Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Where Do I See Myself in This Story?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the story of two men. One is rich, dressed in fine clothes and living comfortably, feasting every day. The other is Lazarus, poor and suffering, lying at the gate hoping for scraps from the table. What is striking is how close they are to one another. The rich man is inside the gate, Lazarus just outside it—so near, and yet living in completely different worlds.

Lent invites us to ask a simple but important question: Where do I see myself in this story? Most of us would like to think we are Lazarus. But if we are honest, many of us live much more like the rich man. We have homes, food, comfort, and security. None of those things are wrong. Jesus never says the rich man is condemned simply because he was wealthy. The tragedy is something else. The rich man never noticed Lazarus. Every day he passed by the gate. Every day Lazarus was there. And yet he lived as if Lazarus did not exist.

This is the warning of the Gospel—not dramatic acts of cruelty, but quiet indifference. Sometimes Lazarus appears in very ordinary ways: someone who is lonely, someone who is struggling, someone who simply needs kindness, patience, or attention. Lent asks us to slow down enough to notice the people around us, especially those we might normally pass by without a second thought.

In the Gospel, when the rich man finally realizes his mistake, it is too late. He asks that someone be sent to warn his brothers. But Abraham replies that they already have Moses and the prophets—they already have what they need. And so do we. We have the Gospel. We have the teachings of Christ. We have this season of Lent calling us to conversion.

So perhaps the most important question today is this: Who is Lazarus at the gate in my life right now? What small act of charity, what moment of attention, what act of mercy is the Lord inviting me to make today? Because Lent is not only about what we give up. It is also about who we finally begin to notice.