“No Justice…No Peace?”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
September 19-20, 2020
Scripture: Matthew 20: 28-32
We often see around the church, especially during this political season, all these signs about “No Justice…No Peace.” If we don’t get justice, we’ll have no peace. But, that’s not true. It’s not true theologically. In the real world, you really don’t want justice….what you want is mercy. For example, if the cops give you a blue light special and write you an “I love Stanly County” donation/ticket, you might be a bit upset. “Oh! No, no, please…my mother’s sick!” You don’t want justice. But, justice is that you were speeding, so you got a citation, and you paid the fine. That’s justice. We don’t want justice, because when we get justice, we aren’t very happy at all. We want mercy which is the fullest expression of God’s love. The greatest experience of God’s love is when He forgives and forgets all of our sins. Those of us who may not have committed dreadful sins as others have…at least not yet…we have a gift for which we should be thanking God.
Spiritually, we have no idea how heinous and egregious our sins are. That’s why I visit the sick, because receiving Last Rites is so important. That’s also why it is essential to call a priest near the hour of someone’s death…preferably before that, while they’re still conscious…so they can talk. Sometimes, I get a call from the family…”Oh, they died two hours ago.” But, it’s too late…they’ve passed now. Those who get to receive Last Rites experience God’s mercy, and having had moments of terror all the way up to the moment of death, they can now be at peace. The Four Horsemen of death, war, plague and famine are gone. They got to experience God’s mercy at the time of their passing. They heard God’s words of love preached over them, and they had the chance to say, “I love you Lord and I’m sorry for everything I’ve done wrong.” And, that is sufficient because of God’s grace, even for those who have lived very colorful lives, and some of them have been quite colorful. But, now they have peace. I refer you to the poem by Francis Thompson, “The Hound of Heaven”…look it up. If you’ve never had an experience with the Four Horsemen, I pray that you never do. Pray for those who still see them.
Our Lord said from the Cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” This so-called demand for justice blinds us. Look at the workmen in the Gospel. These men were working, but were not grateful even though, by working, they had the ability to feed their wives and children. Almost everyone back then was married and had lots of children. These men had a chance to feed their families. Were they grateful to the man who hired them? “Hey…thank you for helping me feed my family!” Nope. But, those men standing around and who had not been hired were most grateful. They had been terrified all day thinking that they would have no money, no food…nothing…for their families and that their children would cry and their wives would complain. Instead, they experienced God’s great mercy. Until then, they had experienced the terror, fear, bewilderment, and darkness that occurs when the Four Horsemen come.
So, these men have been standing there all day…idle; they don’t have their own business, and they have no other source of income. They are day laborers, and they got hired. The Gospel related that none of them thanked the man for hiring them. Justice…it blinds us. It also causes a lack of compassion and self-centeredness. The men hired at the end of the day now have a chance to feed their families. They got a full day’s pay, so they were able to go home and feed their wives and children and provide them clothes. The other workmen did not care. They were not grateful for the opportunity to earn a day’s wage and feed their own families. These schmucks had no compassion for the suffering of the people dependent on those men. They also had no compassion for their interior agony. Again, our Lord’s words from the Cross were “My God, my God, why have You abandoned Me.” The Four Horsemen were with the men that day. They had been terrified they would have to go home to their wives and children with empty hands. The other guys couldn’t have cared less. And, they weren’t going to pony up some money for them. No, they just wanted more. “But, that’s justice!” No. You haven’t learned anything about this, have you. God reveals Himself through His mercy. The greatest experience of God’s love is the experience of His mercy, and that mercy is always spelled out for us. God’s mercy is where His love resides. There are two ways to experience the greatness of God’s love – by receiving His mercy and by never losing His love by sinning.
How will you apply this message to your life? Will you stop insisting on justice and instead ask for His mercy? Will you pray for those who are dealing with the Four Horsemen?
