5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B
February 4, 2024 5pm, 8:30 and 11am
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton
Respect
Today I want to talk about respect. One word – respect.
The Word Respect
Our English word respect – like many of our words – is derived from Latin.
It is made up of two Latin words:
1) First, the word re (spelled R-E) which means back, as in going back;
2) and second, the Latin word specere (spelled S-P-E-C-E-R-E), a verb that means to look at.
And so, our word respect literally means to look back at, or to take a second look. From this, the word has come to mean to treat someone with value and dignity.
The connection between the original meaning – to look back at – and the developed meaning of the word is clear. If we don’t just take a quick look, but if we look back and take a second look, then we are valuing others.
As a result, we are much more likely to act out of that – to treat them with value and dignity. And, of course, we are much more likely to avoid behavior or words that would injure others.
Why am I so focused on this today? Because I see respect as the virtue or trait that is underneath what happens in the first part of today’s gospel.
Jesus Respects Women
Jesus goes into Peter’s house.
Peter’s mother-in-law is sick in bed with a fever. I have to wonder if it was something like the flu.
At any rate, and here’s the key point, Jesus goes right up to this woman and takes her by the hand. Now to us, that may not sound like a big deal, but it was in Jesus’ day.
In those days, men were forbidden to talk with or touch any woman other than their wife. They couldn’t even shake hands with a woman.
It’s important to know that this prohibition did not exist out of respect for women. Instead, it existed out of disrespect for them.
It was a highly patriarchal and culture. Women had no rights and were seen as inferior – not to be talked with and certainly not to be touched.
So, a point that’s easy to miss here is that Jesus, right at the start of his ministry, is breaking a barrier. I mean, this is chapter one of Mark’s Gospel – Mark talking about the first things Jesus does in his ministry.
And here, Jesus breaks the gender barrier. He respects this woman as a person with dignity, as a person in need, and he wants to help her.
Apparently, Saint Mark is really out to make a point about this. I say that because at the end of his gospel, as Jesus ends his ministry, dying on the cross, Mark carefully notes the presence of women.
He points out that these women were followers or disciples of Jesus. So Mark’s entire Gospel is framed or bookended with Jesus showing respect for women.
Respect Women Today
Today, I think that Jesus would do the same thing and support the dignity and respectful treatment of women.
He would speak out against verbal or emotional abuse, demeaning jokes, sexual harassment, and maybe even less pay for the same work and same competence. I believe that Jesus would call out all of this as wrong.
He would want us to look back at, to take a second look, the meaning of the word respect. He would want us to be respectful in our attitudes, our words, our workplace policies, and our Church practice.
So, yes, there is a spiritual and moral dimension here. There is quite a lesson in Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law.
