Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts

Transcript

The rich man sees Lazarus and "cries out, 'Father, have pity on me. Father Abraham. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.' And Abraham says, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime, while Lazarus likewise received what was bad. Now he is comforted, whereas you are tormented.'"

Welcome back to Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts. Today is March 5th, 2026, Thursday of the Second Week of Lent. Today we are joined by Dr. Gerry Crete, one of the co-founders of Souls and Hearts, the author of the book Litanies of the Heart, and a counselor with his own private practice, Transfiguration Counseling, based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hi there. Good to spend this time with you. We're in the Second Week of Lent. This is the reading for March 5th. I kind of jumped ahead to the Gospel. It's Luke 16 and we have the story of Lazarus and the rich man. And this is a powerful parable, fascinating little story. We have this rich man who has all these fine garments. He lives a very good life, eating and dining sumptuously every day. And then we also have Lazarus, who is covered in sores, who eats scraps, you know, he is a very poor man. But God rewards Lazarus, right? He's carried away by angels into the bosom of Abraham, whereas the rich man is sent into the netherworld to be tormented. And so you get this scene where the rich man sees Lazarus and cries out, "'Father, have pity on me. Father Abraham. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.' And Abraham says, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime, while Lazarus likewise received what was bad. Now he is comforted, whereas you are tormented.'" You know, he begs the Father to send the message to his brothers so that they are warned. And Abraham says, you know what? They had Moses. They had the prophets, you know.

Let them listen to them. So this is a powerful passage. It's a powerful passage to really reflect on, you know, one's own life. But I'm going to suggest that we look at our lives and in the ways in which we have been broken, the ways in which we have suffered, the ways in which we have been hurt, the ways in which we have isolated ourselves, connect us to Lazarus, whatever it is that has exiled us, whatever it is that has made us feel unworthy and has left us with pain and left us feeling alone, uncared for, struggling, shamed. All of that the Lord sees and the Lord takes us in his arms. We are carried by angels into the bosom of Abraham. We receive a reward despite all of our suffering, because the Lord sees it, and it matters to him. And we need to own this identity, not to be a perennial victim or poor me or anything like that, but just to know that our Lord sees and knows. He knows the hardships we've endured and he rewards us. He cares for us in that. And like in this story, that reward may not happen in this lifetime. It might, might not. But it will come. And the contrast with the earlier reading in Jeremiah is a contrast between, you know, the one who is, you know, standing in a lava waste, an empty earth, right, barren bush in the desert.

And that's compared to a tree that is planted beside the waters, that stretches out its roots to the stream. You know, it's green and it bears fruit. And it says, "More tortuous than all else is the human heart beyond remedy. Who can understand it?" But then it says, "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." So there is an element here where God sees, he knows, and his goal for us when he sees our heart, when he knows our heart and he sees the love that's there, he gives us the water we need. We become a tree that is planted and blossoms, bears fruit, thrives. So we can trust in that. And that may be something yet to come or may be already happening. We just place our hope in him and our thanks in him. So Lord, we just pray that you would give us the hope that we need, that you would water us and care for us in your bosom, in the bosom of Abraham. Lord, if you would water us and help us grow into the tree that bears fruit and flourishes.

If today's episode resonates with you, you can find similar content at SoulsandHearts.com/content. Thanks for joining us and we hope to see you again tomorrow.

We place our intentions before your Mother, Mary, our Mother, Untier of Knots, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint John the Baptist, pray for us. Sweetest Jesus, save us.