Mercy and Justice

Homily for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
23 February 2014

          My brothers and sisters, two words could sum up our First Reading, Responsorial Psalm and Gospel for today: “mercy” and “justice”. And while the theme of mercy prevails in today’s Scripture passages, one quickly realizes that you cannot have mercy if you don’t have justice.

        Jesus presents to us this day a message greater than simply “love your neighbor” or “love your enemy”. Rather, our Lord gives us the command to be like God in all things. We know that the Lord is merciful, which is why we try to show mercy through our thoughts, words and actions. However, our God is also a just God, and will judge us accordingly to our thoughts, words and actions.

        This is the understanding when we approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation: we seek God’s mercy through the rendering of His justice. The priest, who sits in the confessional in the person of Jesus Christ, is both judge and jury within the Sacrament. When we confess our sins, we not only accuse ourselves of the unjust thoughts, words and deeds we have done, but we also accuse ourselves of our lack of mercy towards our neighbors and our enemies. The priest, as judge, must render a just verdict towards the penitent who has accused himself or herself of the wrong committed; however, the priest, as jury, must render a just penance towards the penitent due to the sins confessed. Ultimately through seeking to enact justice, the priest must also assist the penitent in seeking the mercy of God. Only when we understand God’s justice will we rightfully understand God’s mercy.

        If we are to be like our Heavenly Father in all things – that is, to be holy and perfect –, the more we practice His mercy in our lives, the more we will be able to practice His justice in our lives, as well. For the justice of God is different than the justice of man. That is what Jesus was pointing out to us in today’s Gospel.

Human justice rests in the understanding of revenge or retribution: “an eye for an eye” is the common practice. Human justice allows violence to beget violence. This is not the justice of God. God’s justice is true justice; it is an honest, fair, objective and equitable rendered treatment for the thoughts, words and actions we have performed throughout the course of our lives. God’s justice, therefore, is the judgment of how we practice the virtues of mercy and charity in the here and now. The example of God’s justice leads us to understand how our practice of judgment must be based in mercy.

When we hold on to anger in practicing justice, there is, most likely, the continuation of violence within our actions. This is one of the reasons why the Church teaches that the death penalty is an immoral action. Not only do we, in the West, have the technology to hold criminals in prisons for their crimes indefinitely, but to practice the death penalty is to allow the cycle of violence to be perpetuated in our society. No matter how much we hurt, violence should never be our reaction to violence; we should never fight fire with fire, for it leaves everyone burned. “An eye for an eye,” says the old adage, “simply leaves one blind.”

Our Lord, in our Gospel today, just as Moses taught the Israelites in our First Reading from Leviticus, reminds us that mercy is the key to all of our relationships and interactions. We are, as Jesus teaches us, to end the cycle of violence and vengeance, and offer to those who harm and hurt us an opportunity to experience a love that heals and a mercy that comforts. If we are to become as holy and perfect as our Heavenly Father, then we must extend the same mercy and compassion to those who have hurt us, just as He extends that same mercy and compassion to us.

Now I’m not going to lie to you and say this is easy. NOT. AT. ALL. To offer mercy, to extend compassion, to bestow love to those who have harmed us in some way is the opposite reaction to how our human nature operates. We want to see those people “get what they deserve.” But that’s our human thirst for revenge, for what we believe to be justice. It is the easy way out to keep the grudge, the hurt, the pain alive in our hearts. But in doing this we rob ourselves of the opportunity to experience the mercy and compassion of God in our lives. We are called to take the high road and narrow way in these circumstances – to offer mercy and charity where we would otherwise hold on to the pain.

Think about these words of Saint Philip Neri:

If a man finds it very hard to forgive injuries, let him look at a Crucifix, and think that Christ shed all His Blood for him, and not only forgave His enemies, but even prayed His Heavenly Father to forgive them also. Let him remember that when he says the ‘Our Father’, every day, instead of asking pardon for his sins, he is calling down vengeance on himself.

And these words from the diary of Saint Faustina:

For there are three ways of performing an act of mercy: the merciful word, by forgiving and by comforting; secondly, if you can offer no word, then pray - that too is mercy; and thirdly, deeds of mercy. And when the Last Day comes, we shall be judged from this, and on this basis we shall receive the eternal verdict.

My brothers and sisters, mercy and justice are virtues which are imbedded into the Christian life. And if we are to be called “Christian”, if we are to be known as a disciple of Christ, then we must live and practice the mercy and justice we hoped to be judged by. Vengeance should never be the disposition of the Christian – especially for us who are nourished through the Word and Sacrament of He Who IS Mercy itself and Justice itself. Violence should never be the action or reaction of the one who has been baptized into the Paschal Mystery, for it is an oxymoron to worship God and curse our neighbors and enemies.

Saint Josemaria Escriva reminds us: “Never say, ‘That person bothers me;’ rather, say, ‘That person sanctifies me.’” For it is when we realize in the moments of pain, frustration, hurt and anger that our God bestows mercy upon us to be at peace and persevere in the moment, then we also realize that that same mercy is with us to pursue true justice – the justice that flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is that same mercy and justice that we now plead for at this Mass. It is that same mercy and justice that we receive as we approach the altar. It is that same mercy and justice that sends us back into the world, so that we may minister God’s mercy to all – so that we may become as holy and perfect as our God.

 

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Enjoy the journey . . .