There Is No Partiality With God - A Reflection for the Feast of St. Teresa of Jesus

 

Readings 101525 

Today, my youngest brother turns another year older.
He’s the third-born—the baby of our family—and, if we’re being honest, my mother’s favorite.
There’s something tender about the youngest child:
the way they’re watched over, doted on, forgiven more easily.
He’s lived in that tender space for sixty years.
I could tell some stories.

And today, as we celebrate his life,
we also honor another third-born—St. Teresa of Jesus,
Virgin, mystic, and Doctor of the Church.
She, too, was the third child—though in a family of nine.
There are many stories about St. Teresa.
That’s probably where the similarities end.
But the pairing invites reflection.

Because God sees us all.
Every heart. Every motive. Every act.
He repays each according to their works—
not their birth order, not their popularity,
not the stories others tell about them.

“There is no partiality with God.”
That truth is both a warning and a comfort.
It means we can’t hide behind our roles,
our reputations, or our excuses.
But it also means we are each seen fully—
and loved completely.

God’s gaze is not like ours.
We may look with favoritism, nostalgia, or judgment.
But God looks with truth and mercy.
He sees the youngest child, the oldest sibling,
the saint, the sinner, the seeker, and the stubborn—
all with the same piercing love.

And while some of us lose sight of God,
God never loses sight of us.

St. Teresa once described the soul as a castle—
with many rooms, many layers.
Some rooms are dark. Some are dusty.
Some glow with divine light.
God enters them all.
Even when we close the door, He waits.
Even when we judge others for the dust in their rooms,
He gently reminds us of our own.

So today, as I celebrate my brother’s life
and remember the legacy of St. Teresa,
I hold this truth close:
God’s judgment is just,
but His mercy is relentless.
He sees us all.
He loves us all.
And He calls us—not to favoritism,
but to transformation.

There is no partiality with God.

Prayer: No Partiality, Only Love

Lord,
You see us as we are—
not by rank, not by role,
but by the truth of our hearts.

You love the youngest and the oldest,
the saint and the seeker,
the builder, the healer, the one who still wonders.

You walk through every room of our soul—
the dusty, the dark, the radiant with light—
and You wait, always, with mercy.

Teach us to see as You see.
To love without favoritism.
To live with humility,
and to be transformed by Your gaze.

Amen.