Word of the Week

23th Sunday in Ordinary Time

No Partiality: Prosopolepsia (Gk.): meaning “respect of persons”. The word also communicates the error in being partial:“the fault of one who when called on to give judgment has respect of the outward circumstances of man and not to their intrinsic merits, and so prefers, as the more worthy, one who is rich, high born, or powerful, to another who does not have these qualities.”

Respecting one another is at the very heart of the cardinal virtue of Justice. Justice is that virtual compass that gives people their due. The CCC states that Justice towards men disposes one to respect the rights of others and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good” (CCC, 1807). This moral virtue invites us to seek God above all else and simultaneously steer away from the provocative ideology that true happiness is found “in human fame or power, or in any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - such as science, technology, and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God alone, the source of every good and of all love” (CCC 1723). The CCC goes on to quote Cardinal Newman in a most insightful statement on improper behavior towards wealth: “All bow down before wealth. Wealth is that to which the multitude of men pay an instinctive homage. They measure happiness by wealth; and by wealth they measure respectability” (CCC, 1723). Therefore, with the grace of our Lord in the gift of fortitude, we rise up to the challenges that surround us all in loving each individual as created in the image and likeness of God (cf. CCC, 1889).

We find the above Greek term four times in the New Testament. Three from the apostle to the Gentiles (Paul), and one from the first bishop of Jerusalem (James). In his treatment of God’s righteous judgment, Paul makes clear that the Jews, because they are the Jews, do not have the upper hand on the Gentiles, because they are gentiles. Rather, God’s favor will rest with those who live in God’s righteousness (cf. Rom.2:1-16). In his letter to Ephesians, he strikes a chord with the need for the master/slave relationship to be understood in light of our relationship with God who is the master of all persons. In this case, Paul appears to be making a case for the dignity of the human person, no matter what status in society (cf. Eph.6:5-9). In his last charge, Paul reminds us that no matter what our position is here on earth, God shows no partiality and every last penny will be paid according to our merit here on earth (cf. Col.3:25). In the last usage found in the NT, James juxtaposes the poor and the rich as God would see them, and in so doing, exhorts the faithful to show no favoritism towards the wealthy (cf. James 2:1-5). James calls for the principle of solidarity towards one another realized in the virtues of justice and charity. 

This 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time affords us the opportunity to remind ourselves that life here on earth is not the accumulation of things, but rendering service to persons; not the accruing of wealth, but the gift we can give to the poor. Over the course of our lives, God gives us multiple opportunities to render service to him in truth and charity. Let us not fail in our opportunity to reach out to the person who might be living in the margins of society, or those folks most in need. Oppression of the poor takes place because we fail to live in spiritual poverty. With that singular grace that comes to us from being a child of God, let us be united with our brothers and sisters in Christ expecting nothing in return, but only the joy of doing the Father’s will.

Furthermore, God’s call to show no partiality towards any one person also includes the respect for persons from natural conception to natural death. God has granted us a great power in the freedom to choose, and we ought to see this truth in light of the dignity of life. To make a choice has a profound moral quality to it, and we must respect that each decision we make ought to be rooted in the gift of life.

"If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology. It is contradictory to insist that future generations respect the natural environment when our educational systems and laws do not help them to respect themselves."

--Pope Benedict XVI

Primary Texts Consulted

• Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
•Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.

The Catholic Hour Home Page
Comments or Questions?
Contact Webmaster