Pope Benedict XVI's Dream and the Natural Thirst for Justice

4/24/2012

(Page 3 of 3)

it is impossible "that the injustice of history should be the final word." The natural desire for justice is not put in us in vain, and "to protest against God in the name of justice is not helpful," since it brings us to absurdity. (Spe salvi, 44.) Given that we must regard it impossible that the world is not well-made by God, it is both necessary and convincing, in light of Christ's historical Resurrection, therefore, that Christ must return and that we will rise again "for a new life," and that there be a Final Judgment. (Spe salvi, 43.)

As Pope Benedict XVI explained to the parish priests and clergy of Rome on February 7, 2008, in his encyclical Spe salvi he tied the Last Judgment to mankind's thirst for justice. "We all want a just world. Yet we cannot atone for all the destruction of the past, all the people unjustly tortured and killed. God alone can create justice, which must be justice for all, even for the dead, and . . . only the resurrection of the body . . . would be able to create justice."

The resurrection of the body is required so that the acts of injustice done to Moses Roper, to Sadako Sasaki, to Ludwig Br�gel, and to Brandon Buchanan in the flesh be recompensed in the flesh, and so that those who in the flesh perpetrated the acts of injustice on Moses Roper, on Sadako Sasaki, on Ludwig Br�gel, and on Brandon Buchanan get their just punishments in the flesh.

We must not deprecate the reality of injustice, of sin, of punishment since "both justice and true guilt exist." "Those who have destroyed man and the earth," the Pope continues "cannot suddenly sit down at God's table together with their victims."

Moses Roper cannot be seen to sit down with John Gooch who nearly flogged him to death, Sadako Sasaki cannot be seen to sit down with Giv 'em Hell Harry who ordered the bombing of Hiroshima, my great great uncle Ludwig Br�gel cannot be seen to sit down with Adolf Hitler, Brandon Buchanan cannot be seen to sit down with Mohamed Atta, as if nothing happened.

That is not how it works. Yet we must remember that "God creates justice," as Benedict XVI told his priests.

Benedict XVI observed that there are that have been among us, the numbers of which we do not know--though we may hope they are not numerous, and yet we may fear that they are many--that "have destroyed themselves," and who therefore "are forever unredeemable, who no longer possess any elements on which God's love can rest, who longer have a minimal capacity for loving." These died outside of God's grace. "This," the Pope explains, "is Hell." Whether John Gooch, Harry Truman, Adolf Hitler, or Mohamed Atta is there we do not know, though we may have our hunches.

There are a few that "are so pure that they can enter immediately into God's communion." These include the canonized saints--the Blessed Virgin Mary at the apex--with all the "all saints" we celebrate on All Saints' Day.

Most of us mortals who die in God's grace, however, lie between the two extremes--between the holy and the forlorn, between the fully saved and the fully unsaved, between the immaculate Mary and Judas Iscariot, for whom it would have been better had he not been born. (Matt. 26:23) For those between the extremes, "there are so very many wounds" that have to heal. There is "so much filth" that needs to be cleaned. Most of us "need to be prepared, to be purified."

All these wounds must heal, the filth cleaned, the purification done before the lamb lies down with the wolf, and the leopard lies down with the kid. (Cf. Isaiah 11:6) Justice requires it.

"This is our hope: even with so much dirt in our souls, in the end the Lord will give us the possibility, he will wash us at last with his goodness that comes from his Cross." This is Purgatory. "In this way" Benedict XVI states, God "makes us capable of being for him in eternity. And thus Heaven is hope, it is justice brought about at last."

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again in the Last Judgment, and there will be Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. This formula solves the puzzle of apparent injustice in a world we regard as well-made.

The God-Man Jesus is the "Myth of Er," the "Dream of Scipio" become flesh. The Lord Jesus, who was crucified, died, and rose again is Pope Benedict XVI's "dream," yet it is not a dream; it is reality. Among the many witnesses, ask the Apostle Thomas.

Still in doubt? Force the belief and pray: "I believe, help Thou my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)
The belief will satisfy the natural thirst you have for justice.

-----

Andrew M. Greenwell is an attorney licensed to practice law in Texas, practicing in Corpus Christi, Texas. He is married with three children. He maintains a blog entirely devoted to the natural law called Lex Christianorum. You can contact Andrew at agreenwell@harris-greenwell.com.
- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Justice, resurrection, Pope Benedict, death to life, Andrew M Greenwell

NEWSLETTERS »

Previous Page 1 | 2 | 3

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 7 of 7 Comments

Mike Chapman
1 year ago
Justice for the little girl, and all of those killed in Hiroshima? That lies at the feet of the Japanese leaders who attacked the U.S. without a declaration of war and committed atrocity after atrocity upon captured soldiers (Bataan Death March) and entire societies (such as the Chinese). It's a deep injustice that this was included in your list of injustices! How bizzarre! How could you misunderstand injustice so badly? At the Hiroshima memorial where there is a book to sign, one American once wrote, "Remember Pearl Harbor." Where's the justice for all those men and women entombed in the USS Arizona? You had so many other much more relevant and true choices. Millions upon millions of civilians were killed by Germans and Nazis in that war. You also could have chosen any number of Christian martyrs from just the past year (including Yousef imprisoned in Iran right now), and you choose someone killed in our successful attempt to end the war to avoid further lives lost? Wow. Those bombs saved lives. Truman had to drop the second one because their leaders still refused to surrender. There is tragedy and misfortune (such as what we, in law enforcement, are forced to do in ending the life of someone posing a threat, and innocent lives are sometimes lost in the process of being forced to do just that), and there is true injustice. No good person wanted to kill the little girl in Hiroshima (except those such as Muslim extremists and Palestinian terrorists who regularly kill children in Israel and elsewhere). But lives are lost when decent and righteous societies are forced to defend themselves or stop the slaughter of innocent people. Do you not understand Just War? For example, read the Old Testament where entire cities were wiped out by God's holy people , including children and every living thing. It was a tragedy, but the necessary and right thing to do. There is a huge difference between loss of life by murder and deceit, and loss of life in responding in order to stop it.You've confused the two and tried to equate them, like so many in our politically correct culture do. That in itself, is a grave injustice.
DENISE M. SHARAR
1 year ago
I HOPE AND PRAY SOMEDAY LOVE WILL STOP ALL THE ACTS OF INJUSTICE WE SEE IN THE WORLD. LOVE AND PRAYER IS OUR HOPE. I ESPECIALLY PRAY FOR FATHER PFLEGER IN CHICAGO WHO IS IN THE MIDST OF ACTS OF INJUSTICE AND MAY GET ANGRY AND LOSE HOPE NOW AND THEN. WE MUST ALWAYS FIND SACRED SPACE TO PRAY AND MEDITATE SO WE CAN FEEL GOD'S PRESENCE AND NEVER LOSE HOPE.
Geoff
1 year ago
It would seem that the root of injustice is "want". What is it that we may "want" at the expense of another? I was just crossing the road this evening at a cross walk and was almost hit by a fast moving car ignoring the pedestrian (me) on the cross walk. He simply appeared to accelerate and honked his horn. His objective would not account for anything other than his "want" to get to his objective as quickly and effortlessly as possible. He was in fact an agent of chaos. His rule was simple, he had power and was isolated in the comfortable cabin of his Land Cruiser with his music. Isn't this the case with most injustice? That the operatives of a system designed to promote the commom good become the very vehicle to remove the common good for privilege? It is an interesting notion that perhaps injustice can be found in the word itself: res publica versus leggio privatus (excuse the latin).
JoAnn
1 year ago
The greatest evil ever perpetrated was the crucifixion of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and what incredibly awesome GOOD came from it. God bless.
Andrew M.Greenwell
1 year ago
@Edwin:
Thanks for your comments, and I appreciate your argument, but I will have to disagree, and quite vehemently. What both Harry and Mohamed did was the same thing in their minds: they did evil so that good may come out of it. This is an immoral principle, though it is the basis of a cost/benefit analysis so typical of utilitarianism or consequentialism. (Here, strangely, both traditional Islam and modern utilitarianism share a way of thinking.)

That is in fact how you justify Harry Truman's use of nuclear weapons not against military targets but against whole cities and civilian populations. The civilian casualties In Hiroshima and Nagasaki (and Dresden and other German cities, for that matter) were not "collateral damage," but were the intended target. Though I'm sure Truman did not know her, he intended to kill Sadako Sasaki as sure as he intended to kill her fellow civilians. This was evil, an absolute evil, one without exception, however you dress it.

Pope Pius XII condemned the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima when he expressed the traditional Catholic teaching on just war that "every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man." In the words of Admiral Leahy, Chief of Staff to presidents Roosevelt and Truman. a well-seasoned warrior if there ever was one: "It is my opinion that the use of the barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan ... The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons ... My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children."

In your analysis, you also neglect to mention that part of the Japanese intransigence which caused Truman's seeming choice was our own decision to seek "unconditional surrender." Why I would expect any people, especially a proud people like the Japanese, to fight to death if the condition for life is unconditional surrender to the enemy. A change in our stance would have made a difference.

Now let me ask it this way: If Mohammed Atta under orders from Bin Laden had used an atomic bomb instead of a plane to bomb the Twin Towers, how would Atta's act be different than Paul Tibbet's acting under Truman's? Other than State action, I see no difference. And being head of state does not authorize the intentional taking of innocent human life. Ever. We can't do evil so that good may come.
Edwin Concepcion
1 year ago
Harry Truman's inclusion in the list of deviants that includes the likes of Atta IS an injustice in itself. Truman's decision to drop the A-bomb arguably foreshortened an ongoing, red hot world war that is an immoral event, and thereby saved millions of lives, which is a morally laudable outcome. The Japanese establishment in 1945 is to blame for their persistence in the war, in spite of ample American warning, which resulted in thousands of nuclear blast victims. This Japanese establishment, Emperor Hirohito for one, should have been on that Atta list. Not Harry Truman, no sir...
abey
1 year ago
Injustices happen when man takes Justice upon his own hand. Vengeance is mine says the Lord . In the Lord's prayer we ask " Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors" which is to Forgiveness, no doubt easy said than done, but is to be done , for it amounts to a sacrifice, to taking our own cross to His sharing. Jesus never said it would be easy, contrary to ear pleasing to appeasing words of many a preachers, they who preach the truth but the truth turns to a lie to the hearer, cause it was meant to appease, to the likeness of Obama & gangs, the very people who cry Blood for Blood not knowing the truth in mans eternity. On the contrary if man does not learn to forgive but to develop hatred in the name of Justice how can He stand before the love of God, it is to this that God says of the manner "Let me handle it"..Moreover what is the Justice of man to backdoor peddlers who cause murder & mayhem coming in all shapes & sizes, even as echelons of society where the law cannot reach them or unknown to the law, who escape this world but then they see the Christ, for a sure they will as the judge to "Game Over" with no place or way to hide or run, again to His words " Vengeance is mine", which is to the truth of "Justice is in Him. The Characteristics of the serpent & its seeds is to hatred & revenge in the pride, fall not in to become it.

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment