Reflection
If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.
Luke 16:31
The rich man’s condemnation was not because he was wealthy but because he was indifferent. Life was good. The fact that there was a hungry, homeless, sick person on his doorstep was of no importance to him. He was too callous to try to understand the need of another. He was one of the “haves”; let the “have nots” fend for themselves. The message of this story speaks to our own time. The facts are there but paying attention to them would be too problematic. There is a closed rigidity that lives in its own world. No matter what the factual evidence may be, a view based in one’s own perception or bias prevents openness to the surrounding reality. It’s easier to ignore the facts and blame the victims. How many times have we heard the litany of blame; how many times have we heard the cliches that enable inaction. How many times have we given our silent support. Meanwhile the decisive words of Jesus resonate down the centuries: ”If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”
Prayer
Lord, that I may see!
tion
Read the parable in its context. Reflect on it. What contemporary parallels can you draw rom Jesus’ words?
Suggested Reading
He said, ‘Then I beg you, father,
send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers,
so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.’
But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.’
He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.
Luke 16:19-31
You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but none hears.
Isaiah 42:20
They have turned their back to me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction.
Jeremiah 32:33
No messenger and no message can replace the poor we meet on the journey, because in them we meet Jesus himself.
Pope Francis
The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
Elie Wiesel
Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.
J. K. Rowling
The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.
Robert M. Hutchins
Apathy is a sort of living oblivion.
Horace Greeley
At the bottom of enmity between strangers lies indifference.
Soren Kierkegaard
The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.
Bess Myerson
We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing.
Billy Graham