Justice?

We all know what a hypocrite is, and why a known hypocrite is at best ignored, but more often despised; and in the final analysis, ineffective; perhaps even irrelevant.

The characteristic of a hypocrite is that they are quick to tell others how to live, but do not live in accord with what they would impose on others. I personally take umbrage at the man in the motorcade of limos who jets around the world to tell me I should walk instead of drive, or risk destroying the planet. This sort of thing never changes; Jesus pointed the finger at those who “lay heavy burdens, but won’t lift a finger to help.”

But let us leave the material domain for a moment and examine the moral domain; as the Holy Father did when addressing the United Nations. This venue provides an international forum for examination of issues which relate to justice, issues that have ramifications from the international halls to the walls of the womb. There is a thirst for justice, and a thirst for power. Sometimes these things are difficult to separate; but it helps to recall that justice is to “render a due good;” and that justice has a component due to God and to our neighbor.

But it is easy to point fingers, and since to “he who is with out sin” is granted the right to “cast the first stone,” perhaps a bit of examination of conscience is in order. And speaking of order, I particularly do this in the context of the Order to which I have vowed. This Order, since it’s creation, has held uniquely the charism of Preaching; the task of bringing the Good News to those who do not know it or have abandoned it. This charism has been exercised in many and varied ways since 1216, and now, 800 years into the task, in the light of the Vatican Council’s instruction to return to the charism of the founder, I look, and frankly, in many instances, have a hard time seeing the founding charism at work in the modern world. But I was not going to throw stones, so let me just put the question: In terms of justice, what is the “due good” to the world and to souls, from the Order of Preachers, and is it being offered? Are we busy in the political arena, telling the world that the world must do this and that, all the while ignoring fundamentals of natural law, not to mention the complete abandonment of “preaching Jesus Christ, and him crucified?” There seems to be a belief within many that belief has no place again, that hope is in temporal and passing goods, rather than in the eternal. Going back to how I opened this meditation, have we become that which is named, demanding justice of others, while demonstrably withholding that which justice demands of us? Irrelevant, indeed, is the voice of a preacher lost in the sea of voices promoting every passing fancy of doctrines invented by men.

It wasn’t always like this, and for a moment I’d like to call attention to a soul who, although not a member of the Order, was influenced by the Order, and as a result of her interior life of faith, brought about the conversion of her atheist husband who, after her death, became Fr. Felix Leseur O.P. Elisabeth Leseur passed away this day, May 3, 1914. She understood how the Justice of God works, and here are a few of her thoughts which I have gleaned from the first few pages of her book, The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur (posthumously published by Fr. Leseur).

“Every soul that uplifts itself uplifts the world.”


March 28, 1900

The only good moments are those given to God, to the poor, and to work. I am going to give myself to these with more ardor than ever. In certain ways my ideas have changed: I believe much more in individual effort, and in the good that may be done by addressing oneselfnot tothe masses but to particular souls. The effect one can exert is therefore much deeper and more durable. Did not He who remains the Eternal Model in all spiritual thigns do the same? And it did not hinder Him from transforming the world. Following Him, let us turn with tenderness to every person, however poor or sinful, and let us endeavor to be "all things to all men." (1 Cor 9:22) Let us think less of humanity and more of men; or rather let us remember that humanity is only made of human beings and that each one of them bneeds the light and strength that God gives, and it belongs to us to spread this light as far as we can. What a mission for weak and sinful creatures such as we!

Nov 28, 1900
Reflected a good deal on social questions, which even the most humble of us might help to solve. Social questions are essentially the questions of Christianity, since they are concerned wit hthe place of each man in the world and his material, intellectual, and moral improvement. These questions, which will last as long as the world, can advance only through Christianity; that is my absolute conviction. Christianity alone addresses itself to the individual, to that which is most intimate in him; it alone penetrates to the depths of being, and is able to renew it.

It is the duty of every Christian to interest himself in the crisis through which the people are passing, one which perhaps will change them profoundly. For new needs there should arise new apostles. The people - the masses that form the majority of the country, those workment, peasants, and humbel laboreres of every kind - need to be shown the True Source of all liberty, justice, and real transformation. If we do not make God known to them we shall have failed in the most important and pressing duty of all. But this is a work that demands a forgetfulness of self, a disinterestedness, a persevering will for which we need God and for which we must tranform ourselves absolutely.

A Marriage Saved in Heaven:

Elisabeth Leseur's
Life of Love



The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur: The Woman Whose Goodness Changed Her Husband from Atheist to Priest