Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (16: 19-31) in which Jesus tells the story of the rich man and his treatment of Lazarus, the beggar.

What we hear in today’s Gospel, only happens in Luke’s Gospel says Fr Paul. It is another warning about the danger of wealth.  Luke is always to be seen as the Gospel to the poor.

There are three horrible things about today’s Gospel. The first, is the thought of the dogs licking the sores of Lazarus. Secondly, it is quite evident that the rich man is extremely, if not totally, self-centred; even after death, he does not recognise Lazarus’s existence and what he wants is something to comfort him. And thirdly, the rich man’s brothers, it’s clear in the Gospel, are not willing to listen even to the most startling of events like someone returning from the dead.  Again, nothing seems to distract the brothers from their own selfish ways of life.

Mindful of our Gospel today for our Lenten journey, Fr Paul invites us to reflect on ‘What have I done recently to help another person?’