Relationship Between Charity and Justice
This won’t be easy for some to swallow- and I don’t claim to practice this perfectly in any way- but here goes:
In section 6 of his latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict speaks of the relationship between Charity and Justice.
Justice is what leads us to give to another what is rightfully his or hers based upon their being (dignity) and sometimes their actions (work). Thus, there can be no Charity where there is no Justice.
We cannot consider something ‘ours’ if it should rightfully belong to someone else. For example, if I have enough water for two people and you are going to die of thirst, it would be unjust to deny you a full ration of the water. However, there would be no authentic Charity in this action because I would only be giving you the water I did not need… sacrificing nothing and changing my own circumstances in no measurable way.
Charity is when, out of love, we give something that is rightfully ours to someone else. If I only had enough water for myself but shared with you anyway- that would be Charity.
Too often when we say we are being “charitable” we are really only giving our EXCESS to the poor. That would be Justice- not Charity.
This is somewhat of an overwhelming challenge. First, we must establish justice by giving away every excess that we have (because, by right, they belong to someone else anyway). Second, we should continue to give, out of love, from what we have to those who remain in need.
Think… pray… act. Peace turtles!
Wow, you know I never would have thought about it in that way. What cool insight. I need to read more. Thanks!
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