From the holy Gospel according to
Luke, Chapter 16, verses 19 to 31
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| FATHER ABRAHAM, POOR MAN LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN Image from en.wikipedia.org |
'Then Abraham said,
'"If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will be they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead."' [31]
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
Personal refection on the reading
Sharing for the Day
"They will repent if someone from the dead goes to them," says the rich man being tormented in hell. But Abraham tells his that even if someone comes back from the dead, his brothers will still not listen if they won't listen to Moses and the Prophets.
We all know the saying, "To see is to believe." Many people would want to have a first hand experience, knowledge or witness of something, an event, a spectacle, etc without which they won't believe or affirm or conform their agreement to the fact, reality or truth of such thing, event or spectacle. In our time, scholars, learned men and scientists have developed ways and means on how to detect, decipher or investigate the authenticity or authority of artifacts, literature, fragments, etc to provide humanity with the nearest accurate description or information about the past. However, any lack of evidence would mean to them as something merely legendary, fabulous or mythological with no truth, reality and factuality.
Experimentation is a very important tool for them to believe something. If something does not pass the proper scientific method particularly experimentation, then it is rejected for lack of merit. God, for example, cannot be experimented on for He is pure spirit, hence He is not easily believed by many today, especially those who rely only on scientific evidence, though somewhat in a biased manner, logic and reason. God for them does not exist just because they cannot scientifically prove His existence. That's why I say that their use of logic and reason is somehow biased because logic and reason surely point out to the truth of God's existence. For them, logic and reason must also be based on scientific evidence and should pass the proper scientific method.
Hence even if someone would return from the dead, these people would just probably try to find ways of debunking the claim that such person really died, that such person really made it to hell and then sent back for the purpose of telling us that there really is hell, that such person is really sane, etc. There will be an endless investigation, experimentation and scientific tests that will be conducted until such time that the issue dies a natural death and the person and the mission totally forgotten.
Someone said, "For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation will suffice." Moses and the prophets should have been enough for the Jews to live holy lives back then. For us, Christians, we have the best exemplar of holiness and perfection, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, founder of the Church. As the Father sent Moses and the prophets to the Jews in order for them to keep themselves unstained by the pagan nations of their time, the Lord Jesus Christ has left the Church to proclaim holiness and perfection to all the world. The Jews had Moses and the prophets to teach them what to do in order to please God. We, Christians, are called to obey the Church which the Lord has founded upon the Apostles, particularly Peter, who has been succeeded by the Popes, serving the flock with the help of the Bishops, successors of the Apostles.
If we are friends of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will never question what He has established here on earth, the Church to which we belong to. We are of course encouraged to discover the truths about our Faith. In this we can be assisted by logic and reason and be properly led to her. We must remember that the Lord specifically established the Church to continue His mission. The Church was the chosen instrument to proclaim the Gospel and to increase His followers. More importantly, the Church was not without help for He himself assured her that He will be with Her until the end of time [see Matthew 28: 19-20] aside from sending the Holy Spirit during Pentecost to be guide the Church into all truth. We are therefore sure that the Church, our Mother and Teacher, will never mislead us so we need no one to go back from the dead to tell us to be holy and avoid sin anymore.
Application of the Message
[1] Prayer
Pray for the grace to understand, accept and obey the teachings of the Church.
[2] Abstinence
What can you abstain from today as a manifestation of obeying the Church?
[3] Almsgiving
What can you materially share today so that someone else may know more, love and obey the Church?
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