God is watching

In high school I was in the chorus, and we sang "Poor Man Lazarus" by Jester Hairston. We loved singing it: "Poor man Lazarus, sick and disabled. Dip your finger in the water, come and cool my tongue, for I'm tormented in the flames. He had to eat crumbs from the rich man's table. Dip your finger in the water, come and cool my tongue, for I'm tormented in the flames. Rich man Divies, he lived so well. Dip your finger in the water, come and cool my tongue, for I'm tormented in the flames. And when he died, he went straight to hell! Dip your finger in the water, come and cool my tongue, for I'm tormented in the flames."
There are other verses, but I can't remember them. We definitely sang "straight to hell" with great gusto, as we were encouraged to do by the director. I don't know where the name Divies came from, but it isn't in scripture. 

Anyway, the gospel reading today was the story of Lazarus and the rich man. I wish I could remember how Father put it, but he pointed out that we don't know the rich man's name - he gave up his identity in favor of his many possessions. Now, that's an interesting thought. Not a memorable life. 

"We have read that everything that was good came the rich man's way, and everything that was bad came the poor man's way; nevertheless, such adversities did not crush the poor man, nor did all this prosperity do the rich man any good....Adversities neither straighten out the lazy nor overcome the strong, since it is neither one's material prosperity nor poverty but one's character that either leads the grateful to their reward or leads the ungrateful away to their punishment.

The poor man, full of sores, is stationed at the rich man's doorway, but this occurs not by some human coincidence, but by God's design, in order that the contest between the rich and the poor man play itself out on earth and have its audience in heaven. God was watching, the angels were watching the unique competition between the rich and the poor man. The rich stood all decked out in the armor of his riches, and by contrast the poor man was lying clothed only in his very flesh. The rich man was protected by throngs of servants; the poor man, his skin torn away, was being prodded by his stinging pain. The rich man was hurling spears of heartlessness, while Lazarus was repelling them with his shield of compassion.... Why should I say more? The poor man was victorious [even with] his flesh trampled underfoot, but fully armed from above, he made his ascent into the spiritual realm...."

                                           -  St. Peter Chrysologus, from Magnificat, September, 2025