Sunday Special: Justice before morality.

We, Catholics, are better instructed in the matters of morality than in the matters of justice.

This is what I heard from a Benedictine monk during my last confession. How true and going straight through my heart.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. 

(John 13:35)

Jesus criticised the pharisees for too much concern with the rules. He said that his followers will be known for their love for one another. We are all sinners and the adherence to the law is probably not the best measure of our strife for holiness. But our attitudes towards others speak about our faith more than anything. The way we live and interact with the world is the way we witness our faith.

Can you truly say that you follow Jesus if you go to Mass each Sunday, yet turn your head round when you pass by a homeless person?

Can you truly say that you follow Jesus if you dutifully give an offering each Sunday, but do not take interest in you neighbours or colleagues?

Can you truly say that you follow Jesus if you say your prayers each day, yet waste food and water each week?

Can you truly say that you follow Jesus if you apparently follow the Ten Commandments, but you don't work honestly for your employer and the people you serve?

Catholic social teaching is called the Church's "best kept secret". But it shouldn't be- it should be a part of our lives. Pope Francis is tirelessly reminding us about justice that can bring about a better world. The morality is important, but people come first. 

“Jesus tells us what the ‘protocol’ is, on which we will be judged. It is the one we read in chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel: I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was in prison, I was sick, I was naked and you helped me, clothed me, visited me, took care of me. Whenever we do this to one of our brothers, we do this to Jesus. Caring for our neighbor; for those who are poor, who suffer in body and in soul, for those who are in need. This is the touchstone.”

From Papa Francesco: Questa economia uccide (Pope Francis: This economy kills)by Andrea Tornielli and Giacomo Galeazzivia

Do you bring justice to the world around you? Or maybe you are preoccupied with morality?

~~~

A little side note that has been brought to my attention this Sunday. From Pope Benedict XVI, encyclical Deus caritas est (2005):

14 “Worship” itself, Eucharistic communion, includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn. A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented. Conversely, as we shall have to consider in greater detail below, the “commandment” of love is only possible because it is more than a requirement. Love can be “commanded” because it has first been given.

28 The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State. Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper. A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply.