20250928 Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings at USCCB.org | https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092825.cfm

Don't Walk Past Your Lazarus

In this Sunday's gospel, Jesus tells the story of a rich man who lived in luxury and a poor man named Lazarus who was starving right outside his door. The rich man wasn’t cruel, he just ignored Lazarus. But when they both died, everything flipped. Lazarus was comforted, and the rich man was left with regret.

This story hits hard today. We might not be “rich” with mansions and feasts, but we all have comforts—phones, food, friends, free time. Sometimes, we’re so caught up in our own world that we don’t notice people who are hurting around us. It could be a classmate sitting alone at lunch, a sibling who needs attention, or someone in the community without a safe place to sleep.

The challenge is simple: Don’t walk past your Lazarus the way the rich man did. Look up. Notice. Care. Share. Small actions like kindness, speaking up, or giving some of your time, can be the difference between someone feeling invisible and someone feeling loved or even just acknowledged. In the coming months, as we each go to St. Anthony's with our classes, we will be faced with this challenge. We should treat everyone with dignity and respect; the way that Lazarus should have been treated.

Sometimes, it's not easy to do but we should do our best to help our neighbors and friends. Jesus is reminding us that what matters most isn’t how comfortable we are, but how we treat others—especially those who are overlooked. 

--Kathryn