Into the Sacred Hills of Jade

TWENTY-SIXTH DAY OF LENT

Jesus continued, “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” – Matthew 7:12

Possibly overuse, trite use, has weakened the significance of these words of Christ.  Yet, this verse holds a key to an understanding of the “Justice Christianus“.  Christ’s sense of justice is that it is a mutual justice, a Divine justice now made incarnate in the life of humanity.  This Divine Justice, this moral and ethics of a the highest definition, is the manner of justice that is administered now in an egalitarian, communitarian way.  This Christian understanding is at the very heart of the principle of the democratic republic.  It is not the emperor nor the monarch nor the oligarchy nor the party nor the tyrant who establishes the laws of the land, rather it is the conscience, we hope Divinely inspired, of the people.  It is our acceptance of a mutual covenant of the “we”.  If is our acceptance of a mutual covenant to seeks the draw the community into becoming the more just community.

Yes, the “Justice Christianus” is a process of continually Becoming.  It is a Justice that seeks to be moving toward a More Prefect version of itself.  This sense of moving in the direction of a More Perfect Union comes from the impetus of Divine Possibility.  The perfection is not a reactionary course into the past as we find in the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, but rather a leaning toward the future in the direction of Perfection.

This process of ongoing perfection is based on the Christian understanding of the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  Our proper destiny is always in the future, but NOT waiting for some one day future to arrive, but always moving toward that future together.  Now the few, not the many, but “We the People” who are being drawn ever to the frontier of ever more perfect justice.

Our humility is posture of our heart to not claim we already know the answers, but that we are learning the answers.  Thus where there is arrogance there is the building a stronger fences to keep us forever in the inadequacy of our past.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

TWENTY-FIFTH DAY OF LENT

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye. – Matthew 7:1-5

Justice begins with self-examination and our own confession, leading to the clearing of our moral vision and the empathy gained by our own experience.  To otherwise is to judge unjustly.

In the “Justice Christianus“, we are cautioned that justice can be confounded by the flaws in our own moral vision.  Without this first dealing with the log in our eye, we cannot possibly be able to fairly and effectively to remove the speck in another person’s eye.  Justice in the “Justice Christianus” requires a clarity of vision that does not come naturally to our mortal, moral nature.  Without the cleansing of waters from places Divine, our efforts at justice will be thwarted by our own sinfulness: self-interest, vengeance, prejudice, cultural bias, even ignorance and lack of a divinely endowed judicial-temperament.

We need to be made right before we can dare to judge righteously.  We need to behold the circumstance and the case clearly, unfiltered by our pre-conceived notions and unbalanced perspective.

History has shown that judges with political bias tend to distort justice.  History has shown that judges with pre-set agendas tend to distort justice.  History has shown that judges who fail to lift their discernment to a much loftier standard of objectivity fall short of fair justice and fair mercy as is found in the heart and mind of the Divine.

The Spanish Inquisition exemplifies the injustice and horror that comes with judges with zealous crusade in their purpose.  The courts of Hitler’s Nazi regime are now viewed with sickening disgust at how the judges were the henchmen of the tyranny.  And in so many milder forms less dramatic, we have witnessed justice being meted out by a system of justice compromised by the splinters in their hearts.

In Christ, we must ever be mindful that justice must always begin with God cleansing our vision.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

TWENTY-FOURTH DAY OF LENT

Then Jesus took a cup, and after giving thanks He said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then He took a loaf of bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. – Luke 22:17-20

After the thanksgiving then comes the sharing, two spiritual aspect of the “Justice Christianus“.  In Christ, we are thankful for the justice that is tempered with mercy; in Christ, we share in the justice from which none of us is exempt.

We are thankful for the justice that makes things right and we share in the responsibility for keeping this justice as a community of God’s people.  This is not the autocratic justice of tyrants and dictators, not this is the justice of a covenant people, covenanting with each other and covenanting with our Maker.

In this communion of Maundy Thursday, we enter into a sacred covenant to share in the life and life’s work of the Life now shared amongst us.  In this communion of Maundy Thursday, we enter into a sacred covenant to share in both the self-sacrificing Love and in the ultimately glory of a New Realm.  In this communion of Maundy Thursday, we enter into a sacred covenant to both be merciful and just.  It is not about power, it is not about control, this “Justice Christianus”, but rather it is the willingness to pay the price for making all things right.

Because of trust in the form of justice brought into this world by Christ, we live as a thankful people and we live as a sharing people.  This “Justice Christianus” goes counter to the survival of the fittest or the survival of the wealthiest or the survival of the political powerful … but for the salvation of us all.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

TWENTY-THIRD DAY OF LENT

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’  When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage.  And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’  So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” – Matthew 20:8-16

This parable about the generous landowner is made powerful because it goes contrary to our common understanding of fairness.  The unfairness is not that the first workers received less than their agreement stated, but that the last workers seemed to receive more than they ought to receive.  But again … that was the agreement.  No contractual terms were broken, but it still seems quite unfair.

And it is that “unfairness” that Jesus uses to drive home His point.  No one goes to heaven by way of relative merit.  It is not a competition.  It is not being in the top one percent or ten percent or even fifty percent.  In the “Justice Christianus” there is no relative worth when it comes to the worth of a soul, only the generous Providence of God.

I once spun a possible addition to this parable.  Suppose all the workers and their families were experiencing despite economic times.  Possibly the reason why they were gathered at the labor pool.  Suppose among those workers were two close brothers.  One brother was chosen in the early part of the day, while his brother was not.  All day, the brother who a job was concerned that while he could provide for his family, his brother would not be able to provide for his.  Suppose the working brother then saw his unemployed brother then later saw his brother finally getting work.  Now both brothers could provide for their families.  I suppose those brothers could consider this quite unfair, but then again, those two brothers could consider that they both had been blessed.

“In the “Justice Christianus“, the ultimate concern is not a matter of fairness but a matter of reconciliation … for it is an aspect of Divine Providence.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY OF LENT

Pilate had an inscription written and placed on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”  Many of the Jewish people read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jerusalem said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’”  Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” – John 19:19-22

I think Pontius Pilate was quite intentional about that sign he had the soldiers to nail to Jesus’ cross.  Some offer with optimism that Pilate was so impressed with Christ that he recognized Christ’s nobility.  But I think with a high degree confidence that Pilate was saying to both the Jewish leaders and the Jewish people of Palestine … “If you are thinking any thoughts of reestablishing the Davidic Kingdom … well, this is what I do to would-be kings!”

This is the way of authoritarian rulers with military might at their command … they proclaim edicts that no one dare question.  Pilate’s proclamation turned the tables on the treachery of the Sanhedrin.  They desired also to be done with this would-be messiah, but not to have the Davidic tradition to be intimidated out of existence.

In Roman Justice, the justice was defined by the mortally flawed Emperor and his quislings; however, in the “Justice Christianus“, the justice is defined by the perfectly formed moral sense of the Divine.  And to add … the supposed justice of that time’s Sanhedrin … was but a tool to achieve their treacherous ends.

Justice, the purest form of Justice, comes not by way of the edicts of kings nor by the pragmatic politics of the powerful, but rather by the exaltation of moral principles found in the highest perfection of the Divine.  This is why … even autocratic kings, despotic dictators, and even the majorities of democracies are held accountable for the quality of justice they administer.

In Christ, we live by a justice that is established in Higher Places even when it is conflicts with the justice in lower places.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF LENT

“For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with his angels, and then He will reward each person according to what they have done.” – Matthew 16:27

The phrase “Son of Man” as it is used in these words of Christ refer to “one who will come to make things right”.  The “Son of Man” is the One anointed by God to bring about true justice.

Too often we confuse the gift of salvation through faith and not through the keeping of the Law with the broader sense of the justice of God.  Here and other places in the New Testament, we see that God will reward each person according to what they done.  God will bring all matters good and bad to justice, bringing all matters into the just peace.  Just because you are saved by God’s Grace and Mercy does not mean that you are free to do unjust things.  No, we are still accountable for God in the “Justice Christianus” still must make all things right.

Christ came to make all things right, or at least, to set the course for making all things right.  He fine-tuned the moral nature desired by God to include motivations in the heart and the qualities of the Spirit.  He reformed our limited understanding of morality and ethics so that they reached beyond and above the mere codification of God’s wishes and ways.  He renewed the moral possibility for humankind by empowering humankind with the very Presence of God within human form.

It matters what we do, not to seek God’s Love, but to live out God’s Love in our human experience.  It matters what we do … and in the “Justice Christianus”, we will be held accountable by a moral and merciful God.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

THE TWENTIETH DAY OF LENT

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept mocking Jesus and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked the other criminal, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” – Luke 23:39-43

Luke, differing from the other Gospel accounts of the crucifixion, speaks of the penitent thief.  I find it serves the purpose of teaching of a Higher Justice that supersedes a lower form of justice.  While the lower form of justice  ends in punishment, the Higher form of Justice ends in restoration.  It is fair that a convicted thief receives the same destiny as Christ?  By certain worldly standards, this seems unfair; but by the standards of the “Justice Christianus”, it is the wish and the way of the Lord.  Jesus forgives the penitent thief.  And by the intentional use of the word “paradise”, a word rarely used except in reference to the Garden of Eden.  Christ restores the thief to a state of innocence.  As contrary as it seems to our mortal sensibilities, Christ lifts him out of the realm of guilt and returns him to the realm of innocence.

It is an emphasis of Luke the writer … this transforming of the guilty into the innocent.  It is how Luke refers to Paul … a once zealous persecutor of the church transformed into a pastor of the church.

This is a lesson we in Christ need to take to heart.  When we forgive as the Lord has commanded to forgive, we are not to hold as the forgiven in a state of suspended guilt, but rather to restore them to a state of innocence, allowing them to begin again as if in Eden.  “Behold, I make all things new!”  I believe this proclamation might be inscribed on the wall of the Lord’s Heavenly Court of Justice.  Yes, indeed, “Behold, I make all things new!”

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

NINETEENTH DAY OF LENT

Then Jesus said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” – Matthew 23:23,24

Priorities, proper priorities, the same priorities that are held by the Good Lord, these too are a part of the “Justice Christianus“.  Injustice can be found in the priorities of a person, an institution, a community, a nation, a world, when those priorities are not arranged in accordance with the Love of God.

And what are these Divine priorities?  According to Christ, justice, mercy, and faithfulness.  These are the first things before all other things.  Or to paraphrase Jesus from another teaching moment …“Seek ye first the ways of the New Realm of God and THEN all other things that you do actually need will come in their time.”

In the “Justice Christianus“, the Divine Providence comes not for the sake of one or even the more faithful … but to all.  In the “Justice Christianus“, the Divine Mercy is bestowed not for the sake of one person, but for all persons, a healing of not merely an individual but of all who are in need.  In the “Justice Christianus”, the Divine Grace does not fall only upon my barley field, but the barley fields of all.

The Higher Priorities are the fulfillment of God’s Love, the care of God’s children, the administration of fair justice, a justice tempered with mercy, the tending to God’s Creation out of a reverent expression of thankfulness,  reconciling people with other people and all people with God.  These Higher Priorities are for the sake of what is called God’s Peaceable Kingdom.

But alas, we emphasize the lesser things to the detriment of the greater things.  Gaining worldly power, gaining worldly fame, gaining worldly wealth, these are not the priorities of the Christ and His vision of the New Realm.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

EIGHTEENTH DAY OF LENT

The members of the synagogue rose up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl Him off the cliff. But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went on His way. – Luke 4:29-30

The churchgoers raged against a rabbi and His claims.  They chased Him out of the church and then out-of-town, and then those raging sought to kill Him.  Why?  Because He interpreted the scriptures in a way that challenged their long-held traditional understanding.

Yes, the church folks raged and tried to be rid of Him, but instead of debating, instead of defending Himself, He chose to merely pass through the angry mob.

In the “Justice Christianus” not all battles are Armageddon.  In the “Justice Christianus” prophets, resisters, and pioneers often experience unjust treatment by those who fail or are unwilling to understand.  In the “Justice Christianus” wars that need not be are declined.

I suppose Jesus could have called down angels with swords.  I suppose Jesus could have called for fire from heaven to punish their justice.  But once more, Jesus merely passed through the angry crowd … understanding that they knew not what they do.

A tragic recurrence in the Church history has been casting out of those who dared to bring a further understanding of the scriptures.  This “holy” rage sometimes led to the unbelievable horror of burning at the stake those declared heretical by the traditionalists.  This was true, especially when the orthodoxy was empowered by the state.  I would like to say this was a one-time aberration, but alas, it occurred over and over.  Oh, today, the burning at the stake has been replaced by more sophisticated ways of ridding the world of these who bring a prophetic voice, but the rage in the crowd is still there.

But in the “Justice Christianus” holy wars are not an option.  Merely passing through the rage crowd is often the course; enduring a cross is often the course; even to the point of martyrdom, physically or emotionally, is sometimes the injustice that must be endured.

In an irony found in the ways of the Lord, justice is ultimately reached by the just passing through the injustice.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

SEVENTEENTH DAY OF LENT

“Then the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and about His teaching. Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.” When He had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.” – John 18:19-24

In this encounter between Jesus and the High Priest the key is the question Christ asks …”Why do you strike me?”  Was it for reason of justice?  No, it was for the reason of the arrogance of power.  And is so often the case … the arrogance of power turns the seat of justice into injustice.

Within the “Justice Christianus” there is the power of the Truth, but the truth is not determined by the power.  The truth reveals; the truth informs; the truth discerns; the truth settles the case.   But in this trial before supposedly fair-minded, justice-seeking, holy men … justice is set aside for the sake of pride, arrogance and power.

In the perpetual war of opinions, it is only the Truth that brings about the just peace.  Entrenched opinions lead only to the stalemate of trench warfare, but the discernment of the Truth that is beyond the limits of mere opinion leads to Peace.  But this discernment of the Truth requires the humility that does not come naturally to the proud.

Eventually Pilate would sadly confess to Christ … “What is Truth, Jesus of Nazareth?  What does Truth have to do with this court of political power?”

Loved Ones, we are not people who enter into wars of opinion, but rather we are humble seekers of the Truth which so often seems beyond us.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz