MENUCLOSE

Institute for Homiletics

A Collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and the University of Dallas

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .” 

She hummed the tune as her hoe worked the hard red clay.  The bosom of Abraham. The best place to be. In her nine years at Momma’s knee, she’d heard lots of Bible stories. This was her favorite. No matter what the boss man demanded, Father Abraham wrapped his arms around that little beggar and kept him safe. No troubles could touch him anymore. Nothing but love. She wondered what color was Lazarus’ skin. 

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .” 

She hummed the tune. Her insides hurt so bad. The little brother who had kept her warm for so many nights, his space was cold tonight. He was too light-skinned. They had sold him away this morning. 

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .”

Daddy said that old Jeb had died. He was too feeble to pick cotton.  He fell. The overseer beat him to get up. The old man couldn’t.  Daddy had shouted out, “That’s not right!” After she heard him tell it, Momma and Daddy were silent. She could feel the trouble in the room. As the sun went down, Daddy kissed her and said, “I love  you, darlin.” They knew. He would not be there in the morning. She hummed through her tears. 

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .” 

Momma went to work at the main house. She said, “Keep your  head down, girl!” The master’s twenty-year-old son was lookin’ . . .  taking a shine to her, now that she was almost twelve. 

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .” 

Momma told how she’d heard the men talking after church about  Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus. The master had leaned  back in his leather chair with his cigar and said, “I don’t really  understand.” 

She and Momma held each other, just the two of them now, and  sang softly. 

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .” 

Consider/Discuss 

  • When life is full of trouble, the bosom of Abraham is the best place to be,  wrapped in love for all eternality. Look at history. How does the promise of heaven get us through dark earthly times? 
  • The prophet Amos warns about the complacency of the rich. The psalmist  says that the Lord secures justice for the oppressed. You and I will be held accountable for what we do in this life. What is one thing that Father Abraham would want you to do today to make this world a more just place? 

Living and Praying with the Word 

Lord, open our eyes to see what we do not see. Open our hearts to do what we can do. You know the troubles that we have. You know the troubles that surround us. You are the Savior of the world.  We are not. We cannot save everyone or everything, but show us our part. Show each of us the role that we have to play in bringing about your kingdom. And please, Holy Spirit, come, come to heal  the divisions of this world. We are broken. We break others. We are hurting. We hurt others. We are in need of your justice. Come, Holy  Spirit, come.

Written by

Scripture Study for

Last week we heard Amos railing against unjust business practices. This week he focuses on the complacent wealthy who live much better lives than the average Israelite, which gives rise to divine anger.  Although the first verse of the reading refers to Zion (Jerusalem), the rest of the reading is directed toward those of the northern kingdom, here referred to as “Joseph” (two of the main tribes of the region,  Manasseh and Ephraim, were named for the sons of Joseph). While the average Israelite hardly ever ate meat, the wealthy were reclining at table, banqueting on lamb and veal, listening to fine music, and drinking so much wine they use bowls instead of cups. As they enjoy  themselves at others’ expense, or at least heedless of the suffering around them, they are blind to the disaster approaching, as God  sends the Assyrian Empire to bring judgment on “Joseph.” They are, so to speak, fiddling while Rome is burning.

Paul has emphasized to Timothy the vital importance of maintaining sound teaching and discerning and refuting false and misleading teaching. This apparently was a difficult and never-ending task in Ephesus, where Timothy was. It required perseverance, lest one either fail in the task or become bitter, losing “love, patience,  and gentleness” in the process. Using one of his favorite metaphors (1 Corinthians 9:24–27; 2 Timothy 4:7), Paul urges Timothy to “compete well for the faith,” as an athlete runs the race to the finish, in this case to eternal life when Christ comes again. Timothy’s noble confession, which he most likely made at his baptism, mirrors that of Christ. Both have been publicly faithful to the truth in the face of fierce and even dangerous opposition. 

The story of the nameless rich man and Lazarus reflects the profound reversal of fortune Jesus had already proclaimed in the Beatitudes (Luke 6:20–21, 24–25). As the story progresses it becomes clear that the rich man’s sin was not being wealthy; his heart has become warped to such a degree that he cannot cross the chasm between heaven and hell. Not only did he ignore Lazarus while both were still alive, but even in death he acts as if Lazarus owes him something. He demands that Abraham send Lazarus to relieve his suffering, and then he begs him to send Lazarus to warn his brothers. The arrogance and blindness that may have stemmed from a complacency born of his wealth explains his fate. But he had absolutely no excuse, for the law and the prophets repeatedly warned him of the dangers of wealth and of ignoring the needy at his door. 

Written by