We have at some point told someone you are just or someone told us we are just. Justice presupposes both inner disposition as well as outward expositions. It is how I view myself and others inwardly that generates my actions towards myself and others. Thomas Aquinas will say justice is a capability of doing what is just and of being just in action and intention. That means my deed presupposes fulfilling my desire or interest. But our will which in a way generates justice is not perpetually just. It is only God’s will that is perpetually just. God will alone remain eternally just (Anselm).
However, the desire to do good promotes the tendency of doing good. If I desire to do good always then the action to do that good will likely occur and be sustained in me. In desiring of doing good and attempting to do it I generate a virtue. If I desire to be just and try my level best to administer justice in my dealing I will be practicing justice.
Justice Begins with Me
In our Gospel today though the word justice is not used but we have this statement, “the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you...” God is Just and so we who believe ought to be just. Justice here is used as standardization dimension. This is the reason I said it has both inward disposition and external response or action. Justice does not only mean the response to another person but begins with me.
The question is what measure do I give myself. It is a question of introspection. When I stand before God how do I perceive myself? What justice do I generate within my thoughts and feelings. This can either lead to strong faith or lukewarmness. It is the understanding of inner disposition versus external faith as the action that proceeds. When I view justice and judgement, what comes to my mind. God will not judge me in his perspective but through my own perspective of faith and actions.
Needing God's Mercy
If I do good with intention of being good and pleasing God then I have already measured myself as worthy of God. Justice from a personal perspective also needs a self-reflective life. If I see myself as needing God’s mercy, God’s grants me that. If I measure myself as a child loved by God the will and desire to attach to God increased and so also the virtues that align with love of God. What standard do I grant myself before God?
Since we give and act according to who we are to ourselves, being just oneself- that is being charitable to oneself-generate charity towards others. As we read in Proverbs 11:5 “justice of the upright shall make his way prosperous.” When I love myself i am able of loving others. Justice calls relations towards other people as expressed in Matthew (7:12), the golden rule, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” This is expressed in the first part of our gospel today; I cannot be light and at same time hide myself.
Doing Good for God
Therefore, as a believer I must render nothing other than truth expressed and done in just way. However, let us be careful, justice cannot be converted into revenge, rendering evil for evil. This is the reason the image of light proceeds the measure. Because we who desire to be with God in doing good, we receive more good things from God as is written the “the one who has will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” In the world covered by ego-centricism, selfishness, seeking of power, competition I should ask myself, Am I just to my family? Am I just to my neighbors? What measure do I give to people of different beliefs, ideas, opinions, backgrounds, professions?
O Lord my God, let me fear You without losing hope, be truthful without guile, do good works without presumption, rebuke my neighbor without haughtiness, and—without hypocrisy—strengthen him by word and example. Give to me, O Lord God, a watchful heart, which no capricious thought can lure away from You.
- Today’s Readings
- Father Joachim's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
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