Reflection point: living in relationship with others

By Fr Stephan Alexander

General Manager, CCSJ and AMMR

As we continue to explore Catholic Social Teaching (CST) in these articles, I will often share material that I’ve read. MK Birge’s contribution on Biblical Justice in DM McCarthy’s 2009 offering entitled, The Heart of Catholic Social Teaching: Its Origins and Contemporary Significance commences with the following paragraph:

“In twenty-first century Western society, we usually conceive of justice as a matter of being fair. That is, we believe justice means that every person ought to receive an equal amount of whatever is under discussion, no matter what his or her life circumstances may be. Every citizen is equal under the law. We often translate this to mean every citizen is the same under the law. In the United States the familiar image of a blindfolded goddess, Lady Justice, holding up the scales of justice and weighing out the ‘fair,’ the ‘just,’ or even the same amount for each petitioner under the law adorns many of our court buildings… In addition to this picture of blindfolded Lady Justice, the familiar sayings ‘equal justice under the law’ and ‘justice is blind’ also signal how the ideal of impartiality or objectivity has shaped Western society’s vision of what is just. Members of our society, for the most part, presume that justice is cold and detached. Ironically, this so-called detachment protects and privileges those who least need such protecting or privileging. Such ‘blind’ justice tends not to consider the leper and the poor, but would rather overlook their needs. To acknowledge their needs would be to acknowledge that the privileged and the disadvantaged belong to the same society. The privileged would have to acknowledge that they are inextricably bound to the poor through their common life. So they refuse their shared identity, blind themselves through objectivity and dispassion toward suffering, and practice detachment rather than mercy. In the biblical world, however, the concept of justice (sometimes called righteousness) binds every human being to relationships full of compassion.”

Birge’s opening paragraph invites readers to distance themselves from a cold, blind and often inhumane conception of justice that masquerades as equality. It urges them to replace it with an understanding of justice that is specific to our social nature, grounded in relationships and considers the needs of those with whom we are in relationship.

Justice so conceived can simply be defined as ‘right living’ or ‘giving others their due’. Specifically, we are in relationship with all of humanity and the entire created universe.

Narrowing this to humanity, for the purpose of this article, CST teaches us that we, human beings, were created in communion with others and are meant for relationship with God and each other.

Some of those ‘others’ with whom we are in relationship include the more than 29 million persons who viewed the opening ceremony of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris on Friday, July 26 and the more than 28 million Venezuelans who ‘participated’ in Venezuela’s presidential elections on Sunday, July 28.

Here would be a good reflection point. Pause, reflect, and consider whether you understand yourself – your life – as being in relationship with those 57 million people.

Re-read MK Birge’s introduction. Is your idea of justice, detached and separated from relationship? Does it lead you to overlook the needs of others?

There has been much uproar from many within the Christian world about an ill-advised depiction of da Vinci’s The Last Supper during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

As I write this, considerably less outrage has been expressed within Christianity about the Venezuelan Presidential election, which has now descended into mass protest after the incumbent, Nicolás Maduro, was declared victorious in a disputed vote well before the final tally of ballots.

Certainly, a sense of ridicule exists in both scenarios. Yet, the explicit outrage is incomparable for both events. There may be various reasons for this. Clearly, there seems a deeper sense of hurt for some, in one instance. A hurt that cuts to the core of who we are and what we believe. The other situation is maybe easier to ignore. Political and electoral rules provide the opportunity for detachment. Some may say that one group is an easier target.

However, justice, right living, giving others their due, is lived in relationship. Relationship with Jesus and with each other. Jesus prepared us for the ridicule and persecution that would come. See John 15:20. He also commanded us to love one another as He has loved us (Jn 13:34).

Many of our neighbours in Venezuela are fighting to maintain hope. Their struggle is grounded in a sense of injustice and betrayal. Many Venezuelans have witnessed international uproar over an opening ceremony at the Olympics while their cries for justice are being silenced. What has been our response? Have we been working to fulfil the demands of justice? Are we supporting our brothers and sisters with prayer, activism, or other means? Should we do more…?

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