Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary
Lk 16:19-31
September 25, 2022
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, made a visit to Pakistan in the wake of the horrific flooding that nation has recently experienced.
Flooding caused by monsoon rains and aggravated by melting glaciers in the mountains in the northern part of the country.
Flooding that an impressive number of experts insist has the “fingerprints” of the human-made climate crisis…a crisis that is either denied or ignored by so many; a crisis that Pakistan, itself, has little to no responsibility for causing…the “fingerprints” of industrialized, wealthy nations all over the world.
Flooding that has…to date…taken the lives of an estimated 1,500 people…about 1/3 of which were children.
Flooding that has left small, rural villages…islands…completely surrounded by water. Much of this nation’s landmass is literally underwater.
Flooding that is said to have had a devastating impact on the lives of 33 million people…washing away crops, killing livestock, and leaving hundreds of thousands of families living outdoors and totally exposed to the elements, barely clinging to life…in conditions that invite disease and more death.
Flooding that, relief workers and humanitarians point out, has been almost overlooked by the rest of the world…foreign aid being described as “a pittance,” and “laughable.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations certainly found nothing humorous about the suffering or the minimal humanitarian response from the wealthy nations of the world. What he saw prompted him to say in a recent TV interview: If the wealthy do not come for the poor…the poor will come for the wealthy!
On its face, this comment might appear to be a threat, but I would suggest that it is merely a statement of fact. When people’s home countries are no longer habitable, they have no other choice but to migrate. For most, leaving their home is definitely not the preference. But when staying means extreme hardship and even death…there simply is no choice. So, they migrate! They are indeed coming for us.
By this time, you might be wondering what all of this has to do with the Gospel. Well, I would suggest that this is a 21st Century version of Jesus’s parable about the wealthy man, who went about his privileged life, without even noticing the impoverished and suffering Lazarus sitting outside his door.
Obviously, there is precious little that anyone who is not a billionaire or the government of a wealthy nation can do to make a significant difference in Pakistan (or much closer to home, the even more recently afflicted Puerto Rico). But ALL OF US…every other person in the world should at least know what is happening to our fellow human beings. The very least we can do is be aware of what they are going through…and respond with compassion. To simply reach for the remote, when video footage of human suffering threatens an otherwise pleasant evening, is not discipleship.
This week’s Gospel cautions us that there are dire consequences to isolating ourselves…like the rich man, simply enjoying life without so much as even noticing the extreme poverty and suffering outside the walls we build to protect what we have.
What sort of consequences? From a worldly standpoint, an immigration crisis. If the wealthy do not come for the poor…the poor will come for the wealthy! If people cannot feed themselves at home…they have no choice but to leave home.
What sort of consequences? From a spiritual standpoint, Jesus spelled out the consequences of total disregard for human suffering with startling clarity. Nothing further need be said.