Justice Is Not Always Comforting

To state a tautology, we all deserve justice. Moreover, most people will, I think claim to desire justice if asked. And, since God is not only supreme but also supremely just, we will all ultimately get justice, if not in this life then certainly in the next. On the surface this last sounds good, but it is not really a comforting thought.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines justice as

“the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the ‘virtue of religion.’ Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor” (CCC 1807).

This definition might explain why “religion” is not a bad word and why all right-thinking Christians ought to embrace rather than shun it. But it bears a bit of explanation as to what “getting justice” or “doing justice” means. Justice might be served, I suppose, by fulfilling the ends to which it is ordered: namely, rendering what is due to each of God, neighbor, and, for good measure, Ceaser (who often tries to play to part of both God and neighbors).

Justice is something which God wills for us, and which He will ultimately see done for us, since this is in accordance with His nature. Being just is something which we must do for each other, because it is something which each man owes to his neighbors, to himself, and especially to God.

What is justice towards God? He tells us this Himself:

“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

This commandment to ” love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength” is repeated by Christ and called the greatest commandment, after which is given the second greatest commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31). These two commandments are the fulfillment of the whole law, and we cannot really fulfill the one without fulfilling the others (see 1 John 4:20): so these two are justice perfected by charity [1]. In love, the Law is fulfilled.

Who among us can claim to love perfectly? No one, unless we count the Lord Himself. We all ultimately fall short of justice, though justice is what we owe to others and to God. What is justice to one who is not just? I suspect that the “wrathful” Psalms give us but a taste. To quote only one (Psalm 7:4-7, 15-17):

LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there is guilt on my hands,
If I have maltreated someone treating me equitably—
or even despoiled my oppressor without cause—
Then let my enemy pursue and overtake my soul,
trample my life to the ground,
and lay my honor in the dust.

Rise up, LORD, in your anger;
be aroused against the outrages of my oppressors.
Stir up the justice, my God, you have commanded….

Consider how one conceives iniquity;
is pregnant with mischief,
and gives birth to deception.
He digs a hole and bores it deep,
but he falls into the pit he has made.
His malice turns back upon his head;
his violence falls on his own skull.
I will thank the LORD in accordance with his justice;
I will sing the name of the LORD Most High.

In essence, this Psalm says that the unjust one will be pursued by the enemy (Satan) who will overtake his soul; and that injustice is turned back on us. This is true not only of the injustices we commit, but of the justices which we omit (see Matthew 25:31-46).

We all fall well short of perfect charity, and further we fall short of justice, if not towards our neighbors, then at least towards God (Who has a limitless claim on us). “Do not call your servant to judgment for no one is just in your sight” (Psalm 143:2).

Fortunately, justice is not the end of the story. God is not only just, but also is merciful (Psalm 103:6, 8), if we will accept that mercy and reflect it to others: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7). For us, mercy is one of the fruits of charity (CCC 1829) and is the virtue by which we are moved by compassion for—and where possible, seek to alleviate—the suffering of others. So, too, does God’s mercy alleviate our suffering, be it eternal or (sometimes) temporal.

However, because true mercy does not abrogate justice, it can be granted only at a cost or risk to oneself.

—-Footnotes—-

[1] It should be noted here that there is an interplay between the cardinal virtue of justice and the theological virtue of charity. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that “charity leads us to help our neighbor in his need out of our own stores, while justice teaches us to give to another what belongs to him.” Saint Thomas Aquinas notes that “the proper act of justice is nothing else than to render to each one his own” (STII-IIQ58A11). However, he also notes buy way of objection and reply that whereas “justice is love serving God alone” (St Augustine), yet “love of God includes love of our neighbor…so too the service of God includes rendering to each one his due” (STII-IIQ58A1).