Hunger and Thirst for Justice
October 29, 2024
Hunger and Thirst for
Justice
Hi! How is each and every one? Once again I am running late for this post. Other matters got my attention and you know how it is when such is the situation. No matter how I try to make things on time, if I don’t have the corresponding attention, things won’t work either. Sorry for this and I am making it within the week at least.
Last Thursday, October 24, the Holy Father published his fourth encyclical, Dilexit Nos, He loved us. It is about the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ. It starts on the importance of the Heart; what do we mean by “the Heart”? Then it suggests that we think about the really important questions in life such as the following. Who am I really? What am I looking for? What direction do I want to give to my life, my decisions and I in this world? How do I want to look back on my life once it ends? What meaning do I want to give to all my experiences? Who do I want to be for others? Who am I for God? All these questions lead us back to the heart. I am my heart. Search the encyclical in Vatican News.
On November 2, we celebrate the feast of All Souls. From DRM, 2021 3rd
ed.: The Church has encouraged prayer for the dead from the earliest times as
an act of Christian charity. “If we had
no care for the dead,” Augustine noted, “we would not be in the habit of
praying for them.” Yet pre-Christian
rites for the deceased retained such a strong hold on the superstitious
imagination that a liturgical commemoration was not observed until the early
Middle Ages, when monastic communities began to mark an annual day of prayer
for the departed members. In the middle
of the 11th century, St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny (France), decreed
that all Cluniac monasteries offer special prayers and sing the Office for the
Dead on November 2, the day after the feast of All Saints. The custom spread from Cluny and was finally
adopted throughout the Roman Church. The
theological underpinning of the feast is the acknowledgment of human
frailty. Since few people achieve
perfection in this life but, rather, go to the grave still scarred with traces
of sinfulness, some period of purification seems necessary before a soul comes
face-to-face with God. The Council of
Trent affirmed this purgatory state and insisted that the prayers of the living
can speed the process of purification.
The
Catholic Church grants a plenary indulgence for the souls in purgatory from
November 1-8 each year. This indulgence
allows the faithful to release souls from purgatory so they can go to heaven. A
plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, is granted each
and every day from November 1 to November 8, who devoutly visit a cemetery and
there pray, if only mentally for the departed. Search what conditions are
required to gain a plenary indulgence.
The
communion of saints is the spiritual union of all members of the Christian
Church, both living and dead, who are united in Christ. This includes the faithful on Earth, the
souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven.
The communion of saints is a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith.
Considering the above let
us now proceed to the end of the chapter on our divine longing for justice,
(From
Broken Gods, Hope, Healing, and the
Seven Longings of the Human Heart, Gregory K. Popcak, Ph. D. Ch 6).
Following is the exercise on how you and I could respond and
satisfy our divine longing for justice and as always prayer is the weapon. Without prayer you and I will never achieve
anything at all. Without God into our life, heart and doings, you and I can do
nothing.
Satisfying the Divine Longing for
Justice: An Exercise
Pray
Lord
Jesus Christ,
You said, “Blessed are they who
hunger and thirst for justice.” Bless
me, Lord. Give me patience that I might
respond gracefully to the slights and offenses I encounter in my life. Allow my efforts to restore justice to bear
mature fruit. Grant me the justice I
seek, Lord, but remind me to always seek justice in just ways that I might not
simply heal the hurt, but bring healing to the broken Body of Christ. I ask all of this in the Name of Jesus
Christ, whom I claim as the Lord of my longing for justice. Amen.
COAL: Fuel for Change
As
you consider ways that you could better respond to your divine longing for
justice, take a moment to consider how COAL can be your fuel for change.
CURIOSITY
AND OPENNESS
Ask
yourself: Where did I learn that the
best way to respond to injuries was to lash out?
Who
taught me this response?
What
situations impressed this lesson on me?
Do
I want to continue to allow these experiences to rule my life?
Do
not judge or edit yourself. Receive your
answers in a spirit of openness and grace.
ACCEPTANCE
Say,
“These are the experiences that have shaped my struggle to satisfy my divine
longing for justice. I accept my past
even as I accept God’s call for me to change and grow.”
LOVE
Loving
myself means working to become the person God wants me to be. I know that I can fulfill my deepest longing
for justice only by responding with patience to the offenses and struggles I
face.
In
those times when I feel hurt and angry, what would it look like to display
patience where I currently exhibit wrath?
What
obstacles would I have to overcome
to achieve this goal?
What
help, resources, or support might I need to overcome these obstacles?
Say,
“I will love myself and accept God’s love for me by choosing this path of
patience over giving in to the temptation to wrath.”
Review
these loving resolutions each morning.
Imagine a time in the coming day when you might be tempted to
wrath. Imagine responding instead with
patience. Ask for God’s help to remember
this more loving response in those times when your patience is tested.
Practicing Patience: Action Items
A
study by Northwestern University found that people who used their nondominant
hand for simple tasks for two weeks developed better control over their anger
(Denson, DeWall, and Finkel, 2012). Why?
It forced them to slow down and think about what they were doing. Consider adopting this strategy or some other
means of slowing yourself down before you respond. Being patient and slowing down for as little
as fifty to a hundred milliseconds before acting gives the brain time to
process information and respond more intentionally and rationally (Teichart,
Ferrera and Grinband, 2014).
Visualization
techniques like the one Carl from the case study used can be tremendously
helpful. When you feel angry, imagine
the wave of anger cresting and falling.
Wait until the wave has rolled onto shore before acting.
Classic
strategies such as fasting, regular confession, and offering a brief prayer
before speaking in general and especially in difficult circumstances combine
the benefits of the previous, more psychological techniques with the grace that
God gives us to do more than we ever could do if we were working under our own
power.
All
of these activities can improve your ability to pause and think before you
respond, an essential part of both problem-solving (i.e., healthy,
justice-seeking behavior) and cultivating the kind of patience we’ve been
discussing in this chapter. What other
ideas do you have? Write them here.
The Divine Longing for
Justice: A Promise
For
those of you, whose divine longing for justice is crying out, know that you do
not have to fight your battles alone.
God is on your side. In fact,
through the cross of Jesus Christ, God has already claimed the victory in all
of your battles. Trust him. For blessed are you who hunger and thirst for
justice.
Following is another article on justice for more information
that could help you and myself in our resolve never again to let situations or
issues of pride and self love seethe through our life in such a way that you
and I could not help ourselves get out of. Simply said never let you pride take
hold of you at all. Let love take over, love for God, love for the
others and love for yourself the way God wants you to love yourself, for Him
and for the others.
Justice (opusdei.org 07/12/2024)
One of the questions we often hear is: what do I owe God? And the answer is quite simple: we owe Him everything.
The classical definition of justice has been summed up in a brief phrase: “to give to each his due.” This definition assumes that someone owes and gives something to someone, that is, that there are people in a relationship. Therefore, to think of the virtue of justice is to think of relationships.
The Catechism tells us that “God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1730). Only by considering the equal dignity and freedom of each man and woman is it possible to say that relationships between persons are just. For example, just relations are impossible if some are slaves of others, since this implies denying “who the others are”: persons with an intrinsic human dignity.
But “the statement ‘to give to each his due’ does not express all that is implied in justice, nor make explicit all that is required for a person to be just.” (M. A. Ferrari, Justicia, in J. L. Illanes (ed.), Diccionario de san Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, Monte Carmelo, Pamplona 2013, p. 705). Saint Josemaria said that “justice means giving to each his due. I would however go further and say that this is not enough. However much a particular person is due, we must be ready to give him more, because each single soul is a masterpiece of God’s making.” (Friends of God, no. 83).
We may ask ourselves: What do I owe God? And the answer is quite simple: we owe Him everything. In fact, justice with God, if we can call it that, is different from justice with other men and women. “The relations between man and God are not relations of justice in the proper sense.”[1] (Á. Rodríguez Luño, Scelti in Cristo per essere santi, III: Morale Speciale, EDUSC, Rome 2008, p. 39).
The reason lies in the fact that it is on a totally different level: the relationship is between Creator and creature and not creature and creature. So if we want to know how our relationship with God can be just, we need to ask: who is God for us? What does it mean that he is Creator?
St. John tells us in one of his letters that “God is Love” (1 Jn 4:8). Therefore the right relationship of human beings with God is a path inscribed in our very nature, God, who is love, has created us in his image and likeness out of love, and given us the capacity to respond lovingly through our freedom. God wants us to experience our freedom precisely through the most essential act of the divine nature, which is to love.
It is true that our dignity is due to God the Creator, which creates a bond of strong dependence, because we have not created ourselves. But this total dependence does not mean subjection or slavery, since at the moment God created us he made us free. Human freedom is a manifestation of divine freedom and the capacity to respond freely to God – who is Love – by loving.
Sacred Scripture shows us that the just man is the good and holy man, that is, the man who, through his life, in the continuous exercise of his freedom, chooses what is good. [The ‘good man’ is ‘just because he fulfills the divine law (Prov 10:28; Wis 3:10; etc.); the Messiah will be the ‘just’ man par excellence (Is 45:8; 53; Wis 2:18); ‘he who is just practices justice and right’ (Ezek 18:5); justice and holiness are intimately related (cf. Mt 3:15; 5:6-10; 6:1-33, 15:20; 21:32); the man faithful to God is ‘just’ (cf. Mt 23:34; Lk 1:6; Acts 10:22; 2 Pet 2:8); the ‘just’ man par excellence is Christ (cf. Mt 27:19; Lk 23:47; Acts 3:14)” (Ferrari, Justicia, p. 706)].
Israel is seen as a people that proves its love for
God when, throughout its history, they decide to follow Him as the Highest
Good.
Christ was the only truly just man because, being the Son of God, he became man so that we might become children of God. (Cf. Athanasius of Alexandria, De Incarnatione, 54, 3). Christ took on human nature in the mystery of the Incarnation, thus bringing all created realities to God in the mystery of the Redemption. He was the only man who was just in the full sense of the word and taught us the path of the just man: a human and divine path of self-giving and correspondence to God the Father’s love. (Cf. Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, December 7, 1965, “AAS” 58 (1966), no. 22).
“If God is love, and the experience of love is a human experience, then through love we gain access to a truer image of God and of mankind.” (I. Adeva Martín, “Caridad-Amor,” in Diccionario de Teología). Hence the relationship between God (who is Love) and men and women (who are creatures created out of love in the image and likeness of God) will be just to the extent that we become aware of our condition as children of God and act accordingly out of love.
What do I owe to other men and women?
The second question we need to answer is: what do I owe to others? In this case, when we speak of justice among men, it is easy to confuse the duties that stem from this virtue with those of charity. A duty of justice is not the same as a duty of charity. It is different to ask oneself “what do I owe to a person,” than to ask “why should I care for my neighbor?”
The danger consists in attributing to charity “things that in reality belong to the strictest duties of justice, thus falsifying the true nature of social problems. For example, the bonds of charity that exist between the person who commissions someone’s work and the person who carries it out can in no way lead to paying less than what is just, or to carrying out the work in a careless manner.” (Rodríguez Luño, Scelti in Cristo, III, p. 43). Therefore we need to understand very well the nature of this virtue.
The “object of the virtue of justice is, then, to give to each his due, to give or respect what is his and what is due to him: life, liberty, the goods of which he is the legitimate owner, his reputation, etc. More briefly, we can say that the object of the virtue of justice is what is due to others, but understanding by this what is just in itself, and not what is simply legal.” (Ibid., p. 37).
This highlights three fundamental characteristics of justice. The first is otherness. In the most obvious sense it means that justice is towards others and therefore always requires two or more physical or moral persons. Obligations and duties with respect to oneself are not the object of justice.
This “otherness” presents us with an essential question: who is the other? Justice is often represented as a woman who is blindfolded. This image highlights the importance of considering that “the other,” whether someone we know and like or not, whether a brother or a stranger, is also a person and therefore has the exact same dignity as we do. Hence authority can never be used arbitrarily, by treating some people different than others or harming their reputation. (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2493-2499). Rather all men and women need to be treated and considered as what they are: persons with the exact same dignity. [“Hear the causes of your brethren, and judge fairly between a man and his brother, or between him and a stranger. You shall not respect persons in judgment; you shall listen to the small as well as to the great; you shall not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. If a case is too difficult for you, send it to me, and I will deal with it” (Deut 1:16-17)].
The second characteristic is that justice entails a “debt in the strict sense.” Justice demands giving to each one what is strictly his or her own. Some examples of the proper attitude of the just man in the sphere of work consist in striving not to delay the work of others, taking advantage of the hours set for work, paying people punctually, etc. Unjust practices such as withholding due wages from workers, theft, fraud or not paying debts are contrary to the virtue of justice precisely because one does not give what is due to someone. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2240). “Therefore, ‘the other’ can actively demand the fulfillment of the duty of justice on our part, and the political community can legitimately use coercion so that the duty of justice is fulfilled.” (Rodríguez Luño, Scelti in Cristo, III, p. 38).
The third characteristic is equality. This emphasizes that the fulfillment of a duty of justice restores equality between two persons. When work is entrusted to another person and paid for when finished, equality is restored. Justice can only occur between persons who are on a plane of fundamental equality, that is, if the other is truly seen as a person, with the exact same dignity as oneself.
These three characteristics “show that justice fundamentally implies recognizing that every person, by the fact of being a person, has the same intrinsic and fundamental dignity.” (Ibid.)
The path that St. Josemaría teaches for practicing justice in its three characteristics implies, in the first place, fulfilling one’s duties. (Cf. Ferrari, Justicia, p. 706). These duties arise in the course of one’s daily life: contracts that are agreed upon; caring for one’s family; working as well as possible; concern for friends and neighbors, etc. This way of living justice has at its foundation the realization of ‘who others are’ and giving them what is due to them.
The family setting is a privileged place for living the virtue of justice. For example, concern for the tiredness on the part of one’s spouse at the end of a hard day is part of the virtue of justice. A consequence of this concern will be the practice of some aspects of the virtue of charity, such as kindness in mutual dealings and asking for help. Other examples of the virtue of justice in the family are the respect of children for their parents and grandparents, collaborating in caring for the children and household chores, dedicating to children the time each one needs in accord with their specific circumstances, etc.
Do I owe to the others what I owe to God?
We can ask ourselves one last question: do I owe to others what I owe to God? The recognition of the intrinsic link between a just relationship with God and justice in relationships with others leads us to see clearly that “when love for God is present, a Christian is never indifferent to the fate of others.” (Ibid., p. 67). Hence “we do not love justice if we do not wish to see it fulfilled in the lives of others.” (Christ is Passing By, no. 52).
The inseparability between what we owe to God (to adore, obey and love Him; to give Him all that we are and have, because everything is His) and what justice should be with regard to other men and women (not only giving each person his or her due, but valuing and appreciating them as persons), deeply influences the Christian way of living justice towards others. On the one hand, knowing that God has given us everything and that he loves us, leads us to want to love others as God loves them. This is the measure established by Christ: “even as I have loved you, that you also love one another (Jn 13:34). On the other hand, to be just towards God, to truly love Him, means also to be just towards others and to want a more just world.
The Church’s Magisterium has repeated this on numerous occasions when it insists that peaceful coexistence is necessarily based on both justice and charity. One without the other is never enough. As Saint John Paul II said, “the experience of the past and of our own time makes clear that justice alone is not enough.”( John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Dives in Misericordia (December 20, 1980), AAS 72 (1980), no. 12).
In St. Josemaría’s teaching, work is the place where the practice of justice and charity are harmonized. In work the inseparability between being just with God and just with other men and women shines forth. He summed this up clearly when stating that a basic duty of justice consists in working well: “the work of each one of us, the activities that take up our time and energy, must be an offering worthy of our Creator,” (Friends of God, no. 55). And our work is also a task that improves the lives of other men and women. Each of us, in reflecting on our daily lives, can find many areas and aspects that can help us to do grow in the virtue of justice. (Ignacio Ramoneda Pérez del Pulgar)
What more can I say? As always let us bring the above topics to our conversation with God in those quiet moments of prayer and listen to Him. Argue with Him if you and I need to. But then at the end of it all let you and I do whatever He tells each one of us.
See you
in the next post,
“May tomorrow be a perfect day; may you find love and
laughter along the way; may God keep you in his tender care; ‘til He brings us
together again.”
Affectionately,
Guadalupinky
Comments
Post a Comment