Social Justice Week 2015 Liturgy B: Y9-13

The poor at my gate

The rich man and Lazarus There was a poor man called Lazarus who sat at the gate of a very rich man. He was covered in sores and in a pitiful state. Every day he sat there begging for food and drink.

The rich man went out of his gate everyday past the place where Lazarus sat begging, but he never stopped to help him.

One day the rich man died and found himself burning in Hades. Across a great chasm he saw Lazarus standing with Abraham.

‘Fr Abraham’, the rich man said. ‘Please send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water to cool my tongue’.

But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’

And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’

The Gospels teach us that poverty is having too much or too little of this earth’s resources. Either way we become prisoners to our material wants and have our choices restricted. Whether we are Lazarus or the rich man our material condition will limit our growth. I thank you God for teaching me to recognise where my true values lie. Joy Cowley, from ‘Tzedekah’ (Justice), Psalms Down-Under

Suzanne Aubert A woman who saw the poor man at her gate.

When she moved to Wellington in 1899 Suzanne set up a centre of welcome for disadvantaged people in need of food and clothes.

This included a soup kitchen which is still operating today.

Suzanne also established a home for people with disabilities.

And a creche for the children of working parents.

Suzanne and the sisters that followed her also looked after many orphans.

The services of Suzanne and her sisters were free-of- charge and available to all.

The Sisters of Compassion continue to care for those in any kind of need today

They continue to see and respond to the people at their gate: Elderly people who feel isolated The financially disadvantaged who need a meal Refugee families Māori Catholic communities in Wellington and Hiruharama The homeless

Who is the person in need at my gate? My neighbour? My friend? My mother? My father? A stranger?

Suzanne Aubert often encouraged her sisters to pray and do whatever they could, wherever they were. She often prayed, God grant me the grace of the moment and the grace always to correspond with it.

What is it that I am in a unique position to do that no-one else can do right now?

E te Atua, kaha rawa, We know that every person matters. Increase our awareness of the way in which we are all intimately connected, as brothers and sisters. We know that if one person is disadvantaged and left behind, we are all worse off. E te Ariki Whakarongo mai ra ki a mātou

E te Atua o Aotearoa, We pray for our country. We are increasingly aware of the growing gap between rich and poor, haves and have nots. If we are comfortable help us to extend a helping hand to those who are struggling. We don’t want a country of rich and poor. We want a country where all can flourish. E te Ariki Whakarongo mai ra ki a mātou

If you pour yourself out for the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in the darkness And your shadows be like noon. Isaiah 58