The message of the two readings is very clear. The rich man is dressed in purple and fine linen, both signs of great wealth. He also enjoyed the choicest of foods every day. At the same time there is a poor man called Lazarus. The rich man is nameless. Lazarus was hungry and longed, like the dogs, to pick up the scraps that might fall from the dining table. The dogs even licked his sores, something terribly degrading for a Jew. What is striking about this scene is that nothing is going on between the two men. The rich man is eating; the poor man is sitting and waiting. There are no words between them. The poor man is not abused or chased away; he is simply ignored as if he did not exist. "As often as you neglected to do it to the least of these brothers of mine, you neglected to do it to me." Perhaps our greatest sins are not the ones we tell in confession but the things that never happened, the times we did nothing and ignored a brother or sister in need. "I was hungry, thirsty..., you totally ignored me. You did nothing. I do not want to know you." Today is the time to do something.