By Ishongkun Kurbah csc –
Readings: Jer 17:16:19-31; Mt 16:19-31
If the rich man in the gospel had known that after his death, he would be in hades, a place of torment with endless pain and thirst that cannot be quenched, probably he would have invited Lazarus to have a meal at his dining table.
The rich man had a deep sense of remorse for things he did to Lazarus, more so now, that he was in a place of punishment while Lazarus was in the comfort of Abraham. Therefore, he requested Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers and relatives so that they do not come to the same tormenting place.
The question that comes to my mind is, ‘did the rich man ask Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers because of the fear that they could also come to the place of torment or to inspire them to do good whether there is punishment or not? In my opinion, it seems like he feared that his brothers could also come to the same place. Heaven and hell are two elusive concepts in Christianity, which are difficult to explain. But they have a major role to play in a Christian’s
life. They are like conditions: if you do good, you will be in heaven; and if you do bad, you will go to hell. Sometimes, I even feel that they undermine the greatest thing that God has given to us: his love, which is boundless and unlimited. We must remember that God always loves us unconditionally. When Jesus died for us, he never expected anything from us.
ll he ever wants from us is to love God and our neighbours just like we love ourselves. If we are true Christians, we do not do good things for a reward or we avoid doing sinful things because of the of eternal punishment. But we do good things out of love. We have heard the saying of Mother Teresa, “Do small thing with great love.” In fact, she really did it. I do not think she did those things because she only wanted to go to heaven, but because she loved Christ as she had heard him say, ‘I thirst.’ It is true that all of us want to go to heaven. Who wants to go to hell?
No one. But the most important thing is to love God who always loves us first; and to do good things because of our love for God and our neighbours.