Till Christ Be Formed in Every Heart
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FOR PROPHETS AND APOSTLES

Posts tagged justice
Day Four: Joy of Compassion

Introduction to the Joy of Compassion

The next two Beatitudes are built upon the previous three. In humility, repentance, and meekness, the Christian is being cultivated to serve and love his neighbor. The Commandments might have outlined in a negative way the bear minimum of what justice demands, but the radical love of Jesus Christ pushes us further still.

The love of Jesus Christ moves us to compassion as it moved Him to the compassion of the cross and resurrection. Compassion is another interesting word that comes to us from the Latin. Cum means with, and passio, means to suffer. To experience compassion for someone else is not to feel sorry for their pain, but to suffer with them.

These two Beatitudes- hunger and thirst for justice, and being merciful- are not contradictory. Justice and mercy are not at odds with each other, but in the Person and example of Jesus Christ, they form the Joy of Compassion.

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Blessed are the peacemakers...

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9

It is hard to talk openly about war being just or unjust while your own country happens to be in the middle of one (or two, or five). But, hey, if Christianity were easy, everyone would be doing it.

War is a tricky thing because, though most of the humanity’s dark history is filled with unjust and evil wars, every single one of those wars had people cheering them on, justifying them with all sorts of clever rationalizations and emotionally charged propaganda.

That means we Catholics need to be on our A game when it comes to this whole “Just War” idea, so that we are not caught on the wrong side of God’s desire for peace and thirst for justice.

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