Justice and Humility

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to review our sense of justice and how we might accept the prompting of the Spirit to transform our actions.

Our Response to Need

The reading from the Prophet Isaiah deals with Accusation and Appeal.

* [1:18–20] Let us set things right: the Hebrew word refers to the arbitration of legal disputes (Jb 23:7). God offers to settle his case with Israel on the basis of the change of behavior demanded above. For Israel it is a life or death choice; life in conformity with God’s will or death for continued disobedience.

* [1:21–28] Faithful city: the phrase, found in v. 21 and v. 28, forms an inclusio which marks off the passage and also suggests three chronological periods: the city’s former ideal state, its present wicked condition (described in vv. 21b–23), and the future ideal conditions intended by God. This will be brought about by a purging judgment directed primarily against the leaders (“judges…counselors”). (Isaiah, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 50 praises the Acceptable Sacrifice.

* [Psalm 50] A covenant lawsuit stating that the sacrifice God really wants is the sacrifice of praise accompanied by genuine obedience (cf. Mi 6:1–8). It begins with a theophany and the summoning of the court (Ps 50:1–6). Then in direct address God explains what is required of the faithful (Ps 50:7–15), rebukes the hypocritical worshiper (Ps 50:16–21), and concludes with a threat and a promise (Ps 50:22–23; cf. Is 1:19–20). (Psalms, PSALM 50 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus denounces the behaviour of Scribes and Pharisees.

* [23:5] To the charge of preaching but not practicing (Mt 23:3), Jesus adds that of acting in order to earn praise. The disciples have already been warned against this same fault (see note on Mt 6:1–18). Phylacteries: the Mosaic law required that during prayer small boxes containing parchments on which verses of scripture were written be worn on the left forearm and the forehead (see Ex 13:9, 16; Dt 6:8; 11:18). Tassels: see note on Mt 9:20. The widening of phylacteries and the lengthening of tassels were for the purpose of making these evidences of piety more noticeable.

* [23:8–12] These verses, warning against the use of various titles, are addressed to the disciples alone. While only the title ‘Rabbi’ has been said to be used in addressing the scribes and Pharisees (Mt 23:7), the implication is that Father and ‘Master’ also were. The prohibition of these titles to the disciples suggests that their use was present in Matthew’s church. The Matthean Jesus forbids not only the titles but the spirit of superiority and pride that is shown by their acceptance. Whoever exalts…will be exalted: cf. Lk 14:11. (Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB, n.d.)

Michael Kavan suggests we consider the following practical ways of living out these words of Jesus.

First, Jesus reminds us of the importance of flexibility and context when applying the laws of scripture. He also emphasizes the value of humility in life. And he is keen to point out that we have but one Father in heaven and one Master and that is Christ. So, let us listen to their words in scripture, but also to remind ourselves of the importance of following the example that Jesus provided to us on earth. Never assume that we are better than anyone else, treat all people in an egalitarian manner, search for opportunities to bring about justice, and act without fanfare, but with a sense of humility. And remember: All for the great glory of God – not self. (Kavan, 2024)

Don Schwager quotes “Who are the proud?” by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Who are the proud? Those who do not perform penance and confess their sins in order to be healed through humility. Who are the proud? Those who attribute to themselves the few good qualities they seem to possess and endeavor to diminish the mercy of God. Who are the proud? Those who, while attributing to God the good they accomplish, insult others for not performing such works and raise themselves above them." (Commentary on Psalm 93, 15) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 asks “Setting things right with God: isn’t this what Lent is all about?”

Just think—this Lent, you can grow closer to the Lord than ever before! As you make the effort to return to him, he will draw you even closer to himself. He will cleanse you and make you whole. He is waiting for you to approach him, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Will you open your heart to him and let him set things right?

“Lord, thank you for this season of Lent when I can be reconciled with you!” (Meditation on Isaiah 1:10, 16-20, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes the reference to Sodom and Gomorrah in the description of the punishment for ignoring the horizontal dimension of faith, the widows and orphans. The Scribes and Pharisees define the Law in a scrupulous way looking for prestige and honour for themselves. Friar Jude reminds us that those who use religion to gain power will be humbled and service will exalt good people.

Barbara Holmes comments that it took time for author and minister Danté Stewart to acknowledge and allow his own anger. Stewart writes that Jesus embodied love, healing, and liberation.

Jesus loves bodies, no matter who or where or what they are. And Jesus does not hurt people in order to love them. He did not live out of his own woundedness; he did not cover up his pain by enacting it onto others…. Jesus wanted us to learn love…. I learned too late, but I learned. I learned that we all live in brokenness, deep brokenness. I learned that Jesus does not forget bodies, despised and abused bodies, but becomes good news to them by remembering them, touching them and being touched, and creating a world where their bodies are liberated, redeemed, and resurrected. (Holmes, 2024)

As we ponder the contrast between the humility of service and the pride and injustice that accompanies our indifference to the less fortunate, we invoke the Wisdom of the Spirit to guide our ongoing actions.

References

Holmes, B. (2024, February 27). Love and Rage — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 27, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/love-and-rage/ 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 27, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/1?10 

Kavan, M. (2024, February 27). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved February 27, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/022724.html 

Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 27, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/23?1 

Meditation on Isaiah 1:10, 16-20. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved February 27, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/02/27/902509/ 

Psalms, PSALM 50 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 27, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/50?8 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Whoever Humbles Oneself Will Be Exalted. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 27, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=feb27 

Judgement and Mercy

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to attend to the situations on our journey that we may be judging without the help of the mercy offered to people by God.

Practice Mercy

The reading from the Book of Daniel is a prophecy of tribulation for Seventy Weeks of Years.

* [9:2] Seventy years: Jeremiah was understood to prophesy a Babylonian captivity of seventy years, a round number signifying the complete passing away of the existing generation (Jer 25:11; 29:10). On this view Jeremiah’s prophecy was seen to be fulfilled in the capture of Babylon by Cyrus and the subsequent return of the Jews to Palestine. However, the author of Daniel, living during the persecution of Antiochus, extends Jeremiah’s number to seventy weeks of years (Dn 9:24), i.e., seven times seventy years, to encompass the period of Seleucid persecution. (Daniel, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 79 is a plea for Mercy for Jerusalem

* [Psalm 79] A communal lament complaining that the nations have defiled the Temple and murdered the holy people, leaving their corpses unburied (Ps 79:1–4). The occasion is probably the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in 587 B.C. The people ask how long the withdrawal of divine favor will last (Ps 79:5), pray for action now (Ps 79:6–7), and admit that their own sins have brought about the catastrophe (Ps 79:8–9). They seek to persuade God to act for reasons of honor: the nations who do not call upon the Name are running amok (Ps 79:6); the divine honor is compromised (Ps 79:1, 10, 12); God’s own servants suffer (Ps 79:2–4, 11). (Psalms, PSALM 79 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus teaches about Judging Others.

* [6:37–42] See notes on Mt 7:1–12; 7:1; 7:5. (Luke, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

* [7:1–12] In Mt 7:1 Matthew returns to the basic traditional material of the sermon (Lk 6:37–38, 41–42). The governing thought is the correspondence between conduct toward one’s fellows and God’s conduct toward the one so acting.

* [7:1] This is not a prohibition against recognizing the faults of others, which would be hardly compatible with Mt 7:5, 6 but against passing judgment in a spirit of arrogance, forgetful of one’s own faults. (Matthew, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB, n.d.)

Barbara Dilly comments that the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” has Christian, Buddhist, Confucian, and ancient Egyptian origins. She likes the Christian part the best. Today we read that Jesus said, “stop judging and you will not be judged, stop condemning and you will not be condemned” as the Christian version with a promise and a blessing added on to it in the next two verses. It seems much more compelling to her that way.

Jesus calls us to a very radical generosity in our dealings with others as an encouragement to us. Not only are we to forgive, but we are to go even further and give gifts to those we forgive. Jesus takes it all to a higher level. We cannot just forgive someone begrudgingly. We must do it generously. Think of the many positive ways such practices would affect our society! We should not think about what we can get in return from others, but what God has done for us. We are reminded of that when we read the Old Testament and Psalm for today. That is why we Christians should practice our faith as outwardly as we do inwardly. We can change the world with these practices! But for today, Jesus tells us to think about how it will affect us to get our hearts on the right track and motivated to act. Who does not need a good measure of blessings poured into our laps! (Dilly, 2024)

Don Schwager quotes “The Practice of Mercy,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"The practice of mercy is twofold: when vengeance is sacrificed and when compassion is shown. The Lord included both of these in his brief sentence: 'Forgive, and you shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given to you.' This work has the effect of purifying the heart, so that, even under the limitations of this life, we are enabled with pure mind to see the immutable reality of God. There is something holding us back, which has to be loosed so that our sight may break through to the light. In connection with this the Lord said, 'Give alms, and behold, all things are clean to you.' Therefore the next and sixth step is that cleansing of the heart." (excerpt from Letter 171A.2) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 6:36-38 comments that we show our love to people by giving of ourselves. The more generous we are with our time, attention, and affection, the more our relationships tend to grow and flourish. Then the more “gifts” of love and affection we are able to receive from the other person in return.

Is there one relationship you can think of that would benefit from less of your judgment and more of your compassion, mercy, and generosity? If so, offer that person your “good measure” today (Luke 6:38). Then see how the Lord uses it to give you a good measure in return.

“Jesus, give me the grace to treat others the way I want to be treated.” (Meditation on Luke 6:36-38, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes that the author of Daniel 9 is offering a penitential prayer for people who deserve punishments as a consequence of their actions. The mercy of God described in Luke’s Gospel compels us to consider the broken and hurting who need our love and we forgive them because they need it. Friar Jude reminds us that the more we extend mercy to others, the more we will be able to accept the mercy of God for ourselves.

Barbara Holmes comments that many spiritual traditions warn us against anger. We are told that anger provides fertile ground for seeds of discontent, anxiety, and potential harm to self and others. This is true. However, when systems of injustice inflict generational abuses upon people and communities because of their ethnicity, race, sexuality, and/or gender, anger as righteous indignation is appropriate, healthy, and necessary for survival.

A theology of anger [for communities under siege] assumes that anger as a response to injustice is spiritually healthy…. A theology of anger can help us to construct healthy boundaries … [and] the healthy expression of righteous anger can translate communal despair into compassionate action and justice-seeking.… The question is whether or not we will recognize our wounds and the source of our anger so that we can heal ourselves and others and awaken to our potential to embody the beloved community….

If we take a theology of anger seriously, first we come together, then we grieve together, then we consider where we are and where we are going. If there is opportunity, we engage in deep considerations of cause and effect, and we listen for the whispers of the Holy Spirit.… Our health and wholeness require that we take off our masks of Christian piety and do the difficult work of acknowledging our anger, our vulnerability, and our pain. It is this contemplative work that moves us toward forgiveness, for when we recognize our own human frailty, we can more easily forgive the fragility and failings of others. [3] (Holmes, 2024)

We witness events in our environment that make us angry and we implore the Holy Spirit to moderate our judgement with mercy to open our hearts to accept the mercy of God.

References

Daniel, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/daniel/9?4 

Dilly, B. (2024, February 26). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/022624.html 

Holmes, B. (2024, February 26). Good and Necessary Anger — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/good-and-necessary-anger/ 

Luke, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/6? 

Matthew, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/7 

Meditation on Luke 6:36-38. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/02/26/902388/ 

Psalms, PSALM 79 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/79?8 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Be Merciful as Your Father Is Merciful. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=feb26