We Have Forgotten About Justice

by Brett Manero

Something which has weighed on my mind for many months is this: we have forgotten about justice. We in the Catholic world have neglected what is so important to our faith and to a healthy society: justice. Without justice, there is no mercy. And mercy is the center and core of our faith.

Perhaps the most important theme of the Old Testament Prophets is the perfect balance of justice and mercy. They go together, and again, without justice there cannot be mercy. The Cross of Jesus Christ is the prime example of this: it is both perfect justice and perfect mercy in a single instant. How so? It is justice because a man takes upon Himself the punishments for the sins of humanity. But, it is also perfect mercy because it is not just any man, but it is the God-Man: He who is all-powerful and almighty, and is therefore the only man who can accomplish this.

Because Jesus Christ died on the Cross, atoning for the sins of the world, mercy then enters into our lives. The Gospels tell us the exact moment this happens:

“And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Matthew 27:50-51).

The splitting of the Temple veil is the precise moment where mercy enters into history: because Christ has atoned for all of us, we can now receive mercy. He paid the price for us to receive mercy. The tearing of the Temple veil is the symbolic act that shows this: the veil had previously separated the outer courts from the Holy of Holies, the most intimate room of the Temple. We now have access to God again.

Oftentimes, when people think of the Old Testament, especially the Prophets, they think of a judging God who delights in justice. God allows the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel by Assyria in 722 BC, He allows the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC to Babylon, He destroys Sodom and Gomorrah in a matter of minutes. But in the New Testament, He appears more gentle, approachable, kind. It is not that He changes Hid mood between the Old and New Testaments, it is that our perception of Him changes. Because justice has been served and the veil is now torn, we see Him as He truly is: kind, merciful, childlike.

Even the physical shape of the Cross shows the balance of justice and mercy: the vertical and horizontal meet perfectly, showing just how the divine and the human meet perfectly in Jesus Christ. Justice and mercy go perfectly together.

Where am I going with all of this? Maybe this is due to unhealed trauma, maybe it is due to my increased cynical outlook of the world as I grow older. Maybe it is the plain truth. We Catholics are right in emphasizing mercy – without mercy, none of us would have a chance at salvation. I have been to Confession so many times that I know fully well that without mercy, I would not make it to heaven. Confession, in fact, is another perfect emblem of justice and mercy: there is a justice in humbling oneself, even humiliating oneself by admitting one’s faults to another. And in doing so, the floodgates of mercy open to us.

We are called to have mercy on others, and rightly so. As Christ forgives us, we must forgive others. This coming Sunday, April 12th, in fact, is Divine Mercy Sunday, when the floodgates of heavenly mercy are especially opened wide to the world, and that is a wonderful thing.

But I think it is worth reflecting on justice, too. It is easier to forgive someone when there is justice: when that person apologize for the pain they have caused, when they have done some act of reparation for it. It is easier to forgive a criminal when they have been rightly punished. Justice restores the balance of a broken society when serious crimes are committed. And when justice is done, mercy is much easier.

This might be just me, but, I think too often in the Catholic world we are called upon to “pray away” injustices done. Yes, we must pray. Yes, we must forgive. But there is nothing wrong with desiring and pursuing justice when it is necessary. The justice lets us forgive more readily, and indeed, it also often serves to inspire the punished to a more genuine repentance.

Let’s pray for both justice and mercy, and let’s embrace them both.