Exploring Catholic Social Teaching

C Finally, discuss student answers as a large group. Invite students who wish to share their creative responses
to do so.
D Close by reading aloud Luke 6:20–26 and allowing a few moments of silent reflection.
Answer Key
Accept reasoned answers such as the suggested following:
1 Lazarus, the poor, sick beggar, dies and goes to paradise. The rich man dies and is sentenced to eternal
torment. Their fortunes in life are reversed after their deaths.
2 The rich man represents indifference to the suffering of others; he, like his name, is ultimately forgettable,
though his fate serves as a reminder and a warning. Lazarus, silent in the parable, seems to quietly bear his
suffering and through it comes to know God’s mercy and the great reversal foreshadowed in Luke 6:20–26.
3 Lazarus seems to have been regularly shunned and ignored. The rich man, whether unaware of Lazarus or
indifferent to his suffering, demonstrates a terrible self-absorption. The rich man never came to appreciate that
Lazarus was a neighbor to him and deserved more than his disregard. Lazarus, in a way, was an opportunity
for charity and an instance for righting the social evil of poverty, but he went entirely ignored.
4 The rich man allowed preoccupation with his fine things to make him distant and indifferent. His wealth did not
become an occasion of generosity but instead had turned him inward. Wealth itself is not evil but places its
owner at risk of increased selfishness and greed — of relying on oneself rather than God. Wealth places upon
its owners’ shoulders a greater responsibility to care for others.
5 The figures represent us, still living. Have we hardened our hearts to the words of Moses and the prophets? If
we do not believe them, why would we believe even in the face of a miracle, or even believe in the One who
has risen from the dead — who is Christ Himself?
6 Accept reasoned, creative responses. An example: [Jesus said] “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. The rich man, hearing of Lazarus, summoned the poor man and dined with him. When the poor man
died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. Hearing of the death of Lazarus, the rich man
gave his own tomb for the burial. He went out and found others who were hungry and thirsty and sick and
brought them to his table. Each week he went out and gathered more to his home. He gave his last silver coin
to feed the hungry of the city. The poor man, who once was rich, also died and was buried, and he was carried
away by angels to the bosom of Abraham, and there found Lazarus, who once was poor.
166 Exploring Catholic Social Teaching
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