Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Christ exhorts His disciples to the pursuit of beneficence and good works through two parables. The first is that of the unjust steward; the second is that of the rich man who feasted sumptuously, verse 19.
Vulgate Text: Luke 16:1-31
1. And He said also to His disciples: There was a certain rich man who had a steward; and this man was accused before him of having wasted his goods. 2. And he called him and said to him: What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship; for you can no longer be steward. 3. And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5. So he called each one of his master's debtors, and said to the first: How much do you owe my master? 6. And he said: A hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: Take your bill; and sit down quickly and write fifty. 7. Then he said to another: And how much do you owe? He said: A hundred measures of wheat. He said to him: Take your papers, and write eighty. 8. And the master commended the unjust steward, because he had acted prudently; for the children of this world are more prudent than the children of light in their generation. 9. And I say to you: Make friends for yourselves with the mammon of iniquity; so that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. 10. He who is faithful in what is least, is faithful also in what is greater; and he who is unjust in what is little, is unjust also in what is greater. 11. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will trust you with what is true? 12. And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13. No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other; you cannot serve God and mammon. 14. Now the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things; and they derided Him. 15. And He said to them: You are they who justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination before God. 16. The law and the prophets were until John: from that time the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone presses into it by force. 17. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fall. 18. Everyone who puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries a woman put away from her husband commits adultery. 19. There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. 20. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, 21. desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, and no one gave to him; but the dogs also came and licked his sores. 22. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died and was buried in hell. 23. And lifting up his eyes when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom; 24. and he cried out and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. 25. And Abraham said to him: Son, remember that you received good things in your lifetime, and Lazarus likewise evil things; but now he is comforted, and you are tormented. 26. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm is fixed, so that those who wish to cross from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross from there to us. 27. And he said: I pray you therefore, father, to send him to my father's house. 28. For I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torments. 29. And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. 30. But he said: No, father Abraham; but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent. 31. But he said to him: If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they believe even if someone rises from the dead.
Verse 1: A Certain Rich Man Had a Steward
1. And He said also to His disciples: there was a certain rich man who had a steward; and this man was accused before him of having wasted his goods. — "And He said:" after He had refuted the murmuring Pharisees about the reception of penitents, says Bede, with three parables, He adds a fourth and fifth about giving alms and practicing thrift. For, as the Gloss says: The Pharisees, proud and covetous, denied money to the needy just as they denied pardon to penitents.
To His disciples, — to His hearers, who submitted themselves to His teaching, even though they did not leave all their possessions as the Apostles had done. So Titus.
A steward. — In Greek, oeconomum, that is, the master or overseer of the house; in Arabic, an administrator. This steward therefore was not a tenant farmer of a villa, or a farmer, or a vine-dresser, but the administrator and manager of the entire property of the house and of his master, and consequently of the villa or villas. Hence St. Jerome, to Algasia, Question VI, translates villicus, or as in Greek, οἰκονόμος, as "manager"; villicare as "to manage"; and villicatio as "management." This steward therefore was the administrator of all his master's goods, farms, and produce; and therefore he leased out the farms and fields of his master to tenants and farmers, as is clear from what follows. Hear Varro, book I On Agriculture, chapter II: "The steward is appointed for the purpose of cultivating the land, and is named from villa; the villa, because produce is carried into it and carried out from it when they come. From which country folk even now still call the road Veha on account of the carting; and Vella, not Villa, to which and from which they cart."
On this point St. Ambrose makes a moral observation and says: "In which we ourselves learn that we are not masters, but rather stewards of others' possessions." And Theophylactus: "First we learn this, that we are not masters of riches, but stewards of others' goods, that we may dispense them well as He Himself commands." For although among men we are masters of our wealth, yet in relation to God, who is the supreme master, we are their stewards; because He entrusted them to us to be dispensed frugally and usefully for our own needs, and then for the needs of the poor, and He will demand from us an exact accounting of their dispensation at death and judgment. Hence the Apostle, I Corinthians IV, 1: "So let a man consider us," he says, "as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Here now it is required among stewards that a man be found faithful." For all the gifts and all the goods that we have are not ours, but God's, because He gave them to us: therefore we are not their masters absolutely, but stewards; because we must distribute and dispense them not at will, but according to the will and prescription of the Lord God. You have therefore a remarkable intellect, a sharp judgment, a firm memory, wisdom, eloquence, etc.: of these you are the steward, not the master, because they are not yours, but God's gifts. See that you use them rightly according to God's will and honor, so that you may be able to render to Him the exact account that He will demand of you. Hear St. Chrysostom, in the Catena: "It is an erroneous opinion that the things of this life are possessed by us as masters and as our own property. For we are like guests and strangers, who must now depart, and stewards of others' goods: therefore we must assume the humility and modesty of stewards; for nothing is ours, but all things belong to God their giver."
He was accused. — In Greek διεβλήθη, that is, he was accused; in Arabic, he was reported: hence "devil" (diabolus) means the same as accuser, because he accuses us before God, whether truly or falsely and through calumny: he therefore is the slanderer of all our works, Revelation XII, 10. This accusation happens, says the Interlinear Gloss, when someone does not exercise works of piety toward those to whom he owed them; therefore we are accused before God not only of evil deeds, but also of good deeds that we ought to have done but omitted. For a steward should omit nothing that pertains to the office committed to him and to the advantage of his master.
Had wasted, — by feasting, drinking, gambling, giving away, and by similar illicit means forbidden to him.
Verse 2: Give an Account of Your Stewardship
2. And he called (his master, as the Syriac explains) him, and said to him: What is this I hear about you (that you are wasting, or rather have wasted, my goods)? Give an account of your stewardship. — In Greek, of your economy; in Arabic, of your administration: namely, how much you received, and how you spent it.
For you can no longer be steward. — That is, as St. Jerome says, for you will no longer be able to waste and administer my wealth and possessions; because for "now" (jam), the Greek has ἔτι, that is, "any longer." Hence the Arabic: for you will no longer be my administrator. "Now" (jam) therefore means the same as "any longer," both here and in chapter XV, 19, and chapter X, 11, and Mark chapter XII, 34.
Christ says the same to everyone at death, namely: "Give an account of your stewardship," that is, of your life, your state, the office committed to you, your time, your intellect, and the other gifts that God gave you, so that you might use them for His glory and your own and others' salvation.
Climacus, in Step 4, relates that John (later abbot), when he entered the monastery, on his first night saw in a dream certain persons demanding a terrible account from him, namely a debt of a hundred pounds of gold; therefore for three years he gave himself to obedience, patience, and the endurance of injuries: after which it was revealed to him that ten pounds had been taken from his debt: therefore with greater fervor applying himself to austerity, obedience, and other virtues for thirteen more years, after these were completed, he saw certain persons appearing to him who, sent by God, announced that his entire debt had been remitted. The same author, in Step 7 On Mourning, relates something wonderful and terrible about Abbot Stephen, who had lived in solitude for 40 years with great holiness in fasting, tears, and prayers, to such a degree that he fed a leopard from his hand. For on the day before he died, suddenly, says Climacus, he was struck dumb in spirit, and with open eyes looked about to the right and left of his bed; and as if certain persons were demanding an account from him, with all who stood by listening, he would say at times: "Yes indeed, it is truly so, but for this I fasted for so many years." And at other times: "No indeed, you lie; I did not do this." Then again: "You truly accuse me." And in some matters he would sometimes say: "Yes indeed, and to this I have nothing to say, therefore there is mercy." And it was indeed a dreadful and terrifying spectacle, that invisible and most cruel judgment.
Verse 3: I Cannot Dig; I Am Ashamed to Beg
3. And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. — The steward, with a guilty conscience, tacitly acknowledges the crime of wasting his master's goods, as well as his own imprudence in having squandered them and not set anything aside for future use. Hence nothing remains for him except to prepare his livelihood either by manual labor or by begging: he is ashamed to beg, he cannot labor because of weakness or lack of habit. He is therefore stuck in anxiety and does not know where to turn. Truly St. Chrysostom says: "To be incapable of work," he says, "is the mark of an idle life."
Symbolically the Gloss says: "After this life, he says, there is no place for digging with compunction the ground of our soul, to bear fruit: it is then also shameful to beg, as the foolish virgins did, indeed useless and impossible."
Verse 4: That They May Receive Me Into Their Houses
4. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship, they (my master's debtors) may receive me into their houses, — namely, by remitting to them a part of their debts, and by reducing their amount, and giving them a written receipt for this, so that they, on account of this beneficence of mine toward them, though fraudulent and unjust to my master, might in return kindly receive and support me when I am deprived of my stewardship.
Verse 5: A Hundred Measures of Oil — Sit Down and Write Fifty
5. So he called each one of his master's debtors, and said to the first: How much do you owe my master? And he said: A hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: Take your bill: and sit down quickly and write fifty.
A hundred measures of oil. — A cadus, or as in Greek, a batus (bath), was a measure of liquids, as the cor was of dry goods: although the bath was larger than the cadus, or metreta, as the Syriac translates here; for the cadus contained 60 sextarii, but the bath 72 sextarii; yet sometimes one is taken for the other. Hence St. Jerome, on Ezekiel chapter XLV: "The tenth part of a cor," he says, "in liquids is called a bath, or cadus. The cor, however, or homer, contained thirty modii: for so our translator renders it in Leviticus chapter XXVII, verse 16, and the same is gathered from the Septuagint, Ezekiel chapter XLV, 11." See what I have gathered about measures and weights at the end of the Pentateuch.
Take your bill: and sit down quickly and write fifty. — "Bill" (cautionem), in Greek γράμμα, that is, a writing, letters, as the translator renders it in verse 7; namely, the bond, once written or signed by your hand, in which you attested that you owe my master a hundred measures. The common people call it an obligation, that is, obligatory letters: these are called a security (cautio), because through them the creditor is protected so that the debtor cannot deny his debt to him. The meaning is, as if to say: The obligatory bond, which was once delivered to me and in which you attest that you owe my master a hundred measures of oil — behold, I return it to you: take it therefore and tear it up, and in its place write another, in which you confess to owe only fifty; thus my master, unaware of the fraud, will demand from you only 50, and you will keep the other 50 for yourself and share them with me.
Verse 7: A Hundred Measures of Wheat — Write Eighty
7. Then he said to another: And how much do you owe? He said: A hundred measures of wheat. He said to him: Take your papers (your bill, or your bond, discussed in verse 5), and write eighty. — The cor, or homer, contains ten ephahs, and the ephah contains three sata, that is, three modii, Ezekiel XLV, 11. The cor therefore contained 30 modii.
Symbolically St. Augustine, book II Questions on the Gospels, Question XXXIV: "That he had the debtor write fifty instead of a hundred measures of oil, and eighty instead of a hundred measures of wheat," he says, "I judge to have no other significance than that whatever each person works in the Church in a manner similar to the contributions the Jews made to the priests and Levites, his justice should abound above that of the Scribes and Pharisees, so that while they gave tithes, these should give half: just as Zacchaeus did not give of his fruits, but of his very goods. Or certainly let him double the tithe, or by giving two tithes surpass the expenditures of the Jews."
Verse 8: The Children of This World Are More Prudent
8. And the master commended the unjust steward, because he had acted prudently: for the children of this world are more prudent than the children of light in their generation. — "The master," that is, the steward's employer, learning of his fraud from servants or elsewhere; not Christ the Lord, as Erasmus supposes; as if to say: The steward's employer commended the unjust steward because he had prudently looked after himself, though through fraud and damage to his master. He commended not the deed, as it was unjust, but the prudence, or shrewdness, industry, and subtle ingenuity of the steward; just as when we hear of an ingenious crime, we condemn the wickedness but praise the ingenuity.
For the children of this world are more prudent than the children of light (that is, of faith, namely the faithful and the saints, for these are contrasted with the children of darkness or of the world) in their generation (that is, in their kind). — namely in temporal things, and especially in evil things, for example, deceits, frauds, and evil arts. It is a Hebraism. A wise man truly said: "In temporal matters we are Solons, in spiritual matters buffoons; in earthly things we are lynxes, in heavenly things moles." "The children of the world are more prudent," says St. Augustine, book II On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, chapter II, in looking after themselves for the future, even though by fraud, not by right. The a priori reason is that in men the senses and desire for earthly things are vigorous; but the mind and spirit languish, are depressed and dulled, partly by the body, partly by sense and desire, with the result that worldly people, following the lead of sense and desire, are more vivacious and shrewd in providing temporal goods for themselves than spiritual and holy people, who follow the lead of mind and spirit, are in procuring spiritual goods for themselves; for spiritual things, since they are hidden and cannot be seen with the eyes, scarcely strike the human mind.
Now, as regards the application of the parable, note that its general scope is that it is directed against the covetous Pharisees, as Christ teaches in verses nine and fourteen, and that it drives covetousness out of them or others, and teaches them to detach their affections from the love of riches, and to distribute them to the poor. For Christ here admonishes the rich and all others to remember that they are not full owners by right, but only stewards of God's goods; and therefore to spend them prudently and diligently through almsgiving, so that through these they may expiate their sins, and may be able to render to God an exact account of their stewardship, that is, of their entire Christian duty and life, as well as of their wealth and possessions; and thus may merit to be commended, rewarded, and blessed by Him. Nor is the steward here proposed for our imitation for any other reason: for in his fraud and injustice, which he inflicted on his master, it is clear that no one can lawfully imitate him.
Accordingly, St. Augustine, book II Questions on the Gospels, Question XXXIV, considers that Christ here argues from the lesser to the greater, as if to say: If this steward so shrewdly provides for himself on earth regarding food, much more does it befit us to be shrewd for eternal life, that we be solicitous about the merits by which we may live in it. Again, if this steward, though fraudulent and unjust, was commended by his employer for this shrewdness and foresight, much more will we be commended by God if through almsgiving we bring harm to no one but benefit to many. The rest are emblematic features. So St. Augustine, Euthymius, Maldonatus, Jansenius, and others. Hear St. Augustine: "If he could be praised by his master who was committing fraud, how much more do those please the Lord God who do those works according to His commandment? Just as also from the unjust judge, who was being petitioned by the widow, He drew a comparison to God the judge, with whom the unjust judge is in no way to be compared."
This parable therefore teaches, first, that the rich are only administrators of their wealth, and by analogy or on equal grounds, that any person is not the master but only the steward of his goods, namely of his strength, intellect, eloquence, and other gifts. Second, that each person must use and spend the gifts and endowments received from God according to the will of God our Lord, for His honor and glory. Third, that each person on the day of judgment will render an exact account to Christ the judge not only of the evils committed, but also of the good things omitted through negligence: therefore let each one see to it that he commits no evil and omits no good. This is the general scope of the parable; the particular scope is that which Christ adds in the following verse, as I shall explain there.
Verse 9: Make Friends With the Mammon of Iniquity
9. And (that is, thus, or in a similar or equal manner; for the word "and" joins like to like, namely the parable to the thing signified by it) I say to you: Make friends for yourselves with the mammon of iniquity, so that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. — This is the post-parable or application of the parable, signifying its particular and precise scope, end, and fruit, as if to say: Just as you have heard how the steward, who had wasted his master's goods and was therefore to be removed by his master from his stewardship, gave alms to his master's debtors from the wealth of iniquity — that is, wealth unjustly and wrongfully usurped by him and stolen from his master — so that once removed from office, he might be received into their homes and supported by them; so also you, who by misusing the wealth and gifts given you by God have wasted them, through mammon, that is, the wealth of iniquity, that is, unjust wealth, not because of robbery and theft as was the case with this steward's wealth, but for another reason and in another sense (which I shall shortly explain), give alms to the poor, so that when through death you fail and are removed from this life and its duties, they may receive you into the everlasting dwellings of heaven.
Note here: Christ plays on the word "iniquity;" for in one sense the steward possessed wealth of iniquity; for the steward's iniquity was fraud, injustice, theft, and robbery; but for us this iniquity of wealth is not actual injustice, but something quite different, as I shall now explain.
Make friends for yourselves with the mammon of iniquity, — that is, with wealth that is unjust, and this in a fourfold sense and for a fourfold reason: First, because wealth is often accumulated through iniquity, that is, through frauds, usury, unjust contracts, the plundering of parents, grandparents, or even one's own plundering, according to the saying: "Every rich man is either unjust, or the heir of an unjust man," which St. Jerome cites, epistle 150 to Hedibia, Question I. Now often the son or grandson is ignorant of this iniquity of his parents or grandparents, or at least does not know to whom restitution should be made: in that case he ought to restore it and distribute it to the poor. Hence St. Jerome, chapter VI on Matthew: "Riches," he says, "are called mammon because they are gathered through iniquity," as if mammona were derived from min, meaning "from," and mona, meaning violence, from the root iana, meaning "he did violence"; although more truly it is derived from taman, meaning "he hid": hence also, with the addition of the prosthetic mem, it is called in Hebrew matmon, and in Chaldaic, with the letter ט tet elided for the sake of euphony, mommon and mammona; as if to say, a hidden treasure; for wealth and coins are commonly hidden. Second, riches are called "of iniquity" or unjust, that is, unfaithful and deceitful by a Hebraism, because they are vain and lying, not true, not faithful and stable, but they immediately desert their possessor and pass to another master. Third, "of iniquity," because riches are the matter and enticements of frauds, thefts, and every sin, especially of iniquity and injustice. Fourth, "of iniquity," because the unjust and impious think that these alone are riches, for they do not know the divine and heavenly ones. So St. Augustine, Sermon 35 On the Words of the Lord. Christ has in view all these reasons here.
Moreover, Christ calls riches "the mammon of iniquity," that is, Pluto, who was worshipped by the Gentiles as the god of riches, as if to say: Gold is for you like an idol, which you, O covetous rich men, love and virtually worship; but know that this idol is "of iniquity," that is, vain, lying, and false: therefore break it and distribute it to the poor, so that they may reconcile God, the bestower of eternal riches, to you. See the commentary on Matthew chapter VI, 24.
So that when you fail (in life and in the office of dispensing your mammon, that is, your riches: so Theophylactus, Titus, Euthymius; hence the Syriac translates, when it fails, namely mammon from you, which happens at your death), they may receive you, — namely, the friends whom you have made for yourselves through the mammon of iniquity, that is, through almsgiving to the poor; for they, if they are holy and received into heaven, will receive you there by their prayers and the sharing of their merits: but if the poor are wicked, they will not receive you into heaven on account of the merit of your almsgiving — not they themselves, but those whose right it is to receive, namely Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and the most holy Angels. For thus the Hebrews often leave the subject of the verb unexpressed, as if sufficiently known and manifest from the circumstances.
Furthermore, Christ seems to speak properly of virtuous and holy poor; because, namely, the poor are often such, that is, "poor in wealth but rich in understanding," in grace and spirit; and this lest the rich think that they confer a benefit, when rather they receive one from the poor; for they give them a coin, but receive heaven. Hence St. Gregory, Book XXI of the Moralia, chapter 14: "We ought to consider," he says, "that we offer gifts to our patrons who will receive us into eternal dwellings, rather than bestow donations on the needy." Again, learn from this that heaven belongs to the poor, not only because they themselves enjoy it, but because they also introduce others, namely their benefactors, into the same. The poor therefore are the gatekeepers of heaven, according to that saying of Christ: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," Matt. 5. See what was said there. And they have this not so much from their own merit, as from a singular gift of God. So St. Augustine, Book II of Questions on the Gospels, Question 38: "They do not receive by their own power, as though granting a favor, but by the promise and permission of Him who counseled them beforehand to make friends for themselves, and who deigned, by the goodness of the Liberator, that He Himself be fed, clothed, received as a guest, and visited in each one of His least ones."
"The eternal dwellings," says Theophylactus, "have been established for the poor in Christ, into which they can receive those who here bestow upon them in a friendly manner from the goods that belong to the Lord. Happy exchange, when temporal things are exchanged for eternal ones." Hence Chrysostom, in the Catena: "The most skillful art of arts," he says, "is almsgiving, for it does not build us houses of clay, but bestows eternal life."
Verse 10: He Who Is Faithful in What Is Least
10. He who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much; and he who is unjust in a very little is also unjust in much. — Note: These and similar proverbial sayings of practical prudence (as I said in Proverbs) are not always, but often and commonly true, and they signify that people generally tend to judge this way, and to first test the faithfulness of their servants or friends in great matters by testing them in small ones. Now by small and least things Christ means temporal goods, but by great or greater things He means spiritual goods, both grace and gifts both active and freely given, such as the office of preaching the Gospel, that is: So that you may not be removed from your spiritual stewardship, as that unjust steward was removed from his temporal stewardship, verse 2; and even more, so that you may be admitted to it, if you have not yet been admitted, take care that you first prove yourselves in the right administration of temporal goods, namely that you distribute them through alms, according to the mind of God your Lord, to the poor; for thus Christ explains it in the following verse. For up to this point He has dealt with, and hereafter will deal with, the praise of almsgiving and the avoidance of avarice. This is what Paul says, 1 Tim. 3:5: "If anyone does not know how to govern his own household, how will he take care of the Church of God?" Furthermore, Christ seems here to reproach the Pharisees for their unfaithfulness, both in the dispensation of wealth and in the teaching of divine law to the people, and that they are unworthy of their position on account of avarice, because they exercise it unfaithfully and teach the people wickedly, as we have seen in Matt. V and XXIII, and indeed they turn the people away from the true Messiah. For it is clear from verse 14 that these things are said against the Pharisees.
Verse 11: If You Have Not Been Faithful in the Unjust Mammon
11. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will entrust to you what is true? — The Arabic has it contrarily and affirmatively: If therefore you have been faithful in the goods of iniquity, who will trust you in speaking and teaching the truth? But this seems to be a typographical error, and instead of "you have been," one should read negatively, "you have not been," as our Vulgate, the Greek, and the Syriac read. The meaning is, that is: If you distribute perishable and deceptive wealth to the poor in an avaricious and improper manner, who will entrust to you "what is true," that is, true riches, namely spiritual and heavenly ones, such as the teaching of the law, the instruction of the people, the care and propagation of the faith and worship of God? For He calls mammon "unjust," that is, deceptive, perishable, and false, because by the appearance and pretense of true riches it deceives people; for it does not satisfy the mind, and quickly perishes, and is easily snatched away by thieves or some other misfortune, and He contrasts it with true mammon, that is, spiritual riches, which are true and stable, precious and eternal, which cannot be taken from anyone against his will, as the Apostle teaches, 1 Tim. 6:7. So say Theophylactus, Euthymius, Bede here, as well as St. Irenaeus, Cyprian, Cassian, and Gaudentius, whom Maldonatus cites and follows.
Verse 12: Faithful in What Belongs to Another
12. And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? — He says nearly the same thing, but with a different parable or phrase: the mammon which in the preceding verse He called unjust, here He calls foreign. Now He calls temporal riches foreign riches: first, because they are foreign to the rational and spiritual nature, which is what man is, since they are inanimate and corporeal, namely bronze, gold, and silver; therefore they are riches not so much of man as of the world, which man received from the world for use in life, and will likewise return to it in death. Second, with respect to God, because we have been established by God not so much as lords and owners of them, but as administrators and stewards of things belonging to another, so that we may distribute them to others in need according to God's will. Thus Titus: "The abundance of riches," he says, "He designates by the name of 'belonging to another,' since to abound in riches, if we consider man's nature, is foreign to man. But if anyone possesses them, they came from outside and as if by accident." "They are," says Ambrose, "foreign to human nature, because they are not permanent for man, nor are they born with us, nor do they pass away with us." And St. Augustine, Book II of Questions on the Gospels, Question 35: "He calls earthly possessions 'belonging to another,'" he says, "because no one carries them with him when dying. We brought nothing into this world: without doubt neither can we carry anything out," 1 Tim. 6:7. Finally Euthymius: "He calls earthly riches 'foreign,' since they do not remain with the one who has acquired them." Now St. Jerome, Epistle 151 to Algasia, Question 5, explains it thus, that is: "If you have not well dispensed carnal riches, which slip away, who will entrust to you the true and eternal riches of God's teaching? And if in those things which are foreign (and everything that belongs to this world is foreign to us), you have been unfaithful — those things which are yours and properly assigned to man, who will be able to entrust to you? Hence He rebukes avarice, and says that he who loves money cannot love God: therefore the Apostles too, if they wish to love God, must despise riches." I will add another, more genuine sense shortly at the end of this verse.
What is your own. — Thus He calls spiritual riches and heavenly goods, because these are proper to man, and they sanctify, perfect, and beatify him and lead him to heaven, and remain with him forever. "He calls heavenly riches 'ours,'" says Euthymius; similarly Theophylactus: "Heavenly and divine riches are ours, there is our citizenship, because man was created in the image of God: but money and possessions are foreign; for nothing in them is similar to him. But the enjoyment of divine goods and participation in God — these are ours."
You will say: People love their own things more, and therefore guard them more and more faithfully than things belonging to others — how then does Christ here signify the contrary? I respond: The force of Christ's argument is clear, first, in the sense of the parable, which is, that is: If you have not been faithful stewards in temporal goods, how will you be in spiritual and heavenly ones? Who then will dare to give you heavenly and divine things? Second, the same force is apparent in the parable itself, because in administering the affairs of others, people tend to be more diligent and cautious than with their own, both because they have less right and freedom over what belongs to others than over their own; and because they are bound by justice to do so, when namely the goods of others have been entrusted to their care: for then if those goods perish, they must compensate and make good the loss to their owner; whereas they are not bound by justice to guard their own goods, but only by prudence or charity: therefore if through their imprudence or negligence those goods perish, they perish for themselves and they are not obliged to restore the lost property to anyone else; and finally because they expose themselves to greater disgrace in what belongs to another than in their own: for if what was entrusted to them by another perishes, they will be suspected not only of unfaithfulness, but also of theft. Therefore Christ argues rightly, and says: If you have been unfaithful in what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? That is: If you have been unfaithful in distributing temporal riches — which are as foreign to you — to the poor, God will not give you heavenly riches, which are yours, that is, destined, fitting, and proper to you; for he who steals or loses another's property deserves to lose his own. For as Dionysius the Carthusian shrewdly observes, concerning the goods of this life, Christ said in the preceding verse: "Who will entrust," or commit, because they are to be used in such a way that an account of their use must be rendered; but concerning the goods of the fatherland or of glory, here He says: "Who will give," because these are not to be merely used, they are not to be referred to anything further, nor therefore is an account of them to be rendered, but once given, they are to be enjoyed with the most intense attention and clung to. I have explained the following verse about serving God and mammon at Matt. 6:24.
Verse 14: The Pharisees, Who Were Covetous, Derided Him
14. Now the Pharisees, who were covetous (Greek philargyroi, that is, lovers of silver), heard all these things, and they derided Him. — The Greek is exemykterizon, that is, they mocked Him as if with wrinkled nose; for mykter means nose; and this is the gesture of one who is disdainful, scornful, craftily and cunningly mocking, according to that saying of Horace, Book I of Sermones, Satire 6: "They hang scorn from their hooked nose at the unknown." Such people are big-nosed, sharp-nosed, and keen-nosed: hence Scipio was surnamed Nasica from the size of his nose: "And boys have the nose of a rhinoceros." The Syriac: But the Pharisees, when they heard all these things, because they were lovers of silver, derided Him. So also the Arabic.
Verse 15: What Is Exalted Among Men Is an Abomination Before God
15. And He said to them: You are they who justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination before God. — "You justify," that is, you display justice before yourselves, you pretend, show off, boast, and seek after it; in external ceremonies religious and scrupulous, but in internal desires unbridled and irreligious. But God knows that your hearts are full of hypocrisy, avarice, pride, gluttony, and lust.
For what is exalted among men (that is, what is splendid, great, and admirable, such as outward appearance, feigned modesty, simulated piety and holiness, which you display before yourselves, O Pharisees), is an abomination before God. — That is: Your simulated religion, O Pharisees, is admirable to the simple populace, but abominable to God, who clearly looks into your inner hypocrisy, pride, avarice, lust, etc., and detests, abhors, and execrates it.
The remaining things that follow in Luke up to verse 19 were not said by Christ at this place and time, but at the time which Matthew assigns, and He distributed those sayings across different occasions, as can be seen at Matt. 11:12; 5:18; 19:9, where I explained them.
Verse 19: There Was a Certain Rich Man
19. THERE WAS A CERTAIN RICH MAN, WHO WAS CLOTHED IN PURPLE AND FINE LINEN, AND FEASTED SUMPTUOUSLY EVERY DAY. — St. Chrysostom notes, in his Homily On the Rich Man and Lazarus, that these words pertain to verse 13 concerning the praise of almsgiving: therefore Christ seems to have added these words immediately after those; but the other intervening sayings He pronounced at the place where they appear in Matthew, as I said. St. Chrysostom wrote four remarkable homilies On Lazarus on this subject, which are found at the end of volume II.
A Certain Man. — You will ask whether this is a parable or a true history. I answer that it is a true history: first, because Christ does not call it a parable, as He usually does with parables, but narrates it as a true history; second, because the beggar here is named Lazarus, and the rich feaster is called Nicensis, as the tradition of the Hebrews holds, says Euthymius; third, because the damnation and torments of the rich man are narrated here so plainly that it altogether appears to be history; fourth, because in honor of this Lazarus, as a Saint and patron of lepers and those covered with sores, many ancient churches exist in various places, and especially in Rome outside the city and the Porta Angelica there is a church and hospital of St. Lazarus for the care of lepers; fifth, because so judge Tertullian, St. Irenaeus, St. Chrysostom, St. Gregory, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Ambrose, and Euthymius, whom Franciscus Lucas, Maldonatus, Barradius, Vincentius Regius, and others cite and follow; although St. Justin, Theophylactus, and Eucherius hold the contrary opinion, namely that this is a parable, not a history; because, namely, in this history certain parabolic and symbolic elements drawn from human custom are introduced, such as the tongue of the rich man, the drop of water, and the finger of Lazarus, etc.
Furthermore, this rich man seems to have been a Jew, as Euthymius gathers from verse 24 and 31, where he names Moses and invokes Abraham, and he also adds that the Hebrews relate that he lived in the time of Christ and therefore Christ narrates this recent history about him, so as to more deeply strike His hearers and teach them to despise the meager and brief riches and pleasures of this life.
HE WAS CLOTHED IN PURPLE AND FINE LINEN. — Purple is precious and august: hence it was the garment of kings and princes. "Purple" therefore denotes the rich man's luxury in dress, as well as his pride, that he dressed like a king or prince; "fine linen" denotes his indulgence and softness; for byssus is a kind of the whitest and softest linen. Hear St. Gregory, Homily 40 on the Gospels: "And there are some who do not think that the wearing of fine and costly garments is a sin. But if indeed it were not a fault, the word of God would by no means have so carefully expressed that the rich man who was tormented in hell had been clothed in fine linen and purple. For no one seeks costly garments except for vainglory, namely that he may appear more honorable than others."
AND HE FEASTED SUMPTUOUSLY EVERY DAY. — The Greek euphrainomenos has two meanings: first, he rejoiced and was merry; second, he feasted. Hence the Arabic translates: and he led a pleasant life every day and lived sumptuously. The rich man did both; for at his lavish banquets he employed musicians, parasites, perfumes, flutes, harps, dances, and whatever could increase joy, placing his happiness in these things, not thinking about the future life, and perhaps not believing in it; for he lived as an atheist and an Epicurean, according to that saying: "Eat, drink, play — after death there is no pleasure." Such people Job describes, 21:12, saying: "They hold the timbrel and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ: they spend their days in good things, and in a moment they go down to hell."
Moreover, St. Gregory, Book I of the Moralia, chapter 4, teaches that banquets cannot be celebrated without fault. "For almost always," he says, "pleasure accompanies feasting. For when the body is relaxed by the delight of refreshment, the heart is loosened to empty joy. Hence it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play. Almost always talkativeness follows feasting: and when the belly is filled, the tongue is not restrained. Hence the rich man in hell is rightly described as craving water." At banquets, therefore, one sins by gluttony, lasciviousness, detraction, pride, envy, etc.
Verse 20: And There Was a Certain Beggar, Named Lazarus
20. AND THERE WAS A CERTAIN BEGGAR, NAMED LAZARUS, WHO LAY AT HIS GATE, FULL OF SORES. — The Arabic: And there was a poor man whose name was Lazarus: he was cast at his gate, struck with sores.
LAZARUS. — "It seems more a narrative than a parable," says St. Ambrose, "since even the name is expressed." And Cyril, in the Catena: "The tradition of the Jews relates," he says, "that there was at that time a certain Lazarus in Jerusalem, pressed by extreme poverty and infirmity, and therefore he seems to have been called Lazarus, as one needing the help and assistance of all, and publicly exposed to beg for it, as sore-covered beggars are exposed. A beggar, poorest in substance, but richest in patience and virtue." So says Chrysostom, Homily 2 to the People. For Lazarus in Hebrew is called laazar, that is, "for helping," that is, publicly exposed for seeking help.
Hence St. Chrysostom and Augustine: "Lazarus," they say, "means the same as 'one helped,'" or rather, one who needs to be helped; for Lazarus, exposing his sores to all, was in effect crying out: Faithful ones, you see my misery — help me.
He lay. — The Greek is ebebleto, that is, he had been cast out and stretched and extended, like a breathing corpse which cannot move itself; hence he is moved by porters and cast before the doors of the rich or of temples. He lay cast down, says Titus, neglected, prostrate, regarded as nothing, utterly destitute of all care and all human support, and this continually and daily, day after day, "so that the rich man might see him," says St. Chrysostom, "and could observe his misery both going out and coming in." "In this matter," says St. Gregory, Homily 40, "the Lord set forth two judgments: He set forth, namely the greater damnation of the merciless rich man and the greater trial and reward of the wretched Lazarus. For how many temptations, he says, do you think this destitute man, besieged by wounds, endured in his thoughts, when he himself lacked bread and did not even have health, and saw before him the rich man enjoying safety and pleasures with delight; when he saw himself afflicted by pain and cold, while that man rejoiced, clothed in fine linen and purple; himself weighed down by wounds, while that man abounded in the things he received; himself in want, while that man refused to give? How great a tumult of temptation, we think, brothers, was then in the heart of the poor man, for whom certainly poverty alone would have sufficed as punishment, even if he had been healthy; and conversely, sickness would have sufficed, even if he had had some support? But so that the poor man might be tested further, both poverty and sickness together wore him away; and moreover he saw the rich man going forth, propped up by obsequious crowds, while he himself was visited by no one in his weakness and want."
FULL OF SORES, — not only poor, but also sick, says St. Gregory. The Greek is heilkomenos, that is, ulcerated, full of and packed with sores, like a leper. Hence many think that Lazarus truly was a leper; for this reason lepers and leper hospitals honor and invoke this St. Lazarus as their patron, and from him are called lazars and lazarettos. He contrasts the supreme prosperity of the rich man with the supreme affliction of Lazarus: for the feaster was exceedingly wealthy, while this beggar was exceedingly destitute; the former was clothed in purple and fine linen, the latter was clad in pus and sores; the former feasted every day, the latter was consumed by hunger.
Verse 21: Desiring to Be Filled with the Crumbs
21. DESIRING TO BE FILLED WITH THE CRUMBS THAT (by chance and randomly) FELL FROM THE RICH MAN'S TABLE, AND NO ONE GAVE TO HIM (not lying under the rich man's table, as some depict, but lying before his doors): BUT THE DOGS ALSO CAME AND LICKED HIS SORES, — so that they might enjoy the pure fluid, says Franciscus Lucas, and thus they caused no small pain to the naked and feeble man. Dogs do not usually lick the body of a living and vigorous person unless invited: but they ran up to this man lying there, as to a cast-out naked corpse, to lick the pus or blood, which they gladly consume. Nor indeed could he drive them away, so broken in strength was he, says Chrysostom. Lazarus therefore was more wretched than a dog, both because he lay like a dog at the doors of the rich man, yet did not enjoy the crumbs from the table that dogs collect; and because the dogs tormented him by licking, and he, feeding the dogs with his own blood, was as it were devoured by them. Otherwise, dogs by licking sores, if they do so moderately, cleanse and heal them. Hence Chrysostom: "The gentle beasts (dogs) lick the sores," he says, "which no one deigned to wash and touch," much less the rich feaster. For, as St. Ambrose says, the rich are forgetful of the human condition, they laugh at the poor, and insult the needy, and take away from those whom they ought to pity.
St. Chrysostom, Homily 1 On Lazarus, enumerates nine cruel afflictions and torments of Lazarus. The first, he says, was his extreme poverty, so that he could not even obtain the crumbs of the rich man. The second was grave sickness; for he was entirely covered in sores, entirely exhausted and wasting away, "so that he could not even drive away the dogs; but he lay like a living corpse, indeed seeing them running up, yet by no means able to repel them, so loosened were his limbs, so dried up by disease, so consumed by affliction," says Chrysostom. The third was that he was abandoned by all, even by those who should have attended him. The fourth was that he lay before the doors of the rich man who feasted sumptuously every day: for the continual sight of the rich man's happiness increased the feeling and pain of Lazarus's unhappiness, "because lying in the midst of so many people indulging in drunkenness, living pleasantly, he obtained not even ordinary care from anyone — this made the feeling of his pains harder and more inflamed the anguish of his soul," says Chrysostom. The fifth was the cruelty of the rich man, who, abounding in wealth, yet seeing Lazarus so wretched, passed by as though he were a stone, and did not deign to look at or speak with him. The sixth was that he had no companion in his misery; for such companionship usually lightens the burden of suffering, according to the saying: "It is pleasant to have a companion in punishment." The seventh was that in that age faith in and hope of the resurrection were obscure, which now after Christ is clear and wonderfully sustains and strengthens the faithful in their sufferings. The eighth was that he suffered these things not just once, not for one day only, but continually for many days and weeks. The ninth was that he endured the loss of his reputation; for many thought he suffered so much because of enormous sins, as though struck by God; and yet Lazarus, like another Job, endured all these things with a strong and unconquered soul, like adamant. These and more from Chrysostom.
Similar to Lazarus in sufferings and sores, as well as in patience, was St. Lydwina of Schiedam, in Holland, who at the age of 14 fell on ice, broke a rib, and from then on lay sick for thirty and more years, afflicted by God with various and continual pains until death, so that He might weave for her a complete crown of patience. Read her Life in Surius. Indeed God willed that Lazarus, Job, Tobias, and Lydwina should be set before the sick and afflicted of all ages as a mirror and example of patience.
Verse 22: And It Came to Pass That the Beggar Died
22. AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT THE BEGGAR DIED, AND WAS CARRIED BY THE ANGELS INTO ABRAHAM'S BOSOM. AND THE RICH MAN ALSO DIED, AND WAS BURIED IN HELL. — "That he died," from his diseases, pains, and the want of all things.
AND WAS CARRIED, — namely, as to his soul separated from his sore-covered body, he was led with honor: for the soul is not heavy, so as to need to be carried, and when separated from the body it can move itself from place to place and ascend upward.
Note here that it is the ministry of Angels to lead holy souls separated from the body into heaven. The same is clear from the Lives of the Saints; for, as St. Chrysostom says, Sermon 2 On Lazarus: "If when moving from city to city we need guides, how much more will the soul, torn from the body and passing to the future life, need guides for the journey?" He added: "You saw him in the vestibule of the rich man; see him today in the bosom of Abraham; you saw him licked by dogs, see him now attended by angels; you saw him then in poverty, see him now in delights; you saw him in hunger, see him now in great abundance of things; you saw him struggling, see him now crowned; you saw his labors, see his reward, as many of you as are either rich or poor."
INTO ABRAHAM'S BOSOM, — so that the rich man, hater of hospitality, seeing Lazarus as a guest with hospitable Abraham, might have this as a reproach of his own inhospitality, says Euthymius. For, as St. Chrysostom says, Homily 3 On Lazarus: "Abraham was hospitable; therefore, to rebuke the rich man's inhospitality, he sees Lazarus with him. That patriarch even used to hunt for passers-by and drag them into his house: but this man despised even one lying within his doors, and though he had such a treasure, he passed by daily the material for obtaining his salvation, and did not use the proximity of the poor man for what was fitting."
You will ask, what is the bosom of Abraham, and where is it located? St. Augustine answers, Book IV On the Soul and Its Origin, chapter 16: "The bosom of Abraham is a place of rest, in which after death all imitators of the faith and piety of Abraham were received, and even now are received: which before Christ was the limbo of the fathers, and after Christ is heaven, which is the paradise of the Blessed." Hence the Church sings of St. Martin: "Martin is joyfully received into Abraham's bosom: Martin, here poor and lowly, enters heaven rich, and is honored with heavenly hymns." And St. Augustine, Book IX of the Confessions, chapter 3, speaking of the death of Nebridius: "He lives," he says, "in Abraham's bosom. Whatever that is which is signified by that bosom; there my Nebridius lives." And the Church prays to God for the departed, that He may transfer them into the bosom of Abraham, and grant them eternal rest, "which of old," it says, "You promised to Abraham and his seed."
It is called the bosom of Abraham, first, because children rest most sweetly in the bosom of their parents: but all the faithful and the Saints are called and are children of Abraham, who was first among all in faith and holiness: hence even in the limbo of the fathers he appears to have been the first and the chief. Hence St. Ambrose: "In the bosom of Abraham," he says, "as in a certain recess of rest and holiness." And St. Augustine, Sermon 110 On the Times: "In the bosom of Abraham," he says, "that is, in the hidden place where Abraham was; it was a bosom, because it was hidden."
Second, because this blessing and beatitude was promised to Abraham, and to all the faithful in him, as is clear from Gen. 22:18.
Third, because Abraham excelled in hospitality; hence the pilgrim and destitute Lazarus, whom that inhospitable rich man rejected, deserved to be received as into Abraham's bosom. St. Peter Chrysologus gives this reason, Sermon 42: "Abraham," he says, "was made the chief of the heavenly banquet by the kindness he showed to God. For because he received two with God at his earthly table, Gen. 18:8, he will receive the people of East and West at the heavenly table." Hence St. Chrysostom: "Not next to Abraham," he says, "but in the bosom of Abraham, so that he might caress him, so that he might refresh him, so that as the most clement of all he might hold him in his bosom and restore him."
Because therefore Lazarus on earth was the poorest and the most despised, hence in heaven he became the richest and the most honored. So St. Chrysostom, Homily 2 to the People. The same, in his Epistle to Olympias: "Lazarus," he says, "on account of sickness alone, attained the same end as the Patriarch (Abraham)." And earlier: "Not because he had pity on the poor, not because he assisted the oppressed, not because he had done some good deed perhaps, but because he endured exclusion from the rich man's door, and weakness, and the tongues of dogs, and the contempt of the rich man against him."
Moreover, theologians commonly teach that the limbo of the fathers was above purgatory and hell. Francisco Suarez probably holds that this limbo does not surround the entire circumference of hell, but passes through the middle of a semicircle, or of an imperfect circle; so that, namely, some opening of hell might be left free and open, through which souls from earth might descend immediately into hell, since otherwise they would have to pass through the limbo of the fathers. See Abulensis in the Paradoxes.
HE WAS BURIED IN HELL. — "He who had previously had his soul buried and entombed in his body by gluttony," says St. Chrysostom, Sermon 2 On Lazarus: "For he," he says, "no differently than if he had been conquered by some chain of drunkenness and the voracity of his belly, had thus rendered it idle and dead." Chrysostom continues pathetically to paint vividly and place before the eyes the transformation of the rich man: "Here consider," he says, "the tables covered with silver, the couches, the tapestries, the ornaments which filled the entire house, all the ointments, spices, the abundance of pure wine, the varieties of delicacies, the pleasures of food, the cooks, the flatterers, the attendants, the servants, and all the rest of the universal pomp, now extinguished and withered: everywhere ashes, everywhere embers and dust, laments and mourning, with no one coming to help, nor anyone calling back the soul that had once departed. Then it is declared what gold can do, what copious riches can do: since from so great a throng of servants he was led away naked and alone, able to carry nothing with him from so great a fortune, but deserted, defenseless, and neglected: none of those who had previously helped him was present to rescue him from punishment and torment; but torn from all of them, he alone took upon himself those unbearable torments." Finally Theophylactus: "By saying," he says, "that he was buried, the Lord hints in passing that his soul too had been allotted the lowest and darkest place."
IN HELL, — that is, in Purgatory, says Jacques Lefevre d'Etaples (he therefore holds that the feaster was saved, after the purgation of gluttony in the fire of Purgatory). But this is a paradox, hence others commonly understand here the hell of the damned, and assert that the rich man is now damned, and this is sufficiently gathered from the twenty-third and twenty-fourth verses, and especially verse 26, where it is said that a great chasm was fixed between Abraham and the feaster: "So that those who wish to cross from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross from there to here." And this is what "hell" properly signifies, and the Greek hades, which signifies the lowest and most dark place; for hades seems to be called as it were aides, from the alpha privative and idein, that is, to see, because it is deprived of all sight and devoid of all light. "Hell denotes the place of punishment," says Euthymius. Finally, all that follows proves that the feaster was buried in the hell of the damned.
You will say: No sin of the rich man is recorded here, except that he feasted every day; but feasting is only a venial sin, and therefore to be expiated not in hell but in purgatory. I respond: Feasting in itself is only a venial sin, but from its attendant circumstances it is often mortal; because it is often joined with drunkenness, gluttony, lust, detraction, pride, and especially mercilessness and contempt for the poor. He who entirely serves his belly must necessarily fall into these; for one cannot simultaneously serve his belly and God, as He said in verse thirteen. And this very thing Christ here confirms by the example of the feaster. The feaster therefore was damned for these sins, but especially for his neglect of Lazarus: for he was bound under mortal sin to help Lazarus in so grave a necessity of hunger and sores, with food and medicine; and since he did not do this, he made himself guilty of hell; "for this too is robbery, not to share from your possessions," says St. Chrysostom, Sermon 2 On Lazarus; "for it is called a kind of spoliation, when we retain what we have received." The same again: "Not because he was rich is he tormented," he says, "but because he showed no pity." So also Gregory of Nyssa. Hear St. Jerome, Epistle 34 to Julian: "The flames of hell received the rich man clothed in purple. Lazarus, poor and full of sores, whose putrid flesh was licked by dogs, and who barely sustained his wretched life from the crumbs of the rich man's table, is received into Abraham's bosom and rejoices in so great a Patriarch as his father. It is difficult, indeed impossible, that anyone should enjoy both present and future goods, that he should fill the belly here and the mind there, that he should pass from delights to delights, that he should be first in both ages, that he should appear glorious both in heaven and on earth."
Hence St. Basil, Sermon 1 On Fasting: "Fear," he says, "indulgences; for that feaster burns in hell not for injustice, but for a soft life, because those who are soft to themselves are hard and cruel to others: for they take from the poor what is necessary in order to give what is soft and superfluous to the belly;" just as this feaster did, not only to Lazarus but also to the other poor. "For indeed," says St. Chrysostom, in Sermon 3 here On Lazarus, "if he was not moved to compassion for the man perpetually lying prostrate in his vestibule, whom he was compelled to see daily, once and again and more often, going out and coming home, toward whom was he ever moved to pity when he happened upon them?" He therefore allowed them to die of hunger, cold, and disease. So today one can see some rich people lavish at banquets yet stingy toward the poor, so that they spend three hundred gold coins on a single banquet, but hardly distribute a single royal coin to the poor. For those who are entirely devoted to themselves neglect others; for they direct everything to their own pleasures; for gluttony is most avaricious and says: All for me, and nothing for you.
Verse 23: And Lifting Up His Eyes
23. AND LIFTING UP HIS EYES, WHEN HE WAS IN TORMENTS, HE SAW ABRAHAM AFAR OFF, AND LAZARUS IN HIS BOSOM. — The Greek adds, en to hade, that is, in hell. "Lifting up his eyes" he saw with the eyes not of the body but of the mind, God revealing and showing him "Abraham and Lazarus in his bosom," resting pleasantly, honored and rejoicing. God therefore showed the feaster the bosom of Abraham and Lazarus in it, or not only — says St. Chrysostom, Sermon 1 — by the nature of his punishments, but also by the comparison with that man's honor, might he have a more intolerable torment." Euthymius gives the reason: "For just as for Lazarus, when he was placed in so many evils, it was an increase of his calamities to behold the rich man in so many good things; so now for the rich man dwelling in so many miseries, it is an addition to his punishments to see Lazarus in such great goods."
Moreover, St. Gregory, Homily 40, and from him the Gloss: "It is to be believed," he says, "that before the judgment some just people are seen by the unjust in their rest, so that they may be tormented by their good; but the just always behold the unjust in their torments, so that their joy may increase, as they behold the evil which they mercifully escaped."
Verse 24: Father Abraham, Have Mercy on Me
24. AND HE CRIED OUT: FATHER ABRAHAM, HAVE MERCY ON ME, AND SEND LAZARUS, THAT HE MAY DIP THE TIP OF HIS FINGER IN WATER TO COOL MY TONGUE, FOR I AM TORMENTED IN THIS FLAME. — "Crying out:" "Because great punishment produced a great cry," says St. Chrysostom.
FATHER ABRAHAM. — He invokes Abraham as father, burning; because through it [the tongue], by speaking proudly, he had despised the poor man. For the very tongue that had refused to say that alms should be given to a poor man is more grievously burned by the flames of Gehenna. O rich man! With what face do you seek a drop, you who refused to offer a crumb? You would justly demand it now, if you had given it." And below: "By a just judgment I repay you in kind, because judgment without mercy is upon him who did not show mercy." And St. Gregory, Homily 40: "He who refused to give even the smallest things from his table to the wounded poor man, once placed in hell, came to the point of begging for the smallest things: for he who denied crumbs of bread sought a drop of water." And St. Basil, in the Catena: "A fitting reward, he says, is rendered to the rich man: in place of the sounding lyre, groans; in place of drink, the desire for a drop."
For he was a Jew, and therefore descended from Abraham. He did not direct his speech to Lazarus, says Theophylactus, because he was ashamed and thought that Lazarus would remember his evils.
SEND LAZARUS. — "You err, wretch, says Chrysostom, Abraham cannot send, but only receive: behold, the rich man needs the poor man; with the coming of death and the end of the spectacle of this life, all, having laid aside the masks of poverty and wealth, are judged solely by their works, as to who are truly rich and who are poor." Again St. Chrysostom: "And so now, he says, the rich man has become a suppliant to the poor man, things having been quickly reversed, and he who used to pass by Lazarus when he was nearby, now calls upon him from afar." Isaiah graphically depicts this reversal, chapter LXV, verse 13: "Behold, my servants shall eat, and you shall hunger," etc. See what was said there.
THAT HE MAY DIP THE TIP OF HIS FINGER IN WATER (for some small relief and consolation of his pains, however slight), and cool my tongue. — Because it formerly burned with the lust of gluttony and boasting, says Chrysostom, and of talkativeness, says the Interlinear Gloss, therefore it now burns with the fire of Gehenna, because "by what things a man sins, by these he is also tormented," Wisdom 11:17.
BECAUSE I AM TORMENTED IN THIS FLAME — with the greatest and unspeakable torments, both from the blazing fires and from the most burning thirst. Hear Chrysologus, Sermon 124: "If, he says, the entire fire of hell already possesses you, if the flame of Gehenna embraces you, why do you desire relief only for the burning of your tongue? Because, he says, the tongue burns and blazes more, which insulted the poor man and denied mercy." Salvian adds, Book III to the Church, that the rich man wished to redeem even a single hour of his torment with all his wealth: "And what shall I say, he says, that he wished to ransom that unending evil with his possessions! I say something more: he would have wished to hand over his entire substance so that he might purchase at least one hour of rest amid the flames. How could he not prefer to buy rest at any price, who begged for a small drop of refreshment with such great urgency?"
"Fittingly, says St. Augustine, Sermon 410 On the Seasons, he desired a drop from the one from whom that man had desired a crumb; and as much as he loved opulence, he did not find mercy; he wished to help his brothers — always foolish, merciful too late; he received nothing at all of what he asked for." The same, Sermon 227: "Flee, brother, the example of the purple-clad rich man, whose dogs the poor Lazarus fed with his sores, yet he did not receive the crumbs falling from the rich man's table. But after no long interval of time, their roles were reversed. The poor man purchased blessedness with his begging, and the rich man purchased punishment with his wealth: the former is raised by angels to Abraham's bosom, but the rich man is led down to the depths of hell. The rich man's entire body is consumed by the flames of Gehenna, and his tongue alone is tormented more. Therefore without doubt he feels greater [torment] in his tongue."
You will ask how here the soul of the rich man, separated from the body, is said to have a tongue, just as the soul of Lazarus a finger, and how it thirsts and burns, and asks that its thirst be relieved by the finger of Lazarus dipped in water.
First, Tertullian, in his book On the Soul, chapter 2, holds that the human soul is corporeal; and therefore has its own tongue, fingers, and eyes. But this is an error; for it is established that the human soul is spiritual, and a pure and unmixed spirit.
Second, Hugo Etherianus, Book II of On the Return of Souls from the Underworld, chapter 12, thinks that separated souls have certain images of bodies and members, just as a mirror has images of objects; and that these are called members by Christ here. So also the physician Juan Huarte, in his Examination of Wits, holds that souls suffer fire because they have images of members, and hence sensation.
Third, I say the truth is that Christ speaks parabolically about the rich man, as though he had a body and members, although he was plunged into hell with his soul alone; for Christ wished to set before our eyes the full punishments and rewards of men, which they will have after the day of judgment, especially because we do not readily understand the punishments of the soul except through the punishments of the body. Add this: Christ wished to signify the fitting punishment of the rich man, namely that he who had sinned with a delicate tongue would be punished equally in his tongue. Finally, the fire of Gehenna, by divine power, burns demons and likewise the souls of men, as St. Gregory teaches at length, Book IV of the Dialogues, chapters 28 and following. Some add that the fire of Gehenna produces in the soul of the damned a sensation and torment similar to that which it would have in the body, for example in the tongue, if the soul were united to it; and that souls in Purgatory, when they represented their torments as quasi-corporeal to the living and were asked about them, have at times confessed this. For why could God not cause the soul to feel without the body the same thing, or something similar, to what it felt in the body, or what it would feel in the body if it had one? For every sensation of the soul, even while it is in the body, is not in the body but in the soul itself; for the soul feels, sees, hears — not the body. See what was said at 2 Corinthians 4:16.
Hence Francis Lucas: This is to be understood, he says, as meaning that the soul of the rich man was affected by such a punishment as it would have felt if, its mortal body having been delivered to fire, its tongue had suffered thirst: for the soul is afflicted by images of things derived from the body.
Finally, all these things parabolically signify only the extreme misery and torment of the rich man, for otherwise neither can the Blessed help the damned, nor do they wish to, since they know it is against the eternal decree of God; nor can the damned ask or petition for it, nor dare they: for they know that a great and impassable chasm has been fixed between them and the Blessed, as Abraham says, verse 26, although Julius Firmicus, in his book On the Errors of Profane Religions, seems to hold the contrary.
Moreover, Abraham is moved by no compassion for the wretched rich man, because he fully conforms himself to the will and justice and vengeance of God. "The blessedness of the just, says the Gloss, is not darkened by the sight of the punishment of the reprobate; because when compassion for misery shall no longer exist, it will not be able to diminish the joy of the good." And St. Gregory, Homily 40: "The souls of the just, he says, although in the goodness of their nature they have mercy, being then joined to the justice of their Author, are bound by such rectitude that they are moved by no compassion toward the reprobate."
Verse 25: Son, Remember That You Received Good Things
25. AND ABRAHAM SAID TO HIM: SON, REMEMBER THAT YOU RECEIVED GOOD THINGS IN YOUR LIFETIME, AND LAZARUS LIKEWISE EVIL THINGS: BUT NOW HE IS COMFORTED HERE, AND YOU ARE TORMENTED.
Son. — "See, says St. Chrysostom, the goodness of the Patriarch — he calls him son; yet he does not offer help to the one who had deprived himself of a remedy." "For, as Nyssen says, because he did not show mercy, therefore he is not heard, nor did Abraham pity his cries, nor indeed did God."
REMEMBER THAT YOU RECEIVED. — The Greeks add "oti, you," for greater emphasis, as if to say: You, when you feasted, refused to remember Lazarus, or God, or heaven, or Gehenna; but now remember your feasts, which led you to the underworld. "For, as St. Gregory says here, Homily 40, both knowledge and memory are preserved for his punishment. For he recognizes Lazarus whom he despised, and he also remembers his brothers whom he left behind;" "so that he may be tortured more by seeing the glory of the one he despised, says the Gloss, and by the punishment of those he vainly loved." Abraham knew of the rich man's feasting, either because Lazarus "indicated it to him, or because angels or the Spirit of God revealed it," says St. Augustine, in his book On Care for the Dead, chapter 14. For this pertained to the status of Abraham, as father and patriarch of the Jews.
YOU RECEIVED GOOD THINGS. — The Greek adds "sou," that is "your": so also the Arabic; namely earthly things, which you esteemed as true goods and pursued as your own, neglecting heavenly things as remote and foreign to you. So St. Gregory, Homily 40: "The wicked, he says, receive their goods in this life. For they consider all their joy to be transitory happiness." Second, "your," that is, owed as a kind of reward for your few and small good works. "For it is signified, says Chrysostom, that if the rich man did anything good, he received his reward in this world;" but Lazarus, if he sinned at all, paid the penalty, as if to say: You, for your few good deeds, received the moderate goods of this life; Lazarus, for his few sins, received evils. Therefore it remains that Lazarus, for the rest of his goods of patience and virtue, should henceforth receive eternal consolation; but you, for the rest of the crimes of your feasting, should receive eternal torments. So St. Gregory, Homily 40: "The evils of Lazarus, he says, were purged by the fire of poverty, and the goods of the rich man were rewarded by the happiness of a passing life."
Third, "your," as if to say: You received your portion of goods in this life, therefore expect nothing more in the future; but Lazarus did not receive his portion of the goods of this life, therefore a portion of the goods of the future life is owed to him. For God distributes the lots of the elect and the reprobate justly through distributive justice, so that He gives heavenly and eternal goods to the elect, and earthly and temporal goods to the wicked and reprobate. Therefore let whoever abounds in wealth, pleasures, and honors on earth fear that he will be deprived of these in heaven; but whoever lacks them on earth, let him expect the same in heaven. Christ revealed this in a beautiful vision to St. Catherine of Siena: for He offered her two crowns, one golden and jeweled, the other thorny, and commanded her to choose whichever she wished; but on this condition, that if she chose the thorny one in this life, she would receive the jeweled one in the next; but if the jeweled one in this life, she should expect the thorny one in the next: immediately she took the thorny one and pressed it onto her head: whence she has now obtained the jeweled one in heaven.
Look upon the image of eternity, where the cross leads to the palm, and pleasure leads to the sword.
At these words of Abraham, St. Bernard exclaims, in his Declamations: "Awake, you drunkards, and weep; for God is terrible in His judgments over the sons of men. Is this the entire cause of the torments, that he received good things in this age? It is precisely that. For the divine punishment does not seem to have cast us out of the paradise of pleasure so that human invention might prepare another paradise here for itself. Man, born for labor, if he flees labor, does not do what he was born for, what he came into the world for. What will he answer to Him who sent him, who appointed him to labor?" He presses the same point further and assigns the reason when he adds: "What shall we say to this, if such is the end, and such the judgment, that grief seizes upon the extremes of joy? Should not evils be preferred to goods in this age? For it is clear that those goods are not true goods, nor those evils true evils. Rather the true saying of Solomon: It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting."
AND LAZARUS LIKEWISE EVIL THINGS — namely ulcers, pains, diseases, poverty, hunger, thirst, etc., which the rich man and similar worldly people consider evils, whereas Lazarus and the Saints esteem them as goods, because they are the matter of virtue, happiness, and glory. So St. Thomas, in the Catena; Chrysostom and others: whence the Arabic translates, Lazarus was in his afflictions.
BUT NOW HE IS COMFORTED HERE (not actively, but passively, that is, he receives consolation and joy), but you are tormented — by thirst, the worm, fire, and other inexpressible and eternal torments, which in life you did not think about, but should have thought about and feared; because instead of a splendid palace you have the underworld, instead of feasts you have toads and serpents, instead of perfumes you have stench, instead of friends and parasites you have demons as torturers and mockers, instead of music you have horrible wailing, instead of light and sun you have Cimmerian darkness, instead of purple you have flame, instead of fine linen you have pitch and sulphur, instead of companions you have the damned, who snarling like dogs bite and tear each other. In short, all your senses, all your members, all the powers and faculties of your soul, which you filled with pleasure, are now tormented with their own proper and dreadful tortures, without end through all ages of ages.
Verse 26: Between Us and You a Great Chasm Has Been Fixed
26. And in all these things (that is, besides all these things; in Greek, above all these things) between us and you A GREAT CHASM HAS BEEN FIXED, SO THAT THOSE WHO WISH TO CROSS FROM HERE TO YOU CANNOT, NOR CAN THEY CROSS FROM THERE TO HERE. — "Chaos" is the same as confusion, mixture, a disordered heap of things; in Greek it is chasma, that is, a gaping hole, an abyss, a chasm, which our Translator aptly calls chaos: because, as Hesiod says, chaos is a certain confused primordial unity, gaping and opening into the deep. From it and the Greek chainein, we get our word "to gape." Such a chaos existed at the beginning of the world, as I showed at Genesis 1:1. From this it is clear that the bosom of Abraham, that is the limbo of the fathers, is far distant from the hell of the damned, which is at the center of the earth. Hence some think that Purgatory and the limbo of children dying in original sin lie between the two.
Perhaps also the bosom of Abraham, that is the place of the Blessed in heaven, was shown to the rich man by God through an imaginary vision for his greater torment — the place to which, shortly after the death of Christ, Abraham and Lazarus were to ascend with Christ. For between the starry heaven and the earth there is a distance of eighty million miles, as I showed from Clavius at Genesis chapter 1; and the concave surface of the starry heaven is distant from its convex surface by another eighty million miles: and this convex surface is far more distant from the empyrean heaven. Therefore between hell, situated at the center of the earth, and the empyrean heaven, there lies a chasm and virtually an immense space impassable to man. A similar and immense chasm of ever-tormenting eternity lies between them.
Hear St. Cyprian, Sermon On the Ascension of the Lord, near the end: "Immortal, the wretched will live amid fires, and unconsuming flames will lick their naked bodies. The purple-clad rich man will burn, nor will there be anyone to pour a drop of water on his burning tongue. Lusts fried in their own fat will boil, and amid fiery frying pans wretched bodies will be burned, and more cruelly than every torment, despair will afflict the condemned. God will no longer show mercy, nor will He then hear the penitent: that confession will be too late, and when the door has been shut, those lacking [oil] will cry out, shut outside. There will be no refreshment there, no remedy. Christ descended to the underworld once; He will not descend again. Those sealed in darkness will no longer see God. That sentence will be irrevocable, and the judgment unchangeable, and the fixed decree of this damnation will stand immovable. Hence St. Bernard rightly admonishes, Sermon 75 on the Canticle: "Therefore you, even in the midst of Gehenna, await the salvation that has already been accomplished in the midst of the earth. What opportunity to merit pardon do you dream will come to you amid everlasting fires, when the time for mercy has already passed? No sacrifice for sins remains for you who have died in sins. The Son of God is not crucified again. He died once; He dies no more. The blood that was poured out upon the earth does not descend to the underworld: all the sinners of the earth have drunk of it: there is nothing from it that the demons can claim for extinguishing their fires, nor indeed can men who are companions of demons."
Mystically: St. Ambrose, Chrysostom, and Theophylactus understand by this chasm fixed by God the unchangeable firmness of the condition and separation of the Blessed from the damned, decreed and sanctioned by God. For by the immovable decree of God it comes about that the damned are packed together and enclosed in hell as in an iron and locked prison, and are eternally separated from God, heaven, angels, the Blessed, and the entire world, and are, as it were, excommunicated, so that they can receive no consolation from anyone: which is their enormous punishment and extreme desolation and despair, Revelation 20:1; Matthew 5:25. For otherwise separated souls, since they are pure spirits, just like angels, could penetrate and pervade every chasm, every hollow, and every body by their subtlety.
Hence St. Gregory, Homily 40, and from him the Interlinear Gloss: "Between the rich man and the poor man, he says, there is a chasm, because after death merits cannot be changed, so that the damned might pass to the lot of the Blessed, or vice versa." Euthymius: "He calls it a great gaping, he says, meaning the most firm decree of God, which like a chasm prohibits the mingling of these and those." Titus: "He indicates the distinction that exists between the just and sinners: for as their wills and pursuits are opposite, so also their state is immutable." St. Augustine, Book II of the Questions on the Gospels, Question 38: "It signifies that for those received into the prison, by the unchangeableness of the divine sentence, no help of mercy can be offered by the just, even if they should wish to offer it."
Allegorically: Lazarus lying at the door of the rich man represents Christ, "who cast Himself down by the humility of the incarnation before the most proud ears of the Jews, says St. Augustine, Book II of Questions on the Gospels, Question 38, desiring to be satisfied with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. And seeking from them even the smallest works of justice, which through their pride they did not claim for their own table, that is, their own authority: which works of mercy and humility, however small, even if not by discipline and perseverance as good men, they would at least sometimes or by chance do them, just as crumbs tend to fall from the table. The sores are the sufferings of the Lord from the weakness of the flesh which He deigned to take upon Himself for us. The dogs, therefore, that licked them are the Gentiles, whom the Jews called sinful and unclean men; and yet they lick the sufferings of the Lord in the Sacraments of His body and blood, throughout the whole world, with the most devout sweetness. By the bosom of Abraham is understood the secret of the Father, into which the Lord, rising after His passion, was taken up: I think it was said that He was carried there by angels because the angels themselves announced to the watching disciples the reception by which He withdrew into the secret of the Father; for when they said: Why do you stand looking into heaven? what else were they saying but that human eyes could in no way penetrate that secret into which the Lord was going, when He was carried into heaven in the sight of the disciples?"
Symbolically: the same St. Augustine in the same place: "The rich feaster, he says, represents the proud Jews; the purple and fine linen are the dignity of the kingdom; the feasting is the splendid boasting of the law; Lazarus, that is 'helped,' is the Gentile or publican, who are helped all the more inasmuch as they presume less on their own strength; the dogs are the most wicked men who praise evil works, which another man groaning detests in himself; the five brothers are the Jews under the law, which was written in five books."
St. Gregory adds to this, Homily 40: "Lazarus, he says, is the Gentile people; the breaking of his sores is the confession of sins; the crumbs of the rich man are not given to him; for the proud Jews did not admit the Gentiles to the knowledge of the law; the dogs are preachers and teachers, who when they instruct, touch, as it were, the wound of the mind through their tongue; Abraham's bosom is secret rest; the rich man sees Lazarus there; for unbelievers observe believers at rest above them, and that from afar, because they do not reach there by merit; they burn in the tongue because they held the words of the law on their lips but did not observe them."
Tropologically St. Ambrose: "The poor Lazarus, he says, is the Apostolic man, poor in word, rich in faith; the crumbs are the doctrines of faith; the rich feaster is the heretic, who abounds in rich words; for he has a talkative tongue, but an unwise and barren mind."
Verses 27-28: I Beg You, Father, Send Him to My Father's House
27. AND HE SAID: I BEG YOU THEREFORE, FATHER, TO SEND HIM TO MY FATHER'S HOUSE: 28. FOR I HAVE FIVE BROTHERS, THAT HE MAY TESTIFY TO THEM, LEST THEY ALSO COME INTO THIS PLACE OF TORMENTS.
It is likely that these things are said parabolically, as I said about the tongue, finger, and eyes, which separated souls lack, at verse 24. Moreover, this parable is taken from the common usage of men in this life, by which miserable brothers wish to protect their brothers, lest they fall into the same or a similar misery. But it is introduced here to convict worldly men, who commonly laugh at, or think little of and diminish the punishments of hell, because no one has returned from there to tell us about them.
SEND HIM — Lazarus, having resumed his body, so that he, being known to the brothers and an eyewitness of all things, indeed their very occasion and cause, might more effectively move the brothers to believe and repent. At the same time it is signified that the rich man after death was in need of the help of Lazarus, whom he had despised in life.
Moreover, on how the souls of the departed appear to the living, see St. Augustine, book On Care for the Dead; Delrio, in his Magical Investigations, near the end of tome I; Peter Thyraeus, On the Apparitions of Spirits.
That he may testify to them — how grievously I am tormented here on account of my feasting. Again "testify," that is, solemnly adjure them, that is, gravely admonish and beseech them to cease from feasting and repent, lest they also come into this place of torments.
You will say: The damned are in extreme despair, in hatred of God and men, and they curse all and everything, even parents and companions, nor do they wish well to anyone, even a friend or brother; how then does the rich man here wish that his brothers escape the punishments of hell? I respond first: The damned do not wish to elicit, nor can they elicit, any good, that is, any act of natural or supernatural virtue, from their supreme hatred of God and of all good, and from despair; yet they can will some natural good, for example, that their parents and brothers be well. Hence St. Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Theophylactus think that this rich man truly and sincerely wished to look out for his brothers, for natural kinship and brotherly love incline toward this: for the same nature remains in the damned; this act therefore is an act of nature, not of virtue, because in this act they do not regard the honorableness of virtue, or the morally good, but only the good of nature, as animals do in nourishing their offspring.
I respond second and better, that the rich man wished to look out not so much for his brothers as for himself; for he considered the evil of his brothers as his own: for the damnation of his brothers would have increased his own damnation and torments, inasmuch as he had been the occasion and cause of their feasting. So St. Gregory, Lyra, and others. Cajetan adds that the rich man asked this out of the pride with which the damned swell, so that he himself, if not in himself, at least in his brothers, might be exalted and blessed.
Moreover "this rich man, says St. Ambrose, begins to be a teacher too late, when he no longer has time either for learning or for teaching."
Verse 29: They Have Moses and the Prophets
29. AND ABRAHAM SAID TO HIM: THEY HAVE MOSES AND THE PROPHETS, LET THEM HEAR THEM. — As if to say: They have the writings of Moses and the Prophets, which the Scribes and Pharisees read and explain to them in the synagogue. For Moses and the Prophets had long since been dead.
Verse 30: If Someone from the Dead Goes to Them
30. BUT HE SAID: NO (that is, it is not enough to convert them who are hardened in their feasting: or, they will not hear Moses and the Prophets, since they are already dead), father Abraham; but if someone from the dead (rising again) GOES TO THEM, THEY WILL REPENT. — He speaks from his own feeling and his own disposition and experience. "As he himself had been disposed, says Chrysostom, so he has the same opinion about his brothers too." Which Titus declares more clearly, writing: "Why does the rich man say these things? Because he himself had heard the Prophets with absolutely no profit; for what they had set forth he had openly despised and treated as fables. From this he conjectured that his brothers too were similarly disposed. For he wanted to say this: They now reason as I once did: namely, who has ever returned from there? Who has narrated the things that are in the underworld? Therefore, if someone from the company of the dead were to approach them, they would not deny him belief, but would earnestly attend to his words."
Verse 31: If They Do Not Hear Moses and the Prophets
31. AND HE (Abraham) SAID TO HIM: IF THEY DO NOT HEAR MOSES AND THE PROPHETS, NEITHER WILL THEY BELIEVE IF SOMEONE RISES FROM THE DEAD. — For they will say that the resurrected Lazarus is a phantom, or an illusion of demons; but the Sacred Scripture of Moses and the Prophets is divine and has sacred authority, and is of the highest faith and weight among believers (such as the Jews were), according to that saying of St. Peter, Second Epistle, chapter 1, verse 19: "We have the firmer prophetic word, to which you do well to attend as to a lamp shining in a dark place."
That this is most true is clear from the resurrection of the other Lazarus and of Christ Himself; for the Jews slandered both, and refused to believe in Christ on account of them, Luke 17. In a similar way Peter, dead for three years, was raised by St. Stanislaus, Bishop of Cracow, to bear testimony before King Boleslaus that the latter had sold him a field; after giving this testimony, when many questioned him about the things of the other world, he answered nothing but this: "You have Moses and the Prophets; I was sent not to preach, but to testify." So the Polish Breviary has it, on May 13. The rich man therefore was refused in all that he asked, because it is written: "He who stops his ear at the cry of the poor shall also cry himself and not be heard," Proverbs 21:15.
Morally: from this parable, or rather history, we learn first that God has distributed the lots of men, and has made it so that some are rich and others poor: therefore let each one live content with his lot, in which he has been placed by God, and let the poor merit heaven by brave endurance of poverty, and the rich by generous beneficence in helping the poor. For by this story Christ wishes to prove what He said in verse 9: "Make friends for yourselves with the mammon of iniquity, so that when you fail, they may receive you into eternal dwellings." For the rich man was not received by Abraham and Lazarus because he did not give alms.
Second, that the poor, beggars, and those covered with sores should not be despised, but welcomed and helped; because, as St. Gregory says, Homily 40: "Those whom the weakness of their ways wounds, the medicine of poverty cures, and often a pearl lies hidden in a dung heap," that is, virtue and holiness lie hidden in the corruptibility of the body and the abjection of poverty. St. Gregory adds the example of St. Romula, who, dying in poverty and paralysis, was carried up to heaven with a choir and concert of angels. And he adds: "Daily we seek Lazarus, daily we find Lazarus; even if we do not seek, we see him. Behold, the poor present themselves importunately; they beg us, they who then come as intercessors for us. Certainly we ought by all means to beg, and yet we are the ones being begged. See whether we ought to refuse what is asked of us, when it is our patrons who ask."
Third, that the rich should not trust, take pride, feast, or live wantonly in their riches; inasmuch as these are perishable and fleeting and must be left behind at death: therefore they should not set their heart on them, but fix it on God, and for the love of God spend their riches on the poor. See more in St. Chrysostom, four Homilies on Lazarus, at the end of tome II; St. Gregory, Homily 40 on the Gospels; St. Augustine, Sermons 110 and 227 On the Seasons.