Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

People Suffer; See Their Needs

Liturgical Cycle: A, B, C | Lectionary Cycle: I, II

Introduction

Those who place their faith in themselves and in the means they possess are not open to God or God’s kingdom. They make themselves their own gods and adore what they have made. They adore the golden calf. They fail to see the needs of others, especially of the poor. Those who have more are not condemned because they have more, but because they don’s see the needs of those who have less. We must learn to see also the unspoken needs of the poor, especially of the humble, of those who dare not to voice out their poverty and distress.

Opening Prayer

Lord, our God,
many of us never had it so good
and so, we have become smug and self-satisfied,
happy in our own little world.
God, may our ears remain open to your Word
and our hearts to you
and to our brothers and sisters.
Do not allow us to forget you,
or to place our trust in ourselves.
Make us restless for you
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

First Reading

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
But stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
It fears not the heat when it comes,
its leaves stay green;
In the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.
More tortuous than all else is the human heart,
beyond remedy; who can understand it?
I, the LORD, alone probe the mind
and test the heart,
To reward everyone according to his ways,
according to the merit of his deeds.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

R. (40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so, the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Alleluia Verse

See Luke 8:15

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

Gospel

Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied, 'My child,
remember that you received what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing
who might wish to go from our side to yours
or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him
to my father's house,
for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said,
'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.'"

Prayers of the Faithful

– For the poor and the destitute, for those who live at the margin of society, we pray:

– For those whose hearts are hardened and who no longer see the needs and the cravings of the poor, we pray:

– For poor countries of the third or the fourth world, that they may have due access to the riches of the world, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord God, you know what is in us
and where our treasure is.
Give us faith not in ourselves
or in what our hands have made,
but in what we can build up
together with you and with your Son,
so that what we are and do
may be both a gift from your goodness
and the fruit of our work,
in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Open our ears, Lord God,
to the words that Jesus speaks to us,
that we may believe in your future
and build up a better world.
Open our eyes to the needs of those who suffer,
that we may care them for you.
Open our hearts to you,
that we may love and praise you,
for ever and ever.

Blessing

Eyes to see the needs of the people, ears to hear their cries for justice and mercy, a fair share in the goods of the earth, material and spiritual, that is what we all need very much. May almighty God be good to you and give you all these. May he bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

REFLECTION:

Luke 16:19-31

The Desire for Comfort

“Throughout his Gospel, Luke calls upon his community to identify with Jesus, whois compassionate and tender toward the poor, the outcast, the sinner, and the afflicted, toward all who acknowledge their dependence on God. But he is severe toward those who are proud and self-righteous, particularly those who place material wealth before God’s service.” (Catholic Study Bible)

This call is particularly evident in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Both men in today's Gospel story share a common desire: comfort. Lazarus needed the comfort of care and to be nourished and healed. The rich man did not want to give up his comfortable lifestyle, even with such a pitiful human as Lazarus at his door.

All of us have a Lazarus in our lives who keeps appearing at our doorstep and inviting us to respond to the Gospel imperatives. Perhaps your Lazarus is a lonely person who wants to talk to you more than you want to talk to them. Maybe he is the homeless person you pass by on your way to work every day or a child who cries out for attention. Perhaps he is the unknown millions who haunt us with their suffering from poverty, natural disaster, and war and who need our prayers and our actions.

Whenever we are confronted with a Lazarus, our faith demands that we risk our own desire for comfort by responding to theirs. Consider asking for forgiveness for times when you failed to recognise or respond to the needs of others.

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Luke 16: 19-31

Opening the Door of the Heart to the Poor

The Gospel invites us during this Lenten season to rediscover the meaning of love through compassion and mercy. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) confronts us with the reality of indifference—a blindness that closes the hearts to the suffering of others.

The rich man, surrounded by wealth and luxury, suffers from a greater sickness than Lazarus. His spiritual blindness prevents him from seeing the suffering at his own doorstep. Pope Francis warns that this kind of worldliness acts like a black hole—consuming everything and extinguishing love. The tragedy of the rich man is not his wealth but his lack of compassion—his failure to recognise God's presence in the poor.

Lent is a time to awaken our hearts from the sleep of indifference. The cry of the poor is not only a call for help but also a reminder of our responsibility. To ignore the suffering of others is to ignore God Himself, for the mercy we show to others is the very measure of God's mercy in our lives. As Pope Francis reminds us, “If I do not open the door of my heart to the poor, that door also remains closed for God.”

Saint Basil the Great’s words challenge us even further: “To the hungry belongs the bread that you withhold.” What we do not use immediately does not belong to us—it is meant for those in need.

This Lent, let us open our hearts, allowing God’s mercy to flow through us. May we seek out the Lazaruses around us, offering not only material help but also the warmth of compassion, dignity, and love.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7).

Opening the Door of the Heart to the Poor - Youtube