A great deal of attention is rightly paid to the need for justice as part of our lives and as a part of our world. In regard to the many wars we are facing around the world today, the situation of many immigrants, proper medical care, employment and of the death penalty, among so many others, justice is rightly cited as a need. However, there is a great deal of misunderstanding in regard to justice, especially as it directly relates to the other virtues.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes justice in conjunction with God’s love (CCC 1991) and the very essence of God Himself (CCC 271). The catechism emphasizes that God created human nature in an original state of holiness and justice, which was intended to share in God’s divine life (CCC 375). The catechism teaches that justice is a cardinal virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give our due to God and neighbor. It states, “Justice toward God is called the ‘virtue of religion.’ Justice towards men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. By its very definition justice and mercy are part of the same dynamic which flows from God Himself. In this context the Lord proclaims in the Beatitudes, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice’ and ‘Blessed are the merciful’ (cf. Mt 5:3-10).”
St. John Paul II was a great proponent of the importance of the relationship between love and justice. In one of his very first audiences, he explained how justice is fundamental to our coexistence on this earth. However, he stressed that one cannot talk about love without justice. Pope Benedict XVI was also a great teacher in regard to the relationship between love and justice. In his Lenten message of 2010, he expounded that justice can only be understood in the perspective of God’s plan in creation. He stressed that what is “due” to us in justice cannot be guaranteed by the law but only given to us as a gift from God. It is God’s love that is fundamental as the most basic need of all people since God created us in His image and likeness to love. Therefore, love and justice are intrinsically joined.
One of the great churchmen of the 20th century was John Cardinal O’Connor, who was archbishop of New York from 1984 until 2000. Cardinal O’Connor, a former Navy admiral, was known for his courageous preaching of the Gospel in the midst of New York City. A good friend of Mother Teresa, he was a well-loved archbishop who always had the needs of the poor and marginalized before him. An extremely hard worker who found it difficult to sleep, he would sometimes go out at night to assist AIDS patients at local hospitals. His episcopal motto was “There can be no love without justice.” By this he did not mean that justice came first and that love followed, but that love and justice worked hand in hand. Justice is a component of love which recognizes the dignity and rights of every human person. Love does the same and, in mercy, is always open to those who repent of whatever it is in their lives that causes injustice. Mercy, by no means, condones injustice but always acts in a manner that makes true justice ever present. How very fitting was the motto of Cardinal O’Connor, who truly lived mercy in his life and was a proponent of the justice that arises from mercy.
When Pope Francis gave his historic address to Congress in September 2015, he made reference to four Americans who epitomize the greatness of our nation and its underlying spirit of freedom and justice. They were Abraham Lincoln, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day and Father Thomas Merton. While Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King are well known, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton may not be as much so. Dorothy Day was a convert to Catholicism and a great proponent of social justice during the 20th century. Father Merton was a well-known Trappist monk during the same period who wrote many volumes on contemplative life. All four of these Americans were living examples of the relationship between love and justice in their lives.
Shortly before his assassination, Abraham Lincoln was known to have said, “I have always found that mercy bears greater fruits than strict justice.” His words are significant ones in showing the relationship between mercy and justice and justice as an integral part of mercy. These words also show how easy it is to have a misunderstanding of what justice is all about. Lincoln specifically spoke of “strict justice,” which is simply an observance of the law without any recourse to its consequences and the people it affects. This type of justice is not in keeping with the justice which is of the essence of God’s nature, nor with the virtue of justice. This type of justice is what characterized the scribes and Pharisees who simply were interested in the appearance of justice, especially in placing themselves over others by denying mercy. It was this “strict justice” which Jesus continually condemned in the Pharisees and to which Jesus was diametrically opposed. It is easy to place burdens on others through the application of “strict justice” by denying the true meaning of justice, which is an essential part of love and mercy.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke very inspirational words about the relationship between love and justice in his talk to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on Aug. 16, 1967. He said, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.” To understand the full impact of these words we must see them in the context of God’s power as described by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, referring to the words of St. Thomas Aquinas: “God’s Almighty power is in no way arbitrary: ‘In God, power, essence, will, intellect, wisdom and justice are all identical. Nothing therefore can be in God’s power which could not be His just will or His wise intellect.’” The essence of God’s power is His love. Again, in God, justice and love flow from His nature and always work together. That is why it is so fitting to realize that God’s justice stands for everything that is against love and flows from him in the fullness of mercy.
We live in a litigious society that hails justice but sometimes renders true justice void. When we gaze upon the cross from a human perspective, we see justice voided in the name of justice. An innocent man is crucified so that others can get their “due.” The irony is that God is not getting His “due,” but in this travesty of justice is freely giving man his “due.” God gives His life so that we can enter into the love for which He created us and in which we are fulfilled. While God was not in any way obligated to do so, He did so as a grace — a justice enlivened by love. As St. Paul also tells us, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor 1:18).
Truly, “There can be no love without justice.” This is most certainly true and reminds us that we cannot love others unless we are willing to give them their “due.” However, it is also true that, “There can be no justice without love.” God created us to love us and to enter into a relationship with us as our fulfillment. He has made this our “due,” and when we failed to accept it freely, He went out of his way to ensure it would always be available to us. This is the message of the cross which is the centrality of all our reflections.
Justice is primary in the everyday dealings in life. Justice always encompasses a great deal if it is true justice. As followers of Christ, may we always apply justice as He would — no love, no justice — no justice, no love.
Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito
