The Lord told this story, There was a rich man who had lots of food and fancy clothes. A poor man, named Lazarus, used to sit outside the gate of his yard. He wished he could be given just the scraps of food that fell from the rich man’s table at dinner.

It seemed as if the rich man had everything. One day Lazarus died. He was carried to heaven and had a place next to blessed Abraham.

One day the rich man died. He was not in heaven, but rather, miserable in Hades. He looked over and saw Lazarus. He called to Abraham, “Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to bring me water.”

Abraham said to the rich man, “Remember how you had everything in your life, and Lazarus was poor? You did nothing to help him. He can not cross over to us, nor can you cross over here.”

The rich man said, “Please send him to tell my brothers how they should live!” Abraham said, “They have learned that God wants us to care for the poor. They choose not to see.”

1. Look at the icon of this Gospel story. Can you find the rich man? Can you find Lazarus, the poor man?

2. In the icon, look for an angel. The angel is giving food to Lazarus. This tells us that although he was poor and had nothing when he lived on earth, Lazarus has all he ever wanted in Heaven.

3. There are many poor people living on earth. Ask your mother or father how you can help. Some of the money in the Church collection goes to feed the poor.

4. Everything we have comes from God. How do we say “thank you” to God? We share what we have.