Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
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Why are those who hunger and thirst for justice called blessed?
When
we hear about this beatitude our thoughts might be directed toward a
predominantly secular notion of justice: “Social justice”, “justice for
the poor”, “global justice”, “environmental justice” or “restorative
justice” – all aspects of justice, which may come to mind. “Justice is
the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of
thought”, wrote John Rawls in 1971 (“A Theory of Justice”).
What kind of justice should we long for to be called blessed?
“Justice consists in rendering to God
what is due to Him, and then for the love of God, giving also to the
creature what is due to it.” (Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.).
Justice
in the broad sense of the word means the perfect fulfillment of the
law. Law in this context means the law that governs the entire life of
man. Just, according to this understanding, is he who is and lives
according to the law that was promulgated either by God as the highest
legislator implicitly in nature or explicitly (Moses) or by man in
accordance with the law of God (law of states).
Justice, understood in this broad sense, is equal to holiness.
We
say that Adam and Eve were just, because they reflected perfectly God’s
idea of man in their physical and moral integrity. It was only after
the fall of Adam and Eve through their disobedience to the will of God
that man had to be governed by positive laws.
In
the Old Testament justice meant the complete fulfillment especially of
the law given by God through Moses. But perfect fulfillment of the law
was impossible due to the fallen and weakened nature of man.
Perfect
justice became visible in this world through the coming of Christ who
fulfilled the law of God and the need for atonement completely. This
perfect justice, re-established on the Cross by Christ, is communicated
to us through Sanctifying Grace.
Through grace we are made just: “Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law”, says the Apostle (Rom. 13, 10).
Justice
respects order! The author of all order is God and without respecting
Him as source and center of all order, no man may be called just.
Pope
Leo the Great teaches: “This hunger [for justice] is not for bodily
food, this thirst is not for any earthly drink: it is a longing to be
blessed with justice, and, by penetrating the secret of all mysteries,
to be filled with the Lord himself. Happy is the soul that longs for the
food of justice and thirsts for this kind of drink; it would not seek
such things if it had not already savored their delight.”
“The
appetite comes with eating” – The more intimately we are united to Our
Lord, the more we are having in common with Him, the true God made man,
the more we long for an ever growing holiness. Love for justice is born
in the love for our own sanctification. No true justice can be exercised or possessed without longing for one’s personal holiness.
“Bear
in mind”, continues Leo the Great, “the kind of school in which you are
to learn your skills, the rewards to which you are called. Mercy itself
wishes you to be merciful, justice itself wishes you to be just, so
that the Creator may shine forth in his creature, and the image of God
be reflected in the mirror of the human heart as it imitates his
qualities.”
Justice
is not self-righteousness, we don’t make ourselves just, but we receive
justice by receiving God’s grace and cooperating with it. “If any man
thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He that believeth in Me, as the
Scripture says: Out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
The
just man’s thirst for justice won’t be completely satisfied here on
earth, but in the beatific vision in heaven. However, such a man will
long for God’s grace not only for himself, but also in others. True
justice which desires to give God what is His, wants also to exercise
true justice towards his neighbor.
The
just, if he is blessed, wishes to see the rivers of living water extend
themselves also on the whole of creation. For this goal the just man
works, prays and suffers. But such a man doesn’t separate any form of
justice from God’s will and order. There is no such thing as social
justice without respecting God’s will, there is no justice for man if
man is opposed to God.
He
who wishes to establish perfect justice in this world without beginning
to long for his own sanctification and without placing all hope and all
desire in God as the source of all justice, is not blessed but
self-righteous.
Blessed
are therefore those who, as a result and fruit of their serious
spiritual efforts and struggles, are moved – for example – to pray and
work for the rights of the unborn, the sick, the dying.
Blessed are those who desire justice in this world which is based on an ever renewed understanding of the rights of God!
Blessed
are also those who see the unjustly treated as individuals with a
dignity as creatures of God, rather than seeing them as nothing more
than pawns in political discussions about “social justice.”
The
beatitudes are the most heroic and perfect gifts of the Holy Ghost in
man. These beatitudes describe true happiness in this life and in the
next. Those who long for justice will give themselves to works of
justice. According to the teaching of St. Augustine and St. Thomas (ST
II, II 139, 2) this longing for justice will be accompanied by the gift
of fortitude – to help us overcome obstacles in the works of justice.
What
do we need more in this life than God’s gift of fortitude to persevere
in works of justice and to enjoy a foretaste of heaven in receiving this
blessing of Our Lord?
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
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