Oblates of St. Francis de Sales

New DeSales World Newsletter - Summer Edition

20th Sunday Ordinary Time (August 14, 2005)

Suggested Emphasis

"Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed."

Salesian Perspective

Our God can be described in many ways: a God of love; a God of life; a God of salvation; a God of reconciliation; a God of peace.

And as today's reading from the prophet Isaiah reminds us, our God is also a God of justice. This means that God is just, that God is fair. God is morally righteous. God is reasoned, reasonable and truthful.

God gives people their due.

We are made in the image and likeness of God. To that end, like God, we, too, are called to be people of justice, to give others their due.

Insofar as God calls us to live justly, one of our greatest temptations is to act in an unjust manner, that is, to live with "two hearts." In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote: "In general we prefer the rich to the poor…we even prefer those who are better dressed. We rigorously demand our own rights, but want others to be considerate in insisting on theirs. We complain easily about our neighbors, but we would expect them to never complain about us. What we do for others always seems so very great, but what others do for us seems like nothing at all. In short, we have two hearts. We have a mild, gracious and courteous attitude toward ourselves but an entirely different demeanor that is hard, severe and unyielding toward others." (Part III, Chapter 36)

Francis de Sales challenged us to "be just and equitable in all your actions. Always put yourself in your neighbors' place and them in yours, and then you will live justly. Imagine yourself the seller when you buy and the buyer when you sell and you will sell and buy justly……In the end, we lose nothing by living generously, nobly, courteously and with a royal, just and reasonable heart. Examine your heart frequently to see if it is disposed toward your neighbor as you want your neighbor's heart to be disposed toward you." (Ibid)

Justice, then, is not merely imitating some remote, unachievable attribute. Justice is not solely and issue of remedying social inequity. Justice is not limited to working for some noble, global purpose. Justice must be the hallmark of even the smallest, most mundane dimensions of the lives of all those who wish to follow Jesus, who wish to live a devout life. It is, in truth, about being more fully - and deeply - human.

To the extent that we treat others as we would want them to treat us in the small and ordinary exchanges of everyday life - fairly, reasonably, rightly - we reveal something of God's divine justice. What better way to give what is due to God by giving what is due to one another…and, in the process, to know the blessedness that comes with being single-hearted?

Rev. Michael S. Murray, OSFS is Executive Director of the De Sales Spirituality Center.