The Flawed Sense of Justice.

Utilizing the daily readings for 11th September 2018 from the Catholic Missal, the lessons learnt has left a mark within me..which I'd like to share.

• First Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 
• Res.Psalm: Psalms 149:1-6, 9
• Gospel: Luke 6:12-19

The Lessons:

1. Leave Judgment to God and endure until HE wills it time to show up.
2. Die to self - Loose it all for the Sake of God Almighty in Christ Jesus, is in itself Great Gain.

To Willingly Accept Injustice??

In the first reading, St. Paul says "Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? " - this reminds me of Jesus' words in Matthew 5:39 - "Turn the other cheek..". As Christians, we are called to love..and to love even those who hurt us (this distinguishes us from the non-believers).

This doesn't make logical sense at all, Nope, Not at all! Which is why the people preferred the law of Moses stating an eye for an eye (as in Exodus 21:24) - YASS!! This is more like it! Yh? Thing is this is accepted by "hard-hearten" people, and those laws were given to guide the Judicial system stating that the punishment dished out should be proportional to the kind of crime committed.

But then again, do we really understand that if God applies the above rule to us, that NONE would come out alive?  (Psalm 130:3 - LORD, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? -NLT)

And so we are called to live in peace and unity by turning the cheek to those offenses that grieve us - that is leaving it at the feet of God Almighty; The ONE who is Just and Fair.

How on earth am I supposed to turn the other cheek?

This way of life requires a great deal of Humility. I once heard that "to learn of to be humble, you must be ready to be humiliated". So I ask myself, when I feel cheated, do I lash out to show that I know my right and to prove that I am not stupid?. I am learning to choose the battles I fight, depending more on God's Justice than my own "selfish" sense of justice. I sleep better when I have peace of mind knowing that I have left it all for God, which I prefer to that of entertaining mental pictures of how things may not work out in my favor (accompanied by Insomnia, High BP, Stress-eating..etc.)  if I decide to take things into my own hand as human power is truly limited and we do not know it all.

Human sight is limited.Very Limited.

v4 of the res.psalm says "For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory."- This further buttresses the total dependence on God in humility.

Our Lord Jesus Christ did it, what's your excuse?

Looking at the Gospel, Jesus Christ who is God - who knows all; chose Judas as one of his own. Errr...It is definitely not logical to choose a person who you know will come to betray you as recorded -" and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. " But HE did anyway.
Choosing this man who would facilitate your death. Nope. Not a wise move Lord, I would say.. but If Christ didn't accept death..i.e. to Loose it all on earth for us; "The MOST UNJUST KIND OF PUNISHMENT EVER..", would any of us have the beautiful privilege to have the hope that we will one day be able to see God our Father? Would we have the boldness to call God Our Father and Friend? Definitely not! We would be looking for spotless lambs to kill at certain times of the year and so on.

Jesus Christ saw the bigger picture of His father, and so subjected  Himself in Humility as a man; by accepting the Just Will of God the Father and turned his cheek; - welcoming the one who would betray him.

So....

If you ever feel just and right when offended (seeking your own pound of flesh), remember what Jesus had to go through for our sake.. The Passion of Christ. - This should keep us humble and submissive to the Justice of God rather than seeking our own justice (which in truth, does not exist as we have all fallen short in the sight of God - Romans 3:23)..

Shalom.🕊