THE TRUE MEANING OF JUSTICE IS TO LIVE A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE IN FAITH

20151019 THE TRUE MEANING OF JUSTICE IS TO LIVE A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE IN FAITH

Readings at Mass

First reading

Romans 4:20-25 ©

Since God had made him a promise, Abraham refused either to deny it or even to doubt it, but drew strength from faith and gave glory to God, convinced that God had power to do what he had promised. This is the faith that was ‘considered as justifying him.’ Scripture however does not refer only to him but to us as well when it says that his faith was thus ‘considered’; our faith too will be ‘considered’ if we believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Jesus who was put to death for our sins and raised to life to justify us.

Canticle

Luke 1:69-75 ©

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people.

He has raised up for us a mighty saviour

  in the house of David his servant,

as he promised by the lips of holy men,

  those who were his prophets from of old.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people.

A saviour who would free us from our foes,

  from the hands of all who hate us.

So his love for our fathers is fulfilled

  and his holy covenant remembered.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people.

He swore to Abraham our father

  to grant us that free from fear,

  and saved from the hands of our foes,

we might serve him in holiness and justice

  all the days of our life in his presence.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps24:4,5

Alleluia, alleluia!

Teach me your paths, my God,

make me walk in your truth.

Alleluia!

Or

Mt5:3

Alleluia, alleluia!

How happy are the poor in spirit:

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 12:13-21 ©

A man in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.’ ‘My friend,’ he replied, ‘who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.’

  Then he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?.” So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’

THE TRUE MEANING OF JUSTICE IS TO LIVE A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE IN FAITH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ROM 4:20-25; LK 12:13-21

There are times in our lives when we feel that life is unfair and unjust to us.  More so when we look at the better life that others around us seem to be enjoying.  Sometimes, we cannot but resent God for treating us so unfairly.  Others who work less seem to get the good things in life, whereas all we get seem to be more work and hardly any appreciation or recognition.  Life seems to be unfair.  If we are feeling this way, then today’s liturgy is addressed to us.  When the man in the crowd asked Jesus to help him get a share of his inheritance back from his brother, it was a concrete example of someone seeking justice.  What was the response of Jesus to him and to all of us who seem to suffer injustice in life?

It is notable that Jesus went beyond merely trying to settle the question of justice in human understanding.  Jesus knew that the real problem is not so much a question of getting our fair share in life.  In the first place, is there such a thing as a fair share of life?   How can this world be equal in every way?  Not only are we not equal in wealth, power, status and influence; but we are also not equal in health, talents, and opportunities; less still are we equal in love, peace, joy and happiness.  So to speak about equality in every way is an illusion.  Just look at each one of us – we are all different in height, features, etc.  So how can we be equal?  Justice thus cannot be sought on the human level because no matter how much we get, we will still feel that we are shortchanged.  So what is the crux of the problem?

It is simply this: avarice, also known as greed.  Thus, Jesus pointedly warned the crowd, “Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs”.  Indeed, no matter how much we have in life, we can never be satisfied.  The want of man is like an abyss; there is no end to what he desires.  Greed is an illusion that we do not have enough.  We are never contented; always hankering for more.  How can we when there will always be others who are better than us?

But why are people greedy?  It is because man always live in fear of the future.  Man is afraid to die and to suffer.  He accumulates to protect himself from the unforeseen future.  This was certainly the case of the rich man in today’s parable.  He had a good harvest from his land and he built bigger barns to store his crops.  And he said to himself, “My soul, you have plenty of good things laid out for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time”.  Indeed, man wants to have more simply because he wants to insure himself from all contingency that can threaten his life, his survival and his happiness.

Unfortunately, more often than not, the fight for self-survival makes us selfish and quite often at the expense of our fellowmen.  Most people and indeed all nations are fighting for their own interests.  Very few fight and live for the truth.  Nations support one other depending on what they can get out from each other.  It would be naïve to think that there is such a thing as pure generosity.  No one gives unconditionally without strings attached.  We help those who can be of help to us now or in the future.  Hence, we can conclude that injustice is the result of fear, which breeds greed.

What then is the solution to injustice?  It is not simply a question of arbitration.  We can be certain that even after the arbitration, both parties are not really satisfied or happy.  Understandably, this explains why Jesus refused to act as an arbitrator for the man who asked him to mediate with his brother so that he could get back his inheritance.  If arbitration is not the solution to injustice, then what is?

The answer lies in faith.  This is the ultimate solution to the feeling of injustice in our life.  St Paul in the first reading gives us the answer to the question of justice.  He cited the faith of Abraham when he trusted in God totally as the faith that was “considered as justifying him”.  It was not the holocausts or sacrifices that made Abraham at right with man or with God, but rather his faith in God.  But how could faith justify a person so that he is at right with God, with himself and with others?  To understand why faith is the answer to all our problems, we must be clear about the nature of faith.

Faith, first and foremost, is trust in His word.  Abraham trusted in God and as St Paul said, “drew strength from faith and gave glory to God, convinced that God had power to do what he had promised”.  Indeed, Abraham believed that God would be true to His word.  Although he did not know what was ahead of him, or how the promise of God could be fulfilled, he relied on the fidelity of God.  Such a faith eliminates fear since such faith depends totally on the providential plan of the wisdom of God.  Trust in divine providence thus is the antidote to fear.  Without fear there is no greed, and thus we would not be unjust to our fellowmen by grabbing more than we need.

However, faith is not simply to trust in God’s word, His providence and His power to bring about what He promised.  True faith in St Paul’s understanding is obedience.   This implies that a person who has faith in God’s word is not one who is simply contented to entrust his future and life to God, but he would also allow God to rule his life.  Concretely, a person of faith is one who not only trusts in His word, but also lives by His word.  The obedience of faith, which St Paul underscores in his letters, is to live our lives according to the word of God as revealed to us.  For the Old Testament people, they were called to live through the Word of God spoken through the prophets.  But for us Christians, we are called to have faith in Jesus our Lord who has been raised by the Father, “Jesus who was put to death for our sins and raised to life to justify us”.

Concretely, this means that as Christians, the obedience of faith requires us to live the life of the gospel, which is a life of death to self so that we might share His resurrection.  Such a life is truly justifying because it is to share in that life of love and service for the good of others.  In the words of Jesus, it is to store up treasure for ourselves by making ourselves “rich in the sight of God”.  In other words, we are called to use whatever we have, be it time, talents, resources, wealth, etc, not for our selfish interests or pleasures like the rich and foolish farmer, but to use them for the good of all.  If that is the basis of the gifts which we have, then there is no reason to envy others who seem to have more than us.  For those who have less will be asked to give only what he has; whereas those who have more would be required to give more.  The bottom line is that everything that we have is entrusted by God to us so that we can use them for the service of the gospel and by so doing, enrich ourselves spiritually.  So there is no reason for us to be greedy, nor fearful.  As such, we will not be resentful even if others have more than we do.

In this way, we will always find life and joy, whether we are rich or poor, whether we have more or less, because our hearts will be full of love and compassion like Jesus.  Truly, a person who has love and peace in his heart needs very few material things to be happy.  Jesus says, “A man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs”.  We must not deceive ourselves into thinking like the rich and foolish man for God warns us, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul, and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?”

Real security and a happy life do not depend on how much we own; less still on how long we live in this life.  True security and joy is a life lived in God and for God.   Indeed, it is living a life of faith, trusting in God’s providence, surrendering our fears, our anxieties and needs to Him so that we can live a life in obedience to the gospel, emptying ourselves completely in love and service to all.  When we are rich in love, compassion and charity, then, as St Paul assures us, we too are will be considered “justified” before God and man.  We are truly saved in the fullest sense of the word because we have lived out the full implications of faith, which is a life of God.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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