DO NOT DISCRIMINATE IN THE LITURGICAL ASSEMBLY

XXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - James 2:1-5

In his letter, St. James speaks about discrimination in the liturgical assembly, that is, to differentiate people and the treatment given to them according to their wealth or their social status. Such an attitude is an insult to the poor, who were the object of God’s preference. Discrimination uses double standards and the one who discriminates sets himself as judge of the ones who are put aside, considering them as unworthy. In the liturgical assembly, all of us are brothers and sisters and deserve equal treatment.

Nowadays, the fight against all kinds of inequality is part of the politically correct, since all inequality is seen as exploitation and oppression. Gender equality is demanded at all levels and minority groups, such as gays or transgender, come to the forefront, claiming to be oppressed and imposing their demands for equal treatment in all spheres of life. Whoever questions that is considered as an enemy that should be opposed and destroyed. In the fight for gender equality, the politically correct affirms that men and women are not different at all. If we perceive ourselves as different, that is due to social constraint and not to biology. Whoever feels to be a man or a woman should be treated as such (even if that perception does not correspond to the biological set up of the body) and nobody can infringe on their right to be accepted as such. This gender ideology mixes up reality with dreams, accepting the dreams as overriding reality. However, reality will always end up imposing itself, proving that the dreams are just delusions.

Surely, there is equality of being and of dignity: men and women are made in the image of God. Both of them are human beings with the same dignity and the same rights, with the same call to salvation and the same hope for eternal life. Everybody deserves respect and, in the same situation, everybody must be treated in the same manner. However, we do not do ourselves a service by denying the physical and biological differences which are there for everybody to see, and which have an impact on the way we feel and behave. A minority, even though they have the same rights and deserve the same respect, cannot force the majority to feel and behave like them.

As we walk along the path of life, so many times tussled around in such a way that we lose balance and direction, we must keep hope, because God walks by our side:

“Say to all faint hearts,

‘Courage! Do not be afraid.

Look, your God is coming,

vengeance is coming,

the retribution of God;

he is coming to save you.” - Is 35:4