20 February 2020
Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
There is always going to be somebody richer than you, and there is always going to be somebody poorer than you. There will always be somebody with more money, better looking, smarter, stronger, more powerful, more accomplished, more capable, more knowledgeable, more loving, etc. Conversely, there will always be someone with fewer of these gifts than you.
One life strategy would be to maximize the time you spend with those who are more gifted and minimize the time you spend with those who are less gifted. Such a strategy, so it seems, ensures that more riches, wisdom, wit and talent will pass down to you. But, that life strategy is not Christian. It was rebuked explicitly in the second chapter of the epistle of James. There it says that Christians should not show partiality to those who are in their assembly, preferring the rich over the poor. Instead, Christians must “fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (James 2:8). We should want our poorer neighbors to receive as many good things as we ourselves do. Therefore, we should be just as willing to give to some people as to receive from others. We must be eager to share our time, talent and treasure with those who have less than we do, just as we are eager to partake of wit, skill and instruction from those who are better off. No partiality. “If you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:9).