20200319
JUSTICE
TAMPERED BY MERCY
19 March, 2020, Thursday,
Joseph, Spouse of the B.V.M
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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2 Samuel 7:4-5,12-14,16 ©
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The Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David
The word of the
Lord came to Nathan:
‘Go
and tell my servant David, Thus the Lord speaks: “When your days are ended and
you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the offspring of your
body after you and make his sovereignty secure. (It is he who shall build a house
for my name, and I will make his royal throne secure for ever.) I will be a
father to him and he a son to me; if he does evil, I will punish him with the
rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives. Yet I will not
withdraw my favour from him, as I withdrew it from your predecessor. Your House
and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be
established for ever.”’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 88(89):2-5,27,29 ©
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His
dynasty shall last for ever.
I
will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through
all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of
this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that
your truth is firmly established as the heavens.
His
dynasty shall last for ever.
‘I
have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I
have sworn to David my servant:
I
will establish your dynasty for ever
and
set up your throne through all ages.
His
dynasty shall last for ever.
‘He
will say to me: “You are my father,
my
God, the rock who saves me.”
I
will keep my love for him always;
with
him my covenant shall last.’
His
dynasty shall last for ever.
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Second reading
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Romans 4:13,16-18,22 ©
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Abraham hoped, and he believed
The promise of
inheriting the world was not made to Abraham and his descendants on account of
any law but on account of the righteousness which consists in faith. That is
why what fulfils the promise depends on faith, so that it may be a free gift
and be available to all of Abraham’s descendants, not only those who belong to
the Law but also those who belong to the faith of Abraham who is the father of
all of us. As scripture says: I
have made you the ancestor of many nations – Abraham is our father in
the eyes of God, in whom he put his faith, and who brings the dead to life and
calls into being what does not exist.
Though
it seemed Abraham’s hope could not be fulfilled, he hoped and he believed, and
through doing so he did become the
father of many nations exactly
as he had been promised: Your
descendants will be as many as the stars. This
is the faith that was ‘considered as justifying him.’
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ps83:5
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Glory
and praise to you, O Christ.
They
are happy who dwell in your house, O Lord,
for
ever singing your praise.
Glory
and praise to you, O Christ.
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Gospel
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Matthew 1:16,18-21,24 ©
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How Jesus Christ came to be born
Jacob was the
father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called
Christ.
This
is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph;
but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through
the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare
her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do
this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has
conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and
you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from
their sins.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him
to do.
JUSTICE TAMPERED
BY MERCY
The most notable virtue
of Joseph was that he was a just man.
This is how the scripture describes him. When we speak of a person who is
just, we think of one who is fair and honest. He is responsible and
upright in his dealings with man. He is true to his beliefs. A just
man lives a life of integrity. In other words, he is a righteous man who
is upright at all times, who lives according to the rules as dictated by moral
conscience and the laws.
Yet, sometimes the idea of the
just man also gives the connotation that he is implacable, unbending and
uncompromising. He reminds me of the legendary judge in China known
as Justice Bao. He was just to a fault, for he had no tolerance for those
who broke the laws irrespective of their position, status and familiy
connections. Everyone is subjected to the rule of law. There
is complete human justice and fairness for all. But it fails to take into
consideration the nature of human beings, which is a fallen nature, weak and
sinful. Furthermore, often there are circumstances that lead a person to
sin. Hence, the Church is always against using punishment as a means to
correct an offender. Punitive actions only make the person
bitter. What we need are corrective measures to help an offender
understand his actions and come to true repentance. For the same reason,
the Church thinks that capital punishment does not solve the problem.
This does not mean that the Church is not a promoter of justice. But she
understands justice as restoring equality and order.
Justice is of course
something the Church also advocates and it is crucial to the Christian message. We are spokesmen for
justice. We cannot speak of charity unless there is justice. The
basis for charity is justice. Exercising justice entails that we respect
the rights of every person, his dignity, his right to freedom of speech,
worship and religion. He has a right to the resources of this world,
food, accommodation, education and medical care. He is entitled to a just
wage for work done. He has a right to private property. Most of all
he has a right to life. The duty of the state is to ensure the rights of
every person, ensure fair play, no discrimination, no favoritism, cronyism and
nepotism. Justice is primarily the duty of the state as Pope Emeritus
Benedict wrote in God is Love.
Whilst being just is necessary,
and the Church always advocates justice, yet it must be tampered by mercy. A mere application of the laws
without taking into consideration the sinful and weak condition of man would
not be just. A blind application of the laws would be unjust since we
fail to take into consideration the circumstances of the offender. In the
courts some leeway is given for the judge to mitigate the offense but it is
still limited. The Pharisees and the scribes were so intent in observing
the laws to the minutest detail that they became self-righteous, proud,
judgmental and arrogant.
Hence in the gospel we
have the image of St Joseph who sought to fulfill the laws. He was just in his relationship
with his fellowmen. Hence when he heard that Mary was found to be with
child, he wanted to put her away. Yet we read that he passed no judgement
on her. He was not vindictive even though he was apparently betrayed.
Instead he sought to divorce her informally and spare her the publicity, shame
and possibly death by stoning. Somehow he combined both justice and
compassion. The justice of Joseph was not a justice that takes revenge on
his transgressors. He wanted to be true to the demands of the laws and
yet protect the sinner.
Jesus too was just but
yet merciful. He observed the
laws but he bent the laws when mercy was demanded. He does not see us as
merely cases but as individuals. His concern is for everyone. He
goes after the lost sheep. He preaches the demands of the gospel in an
uncompromising manner. He came to purify the laws by perfecting the law
with the spirit of love. All He asks of us is that we are repentant and
are sorry for our sins.
St Paul, too, understood
the justice of God as His mercy. His failure in observing the laws caused him to
realize that one becomes just not by merit but by the mercy of God in Christ
Jesus. In the letter of Romans, he spoke of his struggle to be true to
the laws. “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is
right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see
another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me
a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” (Rom 7:21-25)
The justice of God is
His forgiveness for all our sins.
God shows us justice by showing us His mercy. God is the one who can
build the house for us. This is what the first reading is saying.
“Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your
throne be established forever.” St Paul reminds us that “the promise of
inheriting the world was not made to Abraham and his descendants on account of
any law but on account of the righteousness which consists in faith. That is
why what fulfills the promise depends on faith, so that it may be a free gift
and be available to all of Abraham’s descendants.”
Today, as we celebrate the feast of St
Joseph, we can surmise that his life of justice tampered with mercy and
compassion must have come from his deep faith in God’s justice and mercy.
He did not feel the need to take things into his own hands. He trusted in
the judgment of God. This accounts for the way he responded to the
pregnancy of Mary. His immediate reaction was one of protecting not
himself but Mary’s dignity. He was not thinking of his pain but the suffering
and potential danger to Mary. His compassion must be the result of his
own intimacy with the Lord.
Hence, we can say that the
strength of Joseph came from his intimate relationship with the Lord, as in the
case of Abraham. He must have been a man of prayer, a contemplative
in action. We hardly hear him speak, perhaps because he was one who was
always conscious of God’s presence. As such, he was attentive to the
prompting of the voice of God who spoke to him in a dream. Because he
listened to God, he was able to act promptly and decisively without fear or
ambiguity. He believed in the impossible. If what is said of Mary,
about her faith in God who could do the impossible, it must equally be said of
St Joseph who in faith trusted in the message of the angel.
It is for this reason, I am
convinced, that what we need most in this world is compassion. The
only way to heal the world is not through condemnation but compassion. It
does not mean that we tolerate injustices in the world but we see the
injustices of humanity as expressions of a wounded humanity. An eye for
an eye, as Ghandi said, makes the whole world go blind. It is the way of
non-violence, forgiveness and tolerance that can change our enemies. Of
course, it is not easy to be patient and forgiving all the time towards those
who take advantage of us and keep hurting us again and again. The natural
reaction is to fight or take flight. Otherwise, we must be ready for
martyrdom.
Again, we must say that without
His grace, it is not possible to act the way Jesus acted towards His
enemies. We need to rely on Him alone. At times, we will
fail, like St Paul, but we must continue to pick ourselves up again and again,
knowing that God is all mercy and forgiveness. With His grace, we will
eventually overcome all the odds and the hostility of our enemies. May St
Joseph be our inspiration and model as we strive to live a just and
compassionate life.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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