Proclaim Justice

July 17, 2010

Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Woe to those who plan iniquity, and work out evil on their couches; In the morning light they accomplish it when it lies within their power. They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and they take them; They cheat an owner of his house, a man of his inheritance. Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I am planning against this race an evil from which you shall not withdraw your necks; Nor shall you walk with head high, for it will be a time of evil. Micah 2:1-3

“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory.” Matthew 12:18-20

Piety

“I pray incessantly for the conversion of the prodigal son’s brother. Ever in my ear rings the dread warning. The one has awoken from his life of sin. When will the other awaken from his life of virtue?” (A poem/meditation by Dom Helder Camara, August 29, 1962.)

Study

Many of the prophets (up to and including Jesus and beyond) were crying out for justice and structural change in society. That point is driven home in today’s first reading which literally is a passage against the land monopoly held by the rich during the ancient years in the Holy Land.

Land monopoly denounced by Micah in today’s reading (and also denounced by Isaiah) was a chronic vice in Judah according to the notes in the New American Bible. “To protect the poor against it, a man's inheritance, his ancestral property, was supposed to be inviolate.” As we learn in Kings, Ahab, king of Samaria, wanted Naboth to surrender his ancestral land. Such a scene was typical as the wealthy in their greed were enslaving men for their debts and depriving them of their land.

Micah warns that the Lord is planning evil against those who covet land, seize houses, or cheat an owner of his inheritance. Those who act unjustly will not have any advocate to defend them in heaven. Their punishment will be the irrevocable loss of their land to their enemies.

Matthew picks up on this theme of acting for justice and the poor. Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophesies of Isaiah, sent to proclaim justice to the poor. However, no one will hear him and he will be rejected.

Action

Today’s prophets for justice recognize this. Dom Helder Camara, the late archbishop from Brazil, noted that, “If we are pilgrims of justice and peace, then we must expect the desert.” He is also noted for commenting that He is famous for stating, “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist.”

Camara's short tract, Spiral of Violence (1971), was written at the time of the Vietnam War. It is distinctive not just for the manner in which it links structural injustice with escalating rebellion and repressive reaction, but also for the way in which Camara calls upon the youth of the world to take steps for breaking the spiral to which their elders are often addicted. You can read the text at http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/general/spiral-of-violence.htm.

What injustice will motivate you to action? My friend Tom works on behalf of those in prison and their families. My friends Catholic Worker friends Kathy, Art and Colleen, Gary and others dedicate their lives to the Christian ideal that if you want peace, you will work for justice. Even though we may not all be called to live in voluntary poverty or the cloister, how can you live this timeless Christian ideal in your life and career?