“The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.” Psalm 15.
Living in the presence of God, the Almighty Father who is the source of all life, light and love, is an incredible gift of sanctifying grace, won by Jesus Christ for us, his disciples.
But what is justice, how can we be just? Justice is giving to each person what they deserve. We give our-selves and our gifts to God through Christ, since he de-serves our complete love and loyalty. We give ourselves to others to fulfill our roles and responsibilities, especially to those who are poor and vulnerable.
We hear in the first reading that we owe our loyalty to God first and foremost, and that we must observe his commandments carefully. God deserves our daily prayer and praise, and our weekly worship at Holy Mass be-cause he gives each of us life, love and truth; every heartbeat and breath is a gift from God.
The first three of the Ten Commandments deal directly with our relationship to God. They are the first level of justice: “I am the Lord your God. You shall not have other gods besides me.”
The faithful Jews followed this commandment by praying the Shema prayer every morning, noon and night, teaching it to their children. Jesus mentions this prayer as the basis of faith: “Hear O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord alone. Therefore, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Pray this prayer at home and away, at work or at rest. Drill it into your children.”
However, Jesus fills out this prayer by teaching us to pray the Lord’s prayer morning, noon and night, and throughout the day when possible: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come….give us this day, our daily bread….forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us….”
The second level of justice is to be respectful to every human being because God created them in his image and likeness to be loved and to love: to speak God’s truth of the ways of Christ compassionately to all so that God’s mission for them and all of us might be fulfilled, which brings peace and blessings to the world.
This second level of justice is caught up in God’s Commandments four through ten, starting with the fourth commandment, “Honor your Father and Mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving to you.”
The fourth commandment also teaches us to honor those in authority. Yet, today, as in the time of Jesus, there are many in authority who do not promote or protect the commandments of God, but instead cling to human traditions. We must not obey authority figures when they tell us to contradict God’s Commandments of life and true love.
Jesus Christ called them out by saying: This people honors me with their lips: They say they believe in God,
but their hearts are far from God. “In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandments but cling to human tradition.” Mark 7:7-8.
Unfortunately, some people say we are filled with human traditions and do not know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. But we should remind them that indeed, we study the Lord’s Ten Commandments, strive to live them out, pray the Lord’s prayer daily with Christ and worship him every Sunday.
They might question us about worshipping a piece of bread at Mass. Yet, we remind them that Jesus Chris at the Last Supper established the new covenant by taking bread and wine and said, “Take and eat; this is my body… Drink from it… for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins…” Referring them to the Gospel of Matthew 26:26 and following verses might help them to under-stand our Catholic faith.
We have been called to be just, first and foremost with God, and with others. We must respect people, but we are called to defend ourselves and our faith when necessary, for we must respect God’s teachings above all so to avoid the sins that Jesus Christ spoke about in today’s Gospel:“unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, mal-ice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.” “Arrogance” is when a person arrogates to himself authority that he does not have. For example, no one can change the moral teachings of Christ to suit their wants. “Folly” is knowing the faith, and not living it. For all these things listed by Jesus come from within a person and defile. In other words, when a person at the age of reason does not repent of these mortal sins and seeks God’s holiness they will not make it to heaven where there is absolutely no sin, and no shadow of sin, but only pure life, light and love of God.
When I was on mission in Haiti, some Catholics there knew they were justified by Christ and lived in the presence of the Lord by following Jesus Christ and Holy Mother Church closely. However, others were mixing voodoo with the faith, and confusing children with things that do not belong to God, but rather to the devil: ouija (wee – jee) boards, tarot cards, some tattoos, pornography, prostitution and palm reading are things we must avoid since they are mortal sins and can be a gate way for demonic affliction. Instead, we look toward the truth of being always just, always in right relationship with God and others by following Christ and his Bride the Church and thus live in the presence of the Lord, open to his divine protection and natural and supernatural blessings.
Peace through Christ and Mary,
Fr. Thomas McCabe
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