On Justice: The Virtue of Action
A Stream of Thought on The Exterior Cardinal Virtue
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Nearly no one understands what the virtue of Justice means for us as Catholics.
At the start of this year, I attended a talk about Justice. It was the final of four concerning the cardinal virtues.
If you’re not familiar, Justice is the virtue of giving what is due to the people / entities around us. This includes parents, your community, The Church, essentially anyone or any group of people.
Some groups we don’t ‘owe’ anything to. For example, we don’t have to do anything for the Tibetan monks—we are not connected in any way. However, many of us overlook what justice demands of us towards our neighbors and community. Our communities help us and sustain us in a certain way. Therefore, we must give back in some way.
This is the principle of justice: give unto Cesar what is Cesar’s.
Justice = Action
This talk fell on The Feast of the Epiphany or King’s Day. Why is this significant?
Well, think about the story of the Wise Men, the Magi. (A little background).
After the fall of man, it’s understood that God directly taught man how to read the stars to help them maintain the hope of the messiah who would one day save them. It was passed down over generations. Eventually, bad actors developed a pagan version of astrology. The type of stuff we are familiar with in pop culture today.
However, these Magi were among the last remaining astrologists in the original sense. They studied the stars to understand when the Messiah would come. It’s understood they were the pupils of Daniel and that they were located far East of Jerusalem.
But here’s the most fascinating part.
They didn’t just study to know and think about it. Their knowledge led to direct action. The consequence of their understanding was action. They knew too much to not act. How could you not if you believe that the savior of mankind was about to be born.
So, what did they do? They assembled a large caravan of probably 100 or more people and embarked on a 700-mile journey to find the Messiah. It’s widely believed that it took them about a year to find Jesus once they arrived in the region. They were very persistent. They couldn’t give up on this mission.
This fact blows my mind.
They endured this grueling journey to adore the Lord; to bend their knee to the Son of God. This is how important it was.
What about us?
We’re not living on only the promise of the Messiah, The Son of God has already come. He’s died for us on the cross, giving us access to eternal life. Yet how often do we spring into action given this knowledge (of our being saved)? How often do we share the good news with others? How often are we animated with the excitement we ought to have about our salvation?
This is a sin against justice.
Now, let’s go back to the talk I mentioned.
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Applying Justice
In the Q&A of that talk, we wanted to know how we could know if we’ve committed a sin of injustice. As noted before, we ‘owe’ justice to many groups and individuals, but how do we know when we’ve committed a sin of omission?
The answer isn’t super simple, but there are a few things we can measure against. One of those is the 7 Precepts of the Church (5 in the (weak) modern era). When we look at these commandments or precepts, we can ask ourselves if we’ve followed them correctly.
One that stood out to me (in the traditional list of 7) is “To participate in the Church's mission of Evangelization of Souls.” How many of us know of this obligation?
Pause! Read it back. “To participate in the Church’s mission of Evangelization of Souls.” Yes—that means what you think it means. Each of us has a responsibility to evangelize and bring the good news of eternal life to all of those around us.
Of course, not all of us are called to be missionaries in Venezuela, but we are called to be missionaries in our backyards.
Another one that stands out is “To contribute to the support of the Church.” For most this means tithing/donating. Think about it this way, the priests and religious are providing us a service. Yes, it’s not capitalism and we don’t ‘pay for confession’ or ‘pay to receive the graces’ but we are receiving something that benefits us. It is a sin of injustice to take without giving what we can.
Of course, each of us must give according to our means.
But how do we know if we are in fact ‘giving according to our means’? You first must develop the practice of examining the events of the day, each evening. Ask yourself, did I give what I felt called to. Was I generous?
Don’t be scrupulous but genuinely press yourself and ask these things.
At the time of this talk, I was living in NYC, and thinking, well, do I owe it in justice to help this homeless person find a meal? What if I’ve got a wife waiting for me at home, or I don’t have enough money to help everyone (none of us do)? What is my ‘burden’—what load am I to carry?
This, my friends, again comes down to the individual.
God deals with each of us individually. He gives us different talents and treasures. We are responsible to seek God’s guidance in how we are called to use these talents and treasures. It’s not a one size fits all answer. However, it’s critical that we work through our inner feelings in order to let the Holy Spirit move us.
In Conclusion
As we move forward, make a strong resolution to always give justice to those around us.
To The Church—through whom we receive all our graces
To our parents—who gave us life and loved us
To our siblings—who look up to us
To our friends—who support us
To our neighbors—who we share a neighborhood with
To our parish—who provide camaradarie and fellowship to us
To our children—who teach us innocence
To our community—that supports our businesses and provides the infrastructure
Set a time in your calendar (ideally daily—weekly at minimum) to reflect on how well you’re following the tugs at your heart.
Did you listen at all?
Did you ignore the call or leap to action?
When a friend is struggling, did spend time with them?
Did you help that old lady cross the street?
Did you defend the Holy Name of God?
There are thousands of opportunities to act. Are you taking them?
Remember, justice is really about action. Where the other cardinal virtues are focused on the interior, Justice is focused on external matters.
If we have true faith—that faith must be a faith of action. How could we not act once we understand the gift Christ has given us?
See ya next time! 👋
PS: Happy 4th of July! 🇺🇸
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