A GREAT GULF FIXED

A MESSAGE FOR THE 3rd SUNDAY IN LENT

Our Lord uses an exorcism in today’s Gospel to remind us of the infinite chasm between good and evil.  We hear the same message in so many different ways between the Epistle and Gospel today, and we should take a pause and let it sink in. On Thursday last, the same infinite chasm is mentioned in the Gospel of that day also, in the story of Dives and Lazarus.  This parable is told by our Lord to the Pharisees, as a cautionary tale to remind them what will befall them in the afterlife if they do not change their ways.

Let’s listen to Christ’s words and apply them to ourselves. “There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and who fared sumptuously every day:  and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.  But Abraham said, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented.  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.  Then he said, I pray you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house:  for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.  But Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.  And he said unto him, If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, even though someone were to rise from the dead.”

First of all, let’s examine our lot in life.  Do we have nice clothes, live in a nice house, have plenty to eat every day?  Or are we more like the poor man Lazarus?  If we’re honest, we should already fear for our eternal salvation.  To be sure, it was the rich man’s attachment to his wealth that dragged him down, not the wealth itself.  It is the love of money, not just money, that is the root of all evil.

But once we’re there in hell, there’s no escape.  That “great gulf” which is placed between heaven and hell, Christ tells us, prevents anyone from moving from one realm to the other.  This is the same gulf that exists between God and the Devil, and more to the point in our own case, it is the same gulf that exists between the soul in the state of grace and the soul in mortal sin.  The only difference is that, thanks to the merciful kindness of God, we have the Sacrament of Penance to fix things and bridge that gap.  But how many opportunities will God allow us to repair our lives and stop sinning?  Let’s not place our bets that there will be a next time.  Our soul, right now, belongs to either heaven or hell.  We are one heartbeat away from one or the other.  God knows the sincerity with which we make our resolutions to sin no more.  And he is not mocked.