to the bosom of Abraham by
135. 6:10angels.
136. 6:12The truly poor man was the rich man
137. 6:15because his soul was empty, hollow,
138. 6:19complacent. He had everything the world
139. 6:21could give him, but nothing that he
140. 6:23could take with him.
141. 6:26And that's the danger for us, too. Evil
142. 6:29does not triumph because we suddenly all
143. 6:32of a sudden one day wake up and turn
144. 6:34against God in some dramatic rebellion.
145. 6:37No, that's not how it works. Evil
146. 6:39triumphs when good people do nothing.
147. 6:43It triumphs when we let complacency loss
148. 6:46to sleep. When we get so busy festing at
149. 6:50our own tables that we fail to notice
150. 6:52that Lazarus is lying at our gate.
151. 6:56And Lazarus is closer than we think.
152. 7:00He may not be a homeless stranger at our
153. 7:02gate, but he may be a teenager at home
154. 7:04longing for words of affirmation.
155. 7:07You may be the spouse that's aching for
156. 7:09you to hear for you for to hear the
157. 7:11words I love you. Words that they
158. 7:13haven't heard in years. Or maybe the
159. 7:16coworker who feels invisible.
160. 7:19Or the elderly parent who waits for your
161. 7:22call.
162. 7:24The neglected friend who wonders if
163. 7:26you've forgotten them. Each of these
164. 7:28Lazarus
165. 7:30waiting for crumbs, not crumbs of food,
166. 7:33but crumbs of attention, of compassion,
167. 7:36of love.
168. 7:39This is where the gospel strikes at
169. 7:41home. Faith is not a cushion for
170. 7:44comfort.
171. 7:46It is a call to conversion where we wake
172. 7:48up every single day and commit our lives
173. 7:50to Jesus.
174. 7:52God's salvation is a free gift, but we
175. 7:55have to respond. We have to cooperate
176. 7:58with grace, cultivating virtue and
177. 8:00resisting the inertia of complacency.
178. 8:04Salvation is never a private affair. It
179. 8:06is bound up and how we treat those who
180. 8:09God places at our gate. God will place
181. 8:13people at our gate. And we'll see how we
182. 8:15react to it.
183. 8:18Edmund Burke once said, "The only thing
184. 8:20necessary for the triumph of evil is for
185. 8:22men to do nothing, good men to do
186. 8:25nothing."
187. 8:27That it's not just a political or a
188. 8:30historical fact. It's about our souls.
189. 8:32Evil triumphs when we fail to notice,
190. 8:36when we fail to love, when we do
191. 8:38absolutely nothing.
192. 8:41But here's the good news.
193. 8:44The good news is that God has given
194. 8:46everything we need to win this struggle.
195. 8:49The people in our lives who need us are
196. 8:52not interruptions to our holiness. They
197. 8:55are a path to it. No one is too busy and
198. 8:58no one is too important.
199. 9:01God has built what I call the economy of
200. 9:04salvation. In that economy, no one is
201. 9:07saved alone. We are saved by belonging
202. 9:11to a community, walking with our
203. 9:13brothers and sisters in love. The poor
204. 9:16need the rich. Yes, that is true. But
205. 9:19the rich, those of us who have been
206. 9:22given much, desperately need the poor
207. 9:26because they are a reminder that without
208. 9:28them, we cannot be saved.
209. 9:31So ask yourself today,
210. 9:33who is at my gate?
211. 9:36Who is God placing before me? Who is
212. 9:39waiting for a word, a gesture, a crumb
213. 9:42of kindness?
214. 9:44This gospel is not meant to frighten us.
215. 9:47It's meant to wake awaken us. And when
216. 9:50we wake up,
217. 9:52everything changes because we're able to
218. 9:54then shake off complacency and start
219. 9:57seeing and responding to the Lazaruses
220. 10:00in our lives.
221. 10:02We see ourselves come alive. Ger
222. 10:05generosity can set us free. Love
223. 10:08enlarges our hearts and mercy always
224. 10:12prevails.
225. 10:14So my brothers and sisters today, don't
226. 10:17just walk past your gate. Open it. Open
227. 10:21your eyes. See the person waiting there.
228. 10:24See the person that God has placed in
229. 10:27that moment. Offer what you have. your
230. 10:30time, your compassion, your prayer, your
231. 10:34presence.
232. 10:36Do it not only for their sake, but
233. 10:39because you love Jesus. And he's asking
234. 10:41you to take attention.
235. 10:44Because in the end, the only wealth that
236. 10:46matters is the wealth of love. And that
237. 10:50is a treasure. That is the only treasure
238. 10:53that we will carry with ourselves to
239. 10:55eternity. Amen.