Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/617

 receive good  things  in  thy  lifetime,  and  likewise  Lazarus  evil things, but  now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  tormented. And besides all  this,  between  us  and  you  there  is  fixed  a great  chaos , so that  they  who  would  pass  from  hence  to  you,  cannot;  nor  from thence come  hither.'

“Thereupon Dives  said:  ‘Then,  father,  I beseech  thee  that  thou wouldst send  him  to  my  father’s  house; for  I have  five  brethren, that he  may  testify  to  them,  lest  they  also come  into  this  place of torments.’  But  Abraham  said  to  him:  ‘They  have  Moses and the  prophets;  let  them  hear  them.’  But  he  said:  ‘No,  father Abraham, but  if  one  went  to  them  from  the  dead,  they  will  do penance!’  Abraham  said  unto  him:  ‘If  they  hear  not  Moses and the  prophets,  neither  will  they  believe,  if  one  rise  from the dead.’  ”

A glimpse of  the  future  state  (12th  article  of  the  Creed)  is  vouchsafed to  us  in  this  parable,  both  for  our  consolation  and  as  a warning. After this  life  there  is,  we  learn,  a future  state — a life  where  everything is  quite  different  from  what  it  is  on  earth. Lazarus was  poor, despised, racked  with  pain  and  hunger  while  he  was  on  earth; but  when he died,  angels  carried  his  soul  to  the  abode  of  the  just,  where  he received  consolation,  and  whence,  when  our  Lord  ascended  into  heaven, he would  pass  to  everlasting  happiness. On the  other  hand,  the  rich man, when  on  earth,  led  what  was  apparently  a magnificent  life. He was esteemed  and  honoured,  surrounded  by  flatterers,  waited  on  by  a host  of  servants,  clad  in  costly  clothes,  and  he  feasted  luxuriously  every day. But all  this  magnificence  lasted  only  a short  time. He died  and