The saying goes that “a poor craftsman blames his tools.” When the rich man pleads with Abraham in the parable from today’s gospel, that is precisely what he is doing. If only he knew better—or now, if only his brothers knew better—they might act differently. But Abraham is clear: “They have Moses and the Prophets” (Lk. 16:29). There was no lack of warning in the Old Testament that a person should tend to the poor. They had the tools they needed, given to them by God, but they did not use the tools for their salvation.
For all that the rich man had in the parable, we have still more. We have the example of Jesus, we have the New Testament, we have the sacraments to strengthen us—and we even have the sign of someone rising from the dead (cf. Lk. 16:31). We have the tools we need in order to do God’s will. We have the tools we need in order to save our souls. Tools given to us by God. We cannot blame our tools. We cannot blame our time or circumstances. We can only go out and do God’s will.