Luke 16:19-31
Every year during Lent I give up something that seems pretty trivial — chocolate, social media, Starbucks, etc. — and I get a chuckle over the McDonald’s filet-o-fish commercials (ever notice they pop up a lot during Lent?) as I abstain from meat on Fridays. While I am never perfect in my intentions, I do enjoy that Lent gives us a time to reflect, repent, and open our hearts and minds to God.
Today’s gospel reinforces that, in addition to making a sacrifice during Lent, we should also use this time to be more generous to others and the importance of instilling habits of generosity. In this reading, there is a very rich man who lives in luxury and an extremely poor man, Lazarus, lying at his door. When they die, their stations are drastically reversed. Lazarus goes to Abraham’s side and the rich man is stuck in a place of torment. Had the rich man listened to Moses and the prophets, repented and been generous to Lazarus, he would have avoided his fate.
It is important to treat others with kindness. Material items are not everything, but if we have the means, we should help those less fortunate. While kindness and generosity are values we should live every day, the Lenten season serves as a great reminder of these habits and gives us a time to practice these actions. So, next year for Lent, in addition to giving up some sweet treats, I think I’ll also go for 40 days of generous acts.
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