Good things came to you and bad things to Lazarus; now he is being comforted while you are in agony. We once again find ourselves staring at one of those Gospel stories that can be misinterpreted in a manner that exalts the poor and the suffering while putting down those who are rich and having their fill of what the world has to offer. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man which is the content of today’s Gospel Reading is a very popular one, and for a good reason. No one enjoys a story or a movie in which the underdog never gets his/her revenge just as nothing makes a sports tournament as memorable as a lower seeded team upsetting a top seeded team. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man fits perfectly in this scenario.
The parable of Lazarus and the rich man is among the many teachings in the Gospel according to Luke that illustrate the universality of the kingdom/salvation which Jesus came to inaugurate. Though slightly biased towards those who were hitherto considered unworthy of salvation (the poor and sick, women, the people of the nations [Gentiles]), the evangelist Luke preaches a salvation that is accessible to all. Lazarus and the rich man could not have been more different. They lived their lives on earth as was dictated by their different fortunes – the rich man enjoying the best things that wealth could buy while Lazarus languished in poverty. However, upon the completion of their earthly lives, the two experienced a reversal of fortunes. The rich man found himself in torment while Lazarus got comforted at the bosom of Abraham. 
Even though no reason is given us for the rich man's torment in the abode of the dead vis-à-vis Lazarus' comfort at Abraham's side, we always hypothesize that the rich man is punished because he had a good time while on earth, and that Lazarus was now enjoying the things he was not fortunate enough to have in his earthly life. Abraham's response can even be seen to be supporting such a conclusion:  my child, remember that you received what was good in life while Lazarus received the bad, but now he is being comforted here. To be fair to the rich man, we shouldn’t read too much into what is not given. We are not told that he was mean to Lazarus or that he refused his call for help. The rich man just lived his life. He might not even have noticed Lazarus eating scraps that fell from his table. And this, I believe, became his undoing. 
The rich man was so much buried in his wealth and good life that he failed to notice the human being Lazarus who needed his help. He was blinded by his wealth so much so that he failed to listen to  Moses, through the Scriptures,reminding him of the greatest commandment: love (of neighbor) . Wealth became his strength, and his stomach became his God (cf. Philippians 3:19b). He found himself tormented because once separated from his wealth, he had nothing to lean on. He was in agony because separated from his wealth, he had become a  barren bush in the desert. He was being tormented, not because of his wealth, but because he did not trust in God. 
Lent is a time in which we are reminded to repair the relationships which we might have knowingly or unknowingly severed. Lent is an opportunity for us to practice the virtue of charity even as we recognize God as the giver of the good things that we enjoy. Lent is an opportunity for us to step back from the busyness of life in order to re-evaluate what is of importance in our lives. It is an opportunity for us to re-align ourselves to God by making an effort to show our love to him and to our brothers and sisters in need. May we open our hearts and ears to the words of the Lord that come to us in the Scriptures and remain faithful to them.