26TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C
INTRODUCING NONCHALANCE
LK 16, 19-31
MESSAGE
These days I often hear people glorify an attitude, a trait, or a mentality which they call “nonchalance.” I know that this word means indifferent, unaffected or unmoved. It is like saying that a nonchalant person lives in a world of his own making, separate and secluded from others. But is this really a positive trait?
The prophet Amos in the first reading and the Lord Jesus in the gospel castigate people not because they happen to be rich. They criticize the lifestyle of the nonchalant who are insulated from the needs, sufferings and vicissitudes that ordinary neighbors endure.
While nonchalance may signal a victorious attitude against the pressures of this world, it is clearly not a characteristic mark of Jesus and his Father. God as we know, is moved by the pain and cries of the poor. Jesus embraced the sweat and tears of his brothers and sisters. God’s heart is not closed, but exposed to the sorrowful experiences of his children.
The new saint, Pier Giorgio Frassati, though son of an Italian diplomat, often came home with a missing jacket or without his shoes. These he freely gave away to a shivering man or a barefoot person he encountered in the cold street outside his home. He certainly followed the way of Jesus who came down from his throne in heaven and ascended the wood of the cross to share in the experiences of the miserable, sinful, and suffering humanity. The Lord wants us to forsake the attitude of nonchalance and embark on an adventure of encounter with those who suffer.
REFLECT
It is time to examine our hearts again. Do we ignore the suffering of people we meet? Do we pretend that they do not exist? Or do we imitate the heart of God, the heart of Jesus, burning with love and compassion for the suffering other?
