unnamed rich

Thursday October 3^rd, Luke 16:  19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.  22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side.  As you read through any of the Gospels, you will find a God-preference for the down and out.  It is not so much that God wants us to be down and out as it is humanity in general tends not care for them.  Oscar Romero, a Bishop from El Salvador who was assassinated by the government for his advocacy of the poor, referred to the improvised in his nation in a word that did not mean “poor,” but rather a word that meant, “those made poor.”   The rich man in Luke’s story is not a sinner because he is rich, but rather because he never noticed Lazarus at his gate.  With the new voice of Pope Francis creating a new image of not only Catholicism, but all of Christianity, one wonders at the backlash that will be seen by the unnamed rich as they see some of their wealth flowing to Lazarus at the gate.