Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, as well as the feast of the Great-martyr Dimitri!

Today in church we heard the very familiar parable of the rich man and Lazarus. We’re familiar with not only the story in this parable, but also its main lessons or ideas: the teaching of the Church on life after death, the importance of being merciful to our neighbours, that our actions here on earth have a direct impact on our condition after death, etc. Since we know this already, let’s turn our attention to that which we may not have noticed.

We, the fortunate people of 21st century Canada, are more often like the rich man, but there are moments when we feel we are more like Lazarus. Each of us has had moments when we find ourselves in a situation where it seems we are abandoned and forgotten by everyone. Our wife or husband is busy with their own affairs and don’t see that we need support. The children are interested only in their young lives. At work we’ve been buried with a pile of tasks, and so on. It is as if we have actually been left at the gates of the rich man’s palace and the rich men (i. e. everyone who is part of our life), who could notice us and give us at least some attention to comfort us, do not notice our loneliness in the least.

When we fall into such a state of melancholy, we can try to remember today’s Gospel reading and that special attention that the Lord shows to the poor and forgotten Lazarus. St. Cyril of Alexandria notes two places in this parable that show that for our Lord Lazarus was in no way forgotten and was very dear to Him. First, St. Cyril notices that the Saviour calls Lazarus by name, while the rich man remains unnamed. Here it is clear that Lazarus is worthy of attention in the eyes of God, that he is important enough to the Saviour to receive from Him a name, while the rich man remains without one. This is because the he lives only to enjoy his riches and hopes only in himself and not in God, and is therefore unworthy of any special attention.

Secondly, St. Cyril draws our attention to the very different words that Jesus Christ uses to tell us about the deaths of the rich man and Lazarus. The Saviour mentions that the rich man died and was buried in the ground. In these words there is nothing spiritual, there is no hope. The images that are formed in our mind are of coldness and coarseness. The words pertaining to Lazarus, on the other hand, are the complete opposite. He isn’t buried in the ground, but instead the angels carry his soul to the bosom of Abraham. Lazarus isn’t forgotten in the hour of his death. God sends His servants, the holy angels, to meet the soul of the unfortunate one and grants it special honours. Who out of us would not care to receive such mercy and attention from God in the hour of our passing?

You see how our God cares for those who are forgotten by everyone! Although no one is forgotten by God (not even sinful rich men), those who are most unfortunate and are forgotten by everyone receive the most special attention from our Lord. Therefore, let’s not be sullen when we are forgotten. Let’s be patient and know that God is with us.

priest Alexis