In his epistle, St. James warned against the evil of showing partiality (Jas 2:1–13). In the ancient world, the Church likely was the only place where social distinctions did not exist.
St. James cautioned the faithful against snobbery and depicted two men entering the Christian assembly (Jas 2:2–4). One with gold rings and in fine clothing and the other in shabby clothing. In the ancient world, some wealthy people wore rings on every finger except the middle one, and they wore multiple rings on each finger. Clement of Alexandria advised Christians to wear only one ring on the little finger. The ring should display a religious emblem, such as a dove, fish, or anchor.
In certain areas of the early Church, there was a guideline to give special treatment not to the wealthy but to the poor. The Ethiopic Statutes of the Apostles states: “If any other man or woman enters in fine clothes, either a man of the district or from other districts, being brethren, you, presbyter, while you speak the word concerning God, or while you listen or read, you shall not favour persons, nor leave your ministry to arrange seating for them, but remain still, for the brethren shall receive them. If they have no spot for them, the lover of brothers and sisters will stand and leave a place for them … And if a poor man or woman of the district or from other districts should come in and there’s no place for them, you, presbyter, make room for such with all your heart, even if you must sit on the ground, so that there isn’t any favouritism towards a person but towards God.”
“Being” holds more value than “having.” The Second Vatican Council stated, “A man is more valued for what he is than for what he owns.” St. John Paul II noted, “It is not wrong to desire to live better; what is wrong is a style of life which is assumed to be superior when it is directed towards ‘having’ rather than ‘being’ and which wishes to have more, not to be more but to use life in leisure as an end in itself.”
No distinctions of rank and prestige exist when we approach the presence of God. On the night of May 12, 1935, St. Faustina Kowalska witnessed a man dying amidst immense suffering. She noted, “The soul I saw dying was filled with the world’s praise and honour, the result of which are emptiness and sin… Although it seems to me that this soul isn’t damned, its torments are no different from the torments of hell; the only difference is that they will someday end.” Shortly after, the Child Jesus said to the saint: “True greatness of the soul lies in loving God and in humility.”
Loving God cannot detach from loving our neighbour. St. James penned, “If you truly uphold the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself,’ you are doing well.” (James 2:8) A royal law is proclaimed by a king. We cannot accept Jesus as our Saviour without recognizing him as King. We cannot address him as King without submitting to his rule and abiding by his law.
St. James noted, “For whoever abides by the entire law but fails in one aspect is guilty of the whole of it.” (Jas 2:10) The Navarre Bible explains, “Each commandment of God’s Law reflects his will. Hence, any sin—even against just one precept—is always an offence against God. If the sin is a grave one, it eradicates the virtue of charity and the supernatural life of grace.”
May we love each other out of affection for Christ without bias.
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不偏不倚的愛
在他的書信中，聖雅各伯警告不要表現出偏袒的邪惡（雅2:1-13）。在古代世界，教會可能是唯一不存在社會差異的地方。
聖雅各伯警告信徒不要勢利，並畫了一幅兩個人進入基督教會眾的畫像（2：2-4）。一個戴著金戒指，穿著華麗的衣服，另一個穿著破舊的衣服。在古代世界，一些有錢人除了中指外，每根手指上都戴著戒指，他們每個手指上都戴著多個戒指。亞歷山大的格肋孟建議基督徒只在小指上戴一枚戒指。戒指應有宗教標誌（如鴿子、魚或錨）。
在早期教會的一些地方，有一條規則，不是給予富人特殊待遇，而是給予窮人特殊待遇。衣索比亞的使徒法令說明：『如果任何其他男人或女人穿著華麗的衣服進入，無論是該地區的人還是其他地區的人，作為弟兄、你們、長老，當你說出與天主有關的話時，或者當你聽到或讀到時，你不應該奉承他們，也不要離開你的職務來命給他們地方，而是保持安靜， 因為弟兄們要接待他們，如果為他們沒有位置，愛弟兄姊妹的人就會起來，為他們留地方…如果一個地區或其他地區的貧窮男人或女人進來，而沒有他們的位置，你、長老、即使你要坐在地上，也要全心全意地為這樣的人騰出位置，這並不是應該尊重人，而應該尊重天主。』
『存在』比『擁有』更重要。根據梵蒂岡第二屆大公會議的說法：『人之所是，遠超出人之所有。』聖若望保祿二世寫道：『想要過上更好的生活並沒有錯;錯的是一種生活方式，當它指向『擁有』而不是『存在』時，被認為是更好的，想要擁有更多，不是為了更多，而是為了在享受中渡過生活，作為本身最終的目的。』
當我們來到天主面前時，沒有等級和聲望的區別。1935 年 5 月 12 日晚上，聖傅天娜·科瓦爾斯卡看到一個人在巨大的折磨中死去。她寫道：『我看到垂死的靈魂是一個充滿世界掌聲和榮譽的靈魂，這些都是空虛和罪惡。雖然在我看來，這個靈魂沒有喪亡，但他受的折磨與地獄的折磨沒有任何不同;只有這個區別：它們總有一天會結束。』過了一會兒，孩童耶穌對聖人說：『靈魂的真正偉大在於愛天主和謙卑。』
愛天主不能與愛我們的鄰人分開。聖雅各伯寫道：『的確，如果你們按照經書所說「你應當愛你的近人如你自己」的話，滿了最高的法律，你們便作的對了。』（雅2.8）最高的法律是由國王頒布的。我們不能聲稱耶穌是我們的救主，而不承認他是君王。我們不能稱他為王，而不服從他的統治並遵守他的律法。
聖雅各伯寫道：『因為誰若遵守全部法律，但只觸犯了一條，就算是全犯了。』（雅2:10）根據一聖經註釋譯：『天主律法的每一條誡命都是他旨意的表達。因此，任何罪——即使它只違背一條戒律——總是對天主的冒犯。如果罪是嚴重的罪，它就會破壞愛德和超性生命的恩寵。』
願我們出於對基督的愛而彼此相愛，沒有偏袒。
