This Sunday's Gospel is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. I thought today we'd read the Scripture before we reflect upon it because the story itself is so powerful and provides so many insights into who we are as individuals, the challenges we face as community. And one of the biggest questions that the Gospel proposes and answers and that is the question who is my neighbor? There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, father Abraham, have mercy upon me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, son, remember that you and your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus, in like manner, evil things. But now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. And besides all this between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able and none may cross from there to us. And he said then I beg you, Father, to send him to my father's house for I have five brothers so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment. But Abraham said they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. He said to them if they do not hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. So many great images here, so many uncomfortable images here, disquieting images here. When you hear about the rich man, who do you think of? We tend to think of somebody else. But the reality is we are the rich man. Our riches may vary in many, many different ways but we live a blessed life and our lives are filled with so many riches that we can, yes, enjoy ourselves and, yes, share with others. Lazarus was at the rich man's gate. He wasn't on the other side of the world. He was at the rich man's gate. He saw him every day. His dogs ate the food from his table and licked Lazarus's wounds. Was the rich man indifferent to Lazarus? Probably not. Did the rich man do nothing for Lazarus? Probably not. There are probably things he did for him. Maybe even many things he did for him. Could he have done more for him? Yes. Why didn't he? I don't know. I know why I don't. I know why I don't do more for certain people in my life who I know are suffering physically, spiritually, in all sorts of different ways. And that's the challenge, isn't it? It's the challenge of the gospel, not for me to compare myself to you or for us to compare ourselves to the people here but for us to look into our own hearts, look into our own souls, and to see what is it that God is calling us to in this moment and to do so with the knowledge that there is this other world. There is this other reality. There is this next life where everything changes. Where the things of the world no longer matter. Where the things of the world couldn't matter less. And in that world, everything operates according to what God values most, what God sees as most important. And so in this life, we are called to live our lives in alignment with that. How in alignment is our life with what God values most, with what God sees as most important? And back to the question, who is our neighbor? Who is our neighbor? When we ask the question, we're usually looking to excuse somebody. When we ask the question, we're usually looking to exclude somebody. And we're usually looking to relieve ourselves of some responsibility. But the reality is that the gospel teaches that we are all each other's neighbors and that we have responsibilities to each other regardless of whether our neighbor lives on the other side of the street, on the other side of town, or on the other side of the world. And that can be challenging, that can be burdensome. But over and over throughout the gospel, Jesus invites us not to look at it in those ways but look at it as a path, as a way forward for ourselves and joy and peace and as a way forward for humanity, together living as neighbors rather than as strangers, living as neighbors rather than as enemies.