On the Gospel of the day

Over at Adam's Ale, Father Valencheck reflects well on the passage from today's Gospel concerning Lazarus and the rich man. His post, in full, follows:

So why doesn’t God just wave His mighty arm and fulfill everybody’s needs? Like Lazarus for the Lazarus and the rich man Gospel, where was God? Why didn’t He send Lazarus help?

Well, the fact is that He did. On the other side of the door was plentiful food. Even the rich man’s dogs had more than enough to eat. Unfortunately he never bothered to look outside of himself to see if there might be anyone in need. He was too concerned with self pleasure.

God does not do everything for us. He also does not want us to do everything completely on our own. He wants to work with us. There was a man in need and another man who was supplied with excess. It was all there. All that was required was the one with to give a little of what he had to the one without. By God allowing us to work with Him instead of just doing everything for us, it is we who benefit. How great it would have been if the rich man could have looked outside of himself, saw the needs of others, grew in compassion and generosity, and thereby became a better man.

We all have a surplus of something; musical talent, time, prayer, knowledge, strength, health, a pickup truck. There is always someone in need. God provides it all. We just need to open the door, see the person in need, and share what we have.