Spirituality
Justice
What is asked of me?
This week, as we continue reflecting on Justice, the question for us to ponder is: What is asked of me? In the ordinary everyday-ness of our lives, what is asked of us? Last week I offered some thoughts on what justice is, how we understand justice in our Judaeo-Christian Tradition. And this week I would like to offer some principles and practices that enable us to make justice real in our lives, what we might call a spirituality of justice, a way to God. Each of these principles and practices will invite us into soul-searching and honesty.
The first thing to consider is that doing justice is not something we can choose to do or not do as Christians. It is non-negotiable. It is one of the defining characteristics of Christian life. Jon Sobrino, who is a Latin American liberation theologian, says that the practice of justice is ultimately the criterion that determines whether or not we infact have real faith:
“If persons and communities follow Jesus and proclaim the Kingdom of God to the poor; if they strive for liberation from every kind of slavery; if they seek, for all human beings, especially for that immense majority of men and women who are crucified persons, a life in conformity with the dignity of daughters and sons of God; if they have the courage and forthrightness to speak the truth – if in the discipleship of Jesus, they effectuate their own conversion from being oppressor to being men and women of service – if they do all this in the following and discipleship of Jesus because he did all this himself – then they believe in Jesus” (Jesus in Latin America).
Ms Kerry McCullough
Spirituality and Liturgy Coordinator