When I think of the term justice what comes to my mind most often is Batman.
Maybe because I was picked on when I was a kid.
Maybe because I like the color blue with black.
I just often connected the idea that Batman would bring criminals to justice in perhaps the most painful way possible, but wouldn't kill them, because that would be wrong. So for me, for most of my life, justice just meant that criminals got caught and the rest of us paid as little in taxes as possible.
It seems to make sense and I think that the majority of people I run into every day agree with me. When it comes to our relationship with God and what it means to be a saint, I have found that the term Justice takes on a whole new meaning. It becomes political (as if God could be political) and it is charged with those on the "right" and "left" of the Church accusing each other of caring about the wrong thing or not caring about the right thing enough.
It all seems kind of silly to me.
The first thing we need to worry about in Justice is giving God His due. What is His due?
Our will.
Our intellect.
Our desire.
Everything that we are. Because God created everything that we are and gave us the option to serve any master that we chose, we can give back to God the one thing that matters, which is all that we are. It is then that we can reach the state of Original Justice which is how Adam and Eve lived in the Garden before the fall. Isn't that what we are trying to reach with The Sainthood Challenge, anyway? A state of sanctification, when God's Grace works through us?
At what point can we then say that someone serves the poor "too much" or that they are "too concerned" with "social justice"? Is not all justice the justice of God?
At the same time, how can we say that someone is only concerned with their relationship with God and not concerned with the poor and those around them? When we read the story of Mary and Martha don't we recognize the justice of sitting and contemplating our Lord?
How then to balance the two? How then to work for Justice in the world?
The first part is what has been going on in the first 26 parts of the Challenge. The Justice within ourselves, within our own lives, between ourselves and our Creator. If at the end that faith, that hope, and that love is restricted to just the areas where we are comfortable, if we do not allow God to push us to the boundaries of what we consider to be good Justice, then we are missing the point.
Justice is much more than criminals getting their due. Justice is everyone getting their due. Justice is praising God with everything that we are because by all accounts we have gone against Him in our sin. Justice is helping those who are born into situations that don't give them the "cheat codes" to life. The poor who live in neighborhoods, countries, and schools that do not give them options.
Sure we could quote tons of people who have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and become remarkable in the world. Many, many more are the stories of those who have struggled to make ends meet, of the one-sixth of the world that is starving. If there was true Justice, then at what point could we say that anyone should be hungry while we have cable television? Political systems aside, Justice calls for more saints.
Justice calls, yearns, begs for the sancitificaiton of the world. It is those who work, live, breath true justice that understand the dignity of each and every human being in the world and what they deserve. They each deserve the right to be able to make the free will decision to worship their Creator.
And yet we get bogged down in pointing fingers at those who disagree with us politically.
Jesus described our political obligations succinctly, as he always did, when given a coin with the image of Ceasar on it.. Give to Ceasar what is Ceasar's.
God's image is on your heart.
Give God your heart.
Act accordingly to all that you meet.
That is true Justice.
Questions for Reflection:
- How do you perceive justice in the world today? What do you think needs to be changed so that the world can pursue perfect justice?
- Do you have justice in your own household? Your own family? Why or why not?
- What "issues" in the Church and the world do you commonly associate with Justice? What might you be leaving out based on your own experience? How might you be limited in the way that you perceive Justice?
- How have divisions in politics and Church politics hindered our ability to work for a perfect Justice?
- Does God have your whole heart? If so, how is He calling you to Justice? If not, what do you think you owe God?
- Make a list of 5 areas in your life where you see injustice, where you see people or God not getting their due. Make a concrete decision today to do something yourself about it. Don't tell anyone else, just lead by example.
- Evaluate your "volunteer" work if you do it. If you are volunteering, question your own motives about it. Are you doing it for yourself or for God. If you do not give your time away, ask yourself why. Is there one hour in your week where you can start working for someone else's good?
- Do something for another person every day this week. Anonymously.
- Take the time that you are spending in prayer and increase it by five minutes every day this week. Make your intention to give God more of your heart so that He can lead you to where there is an injustice that your specific gifts can be used to repair.
- Refuse to make a negative comment or remark about anyone or anything this week. No criticizing, no gossip, no sarcasm, no negative humor. No matter what.
Pray the Lectio Divina at some point in the day.
Psalm 51:12 (pray in the morning)
Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
O My Jesus (pray at noon)
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.
