Today’s gospel parable of the rich man and Lazarus requires little by way of explanation and analysis, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald. While its principal message is clear: that every follower of Jesus has a responsibility to care for our needy sisters and brothers, it leaves us in no doubt that this responsibility is not a take it or leave it option. Care for the poor and needy is a Gospel imperative, for some, an uncomfortable and challenging one, but one to be embraced as an essential expression of our humanity and Christian discipleship.

I suggest that every line of this gospel-reading is best viewed as contributing to a message about the wise and prudent resources that are at the disposal of every disciple of Jesus, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald. . All the bits are part of a single piece that Luke presents to his community. Money and all our other resources and possessions play a part in the promotion of good. We err when we slip into letting ourselves be controlled by our possessions

This gospel-reading has several parables about the lost being found and rejoiced over when they return or are returned to their proper place, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald. The fact that we are told that Jesus welcomes outcasts and even eats with them is a statement of God’s magnanimous love expressed in and through Jesus. But being welcomed and forgiven calls for repentance on the part of all who accept Jesus’ invitation to be at home in his company.

By virtue of our Baptism, Jesus invites every single one of us to follow him in the way of discipleship. Today’s readings offer us insights into how we might accept that invitation from Jesus and what’s required of us when we do accept it, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

Today’s gospel-reading contains more than an indictment of mindless consumerism, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald. It’s a challenge to each of us to give some thought to how we use things, to the power resources we squander as we use our home appliances, to how we operate the vehicles we drive and the lawnmowers we push, to the value we attach to the stuff we have accumulated. Side by side with those challenges is an invitation from Jesus to audit our lives and examine the things with which we clutter them.