🙏 SUNDAY INSIGHTS - 26TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 🙏

First Reading - Amos 6:1,4-7 

Second Reading - 1 Timothy 6:11-16 

Gospel - Luke 16:19-31

Every one of us knows the feeling of comfort — sitting in a cozy chair, enjoying good food, or finding ourselves in a season of life where things seem stable. Comfort is a gift, but it can also be a danger when it blinds us to the needs of others or lulls us into complacency. Today’s readings remind us that true discipleship is not about living in ease but about living with awareness, responsibility, and faithfulness.

The prophet Amos warns those “at ease in Zion,” who indulge in luxury while ignoring the suffering around them. Their downfall comes not because of what they had, but because of what they failed to see — the plight of others and the call to live justly. Comfort without compassion becomes emptiness.

In the Gospel, Jesus gives us the powerful parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man was not condemned for being wealthy, but because he closed his heart. Day after day, Lazarus lay at his gate, hungry and suffering, but he remained invisible to the one who could have helped. The tragedy of the story is not only the eternal separation but also the wasted opportunities — the chances to love, to share, and to make a difference that were ignored.

St. Paul, in the second reading, calls Timothy to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.” This is the antidote to selfish comfort: a life shaped by virtue, lived with purpose, and directed toward God. Paul reminds us that eternal life is the true prize, and it is won not by possessions or status but by faith lived in action.

Dear friends, so what does this mean for us, practically? It means examining our daily lives and asking: Do I notice the “Lazarus” at my doorstep — the family member needing my time, the colleague weighed down by stress, the poor in my community? Am I so caught up in my own comfort that I fail to see where God is calling me to act? Living with faith does not always require great sacrifices but simple acts of awareness, generosity, and compassion.

And here is the motivation: when we open our eyes and hearts, we not only help others, but we also find life ourselves. Generosity enlarges our hearts. Compassion strengthens our souls. Faithful living brings joy that comfort alone cannot provide. By choosing to live with awareness and love, we align ourselves with God’s will, and we prepare for the eternal inheritance that will never fade.

Let us not be like the rich man who only realized too late what truly mattered. Let us, instead, pursue the path Paul describes — faith, love, and godliness. Let us open our eyes to the Lazarus around us and see in them the very face of Christ. For in serving them, we serve Him, and in serving Him, we find the eternal life He promises.