It was two o’clock in the afternoon of a very hot month of August… I was driving through one of the busiest streets of Funchal with two passengers. On one side of the street, we noticed a man lying down covered with a heavy coat, consequently a very hot coat. Hot day, hot hour and a heavy and hot coat…. the worst combination to offer protection and comfort to a human being on a hot day and in a busy and noisy street.
One of the ladies riding with me, seeing that scene said: «Look! It’s a man sleeping at this time under this very hot sun. It must be horrible». And then she added: «And people don’t even look at him». Many people were constantly passing by. But they didn´t look at him. «That scene was too insignificant. That scene didn’t deserve the attention of anybody. It looked more like a piece of garbage and, by the way, if that man was lying down at this hour in that place he must be a drunkard or a drug addict. It´s his fault and he didn’t deserve attention». I am pretty sure that no one said:
«That man is my brother. What can I do for him?».
I learned long time ago that the opposite of love is not hatred. The opposite of love is indifference. Pope Francis calls it the «Terrorism of Indifference».
The Gospel of today’s Mass (Luke 16: 19-31) is for me one of the most disturbing Gospels of the
liturgical year. It´s the story of two men. One is just called «a rich man». The other one was identified by a «poor man called Lazarus». The rich man used to «dress in fine linen and feast magnificently every day». The poor man called Lazarus covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table, lay at his door. Both died. The poor man called Lazarus went to Heaven. The rich man was condemned to hell. The rich man was not condemned for being rich. The rich man was condemned for being indifferent to the suffering of the poor man.
What is disturbing is that the Gospel doesn’t say that the rich man did anything wrong. It doesn’t say that the rich man insulted or hurt Lazarus or even sent him away. The rich man was condemned not for being rich but because he was indifferent to the suffering of another human being. He was condemned because he did nothing to alleviate the suffering of another human being.
«The opposite of love is not hatred. The opposite of love is indifference».
How important is the suffering of other people in my life? What can I do to alleviate it?