In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
In the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah again, we hear how God praises the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose hope is in the Lord, and not in man, or in the things of man.
And that how he will be truly...
While all things around him are, you might say, falling apart,
he gives the example of a tree planted near running waters,
that even though it's a drought, even though it's harsh weather,
that the tree will stay green and even bear fruit,
because it has a source of life that others do not have,
that it has an access to life-giving water,
when all else around it is...
Dying from the drought.
And that's like a person who truly does have the virtue of hope,
you know, the supernatural virtue that, you know,
that we trust that what God has promised, that he will fulfill,
and that we must remain steadfast, and that we will receive our reward.
And that's something that we have to keep in mind,
even in the midst of torments, or even in persecution,
that the man who has hope, you know, trusts in God,
he will remain alive, he will remain spiritually alive,
and will be rewarded, because he realizes where his strength lies,
is in God, and not in material things, or in other people.
That's something to keep in mind, because in the Gospel,
we also see...
an example of one who hoped in the Lord,
or who had his sights set on the things that lie beyond the grave.
Lazarus was, although in the worldly standards, was a poor man,
and in this world was considered to be, you know,
much to be pitied, because he even was longing
to just have the scraps from the rich man's table.
His hope was in the Lord, and he was...
he was rewarded when he died, and was taken to the bosom of Abraham,
which, in this time period, you know, the gates of heaven weren't open,
but still, the righteous who died before our Lord's death on the cross
went to a place of waiting, and they didn't suffer any torments there.
It was...
the only torment they had was waiting for the gates of heaven to be opened.
And here, Lazarus is with Abraham,
enjoying his reward for remaining faithful to God during his life.
And then the rich man, who had everything he could...
could hope for in this world in the way of material things,
but it seems that he was only concerned about himself,
very selfish, and did nothing for especially the poor like Lazarus.
And he, too, dies and goes to a place of torment.
Those who say that our Lord didn't preach about heaven and hell,
or about hell at least,
have not read this passage from the Gospel of Luke.
For our Lord spells out very clearly in this parable,
which St. Augustine says is not a parable in the sense of a made-up story.
St. Augustine says that our Lord was referring to two actual people who did live,
and were...
that the relatives of the rich man...
were...
were probably there, or known to his audience,
and that's why he refers to them as the rich man,
and kind of anonymously,
so that his family would not be ashamed or be brought to...
to, I guess, out of kindness.
Our Lord just refers to him as the rich man.
But there was actually, you know, these are two actual people,
and our Lord is talking about their...
destinies after their life in this world.
To give the example of, as our Lord always pointed out,
you know, to the Pharisees and to those who were his opponents,
the importance of charity to the poor,
and to think of others,
and to measure out to others what you want measured back to you.
And this is a clear, you might say, example.
Our Lord talks about theory,
and now he gives us...
a story of an actual example
of two people and their outcome
after they left this world,
because they listened and followed their...
the will of God, one of them,
and the other one followed his own will.
And we see that very clearly that Abraham,
that the rich man is in a place of torment,
whereas Lazarus is with Abraham
in a place of enjoyment,
at least in a place that is not...
it's, well, it's, as I said,
it's a place of waiting for heaven.
And our Lord spells out very clearly
that it is a place that is of dire consequences,
that you can't change it,
as even if the rich man would like...
his suffering relieved,
it can't be because there is a great chasm
between the two.
As we know that when judgment comes
at the end of this world,
that if one is judged for heaven or hell,
that that is an eternal decision.
It's not like ten years in hell you can get out.
No.
Purgatory is a place that is a temporary period.
But hell or the judgment,
or the judgment of heaven,
is a permanent judgment by God on the soul.
And it's interesting in this passage
that our Lord, you know,
does give the name of Lazarus
because it does point to another passage in the Gospel
about our Lord's words, especially here,
in reference to the family of the rich man.
You know, he wants Lazarus
to go and preach the Gospel to them,
or at least let them know
of the consequences of the rich man's soul,
so that his family would change their ways
and not live like him,
so that they could avoid this judgment as well.
And our Lord says,
no, they have Moses and the prophets.
They already have what they need to know
in order to change and to be converted.
And the rich man says,
no, if he goes,
if someone from the dead goes to them,
they will repent.
If they see something miraculous,
like a dead man rising from the dead
and going to them and telling them,
you know, change your ways,
they will change.
And Abraham says, you know,
says to him,
if they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.
And we're reminded of
the other Lazarus.
And when he rose from the dead,
you know, the Pharisees saw
this miracle worked by our Lord.
Here was this man who was dead
four days in the tomb.
And he rises from the dead.
And what do the Pharisees do?
Are they moved to repentance?
Are they moved to conversion?
It says no.
In the passage it says
they wanted to kill Lazarus.
That's how hard their hearts were.
Here God works a miracle,
raise a man from the dead.
And their first thoughts are,
we want to kill him.
How hard sin has made their hearts
and darkened their minds.
So that we can see that,
you know, miracles,
even with a miracle,
one needs to have faith,
one needs to have the grace
to recognize and acknowledge the miracle
and be moved by it.
How many people witnessed the miracles
at Lourdes or at Fatima
and maybe went away with a hard heart
and did not,
were not converted
or did not change their lives?
It may even be as we go,
you know, towards the end of the world,
God may work other signs and wonders
to move people to repentance.
But if they are so hardened in their sin,
even sometimes miracles do not affect
or do not change people.
We need to pray as our Lord and our Lady said,
especially at Fatima,
what was the thing that needed to convert sinners?
Was prayer and penance.
That it's grace that they need
and we need to be mindful of that
as we progress during this season of Lent.
That we don't need to be praying
that they get miracles,
that they see them,
but rather that they get the grace
and be open to the grace
to hear the Gospel
and the need to repent from their sins,
whatever sins they're caught up in,
and that they will have the grace
to respond to that
and change their lives
before the time of judgment comes.
For our Lord does clearly speak
and many times in the Gospel
about the consequences
of what lies at the end of our lives,
the judgment,
heaven or hell.
And that this whole season of Lent
is to help prepare us for the right choice,
that we will truly end up in heaven
with our Lord
because we need to be repentant
and turn away from our sin
and be faithful to the Gospel
and we will receive the reward of Abraham
and the poor Lazarus.
If not,
we will end up like the rich man
in a place of torment.
This is how serious
the whole message of the Gospel is about,
the salvation of souls.
It's not about social work,
it's not only about feeding the hungry
and clothing the naked,
it's about saving souls.
And all those things are important,
but the real,
get down to the bottom dollar,
you might say,
of why we do Lent,
why we are here,
why we practice virtue
is to get to heaven
and to avoid hell.
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.