Day 29 – Fairness Vs. Justice
Cantonese
Mandarin
English
"Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf. "
He couldn't help but put under the microscope the difference between the father's treatment of him and his brother.
So, he tended to remember every detail of the incident and the events that followed. He kept a perfect record of every word spoken. He tried to analyse the case to his favour, oftentimes through laying blames on others by finding faults in them, in their words and their actions.
We tend to mix up fairness with justice. "Fairness" is subjective and relative by nature. We often take sides when we talk about fairness. It is rarely presented fairly and objectively. Fairness to one side is oftentimes unfairness to the other. What is "fairness" then if it is biased? On the other hand, justice should be perceived and exercised objectively. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the virtue of justice this way:
Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbour (CCC 1807). What is due to our neighbours depends on what are rightfully theirs, which ties to their needs or interests. Without this concept we tend to protect our own interests instead. Justice, when perceived and exercised in this light, should detach us from judging others. It should elevate us to look beyond. It should liberate us from all sorts of bondages and chains manifested in the elder son. It should enable us to see from the father’s and the giver’s perspective.
Besides, graces and gifts are freely given to us by God unconditionally. They are not earned. It is not transactional in nature. As such, those gifts and graces are to be freely received by us.
In the spirit of "freely receiving those gifts", we should not fixate our eyes on the reasoning behind the giver's choices which we are unable to comprehend and we do not have the right to cast any doubts.
REFLECTION
Do you find yourself enslaved by unforgiveness which you are unable to break away from?
Would you like your Heavenly Father to set you free from the prison of unforgiveness?
TODAY'S PRAYER
I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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親愛的阿爸父：當我越體味到祢恩典的玄妙，越來越感到自己的有限，一切都是祢的恩賜，我一無所有。
主啊！是祢的明燈照亮了我。求祢給我再做一顆純潔的心，求祢使我心重獲堅固的精神。求祢不要從祢的面前把我拋
棄，不要從我身上將祢的聖神收回。（聖詠 51:12-13）
親愛的阿爸父, 我現在更明白祢的行徑遠超我們的行徑。求祢使我不要自我中心，多擁抱和同理他人，寬恕得罪我的人，跳出傷痛的制肘。請祢不要拋棄我，再做我一個純潔的心, 使我重獲堅固的精神，不要在我身上將祢的聖神收回。亞孟。詠51：12-13
但天主是不會收回聖神的，是嗎？
Whenever I am about to hold grudges against others, ‘forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us’ in the Lord’s prayer will pop up in my mind. Oh, Lord, please help me to be more forgiving to the people around me !
我親愛的阿爸父：
多謝你及時喚醒了我，我在今天之前也像大兒子一樣，做了不該做的事，想了不該想的事，說了不該説的話，但這一刻你使我醒，感謝主，讚美主。
主祐
「履行正義，愛好慈善。」(米6:8)曾幾何時，這句話在香港的社會上，是不少人掛在口邊的一句「口頭禪」。是的，為很多人來說，口中所說的公義，似乎是放諸四海皆準，總是認為，為着持守公義，卻妄顧了他人應有的權利和尊嚴，甚至用更甚的行徑，強加在他人身上，然後不諱言地，他是主持公義！
說回這福音故事，大兒子的態度和言詞，明顯是指斥弟弟的惡行，父親的妄為，為的只是要明確地取回他認為應有的一份。無他的，因為他要取回自己應得的，父親卻沒有任何具體清晰的行動作回應，心中的不憤和要求，為不少人而言，這是理所當然的。可是，從另一角度來看，大兒子對自己最親弟弟抱着這種極端的表態，這真的叫「公義」嗎？
說到這點，筆者的內疚感亦隨之而發。回想昔日因父親對所自己的，至令心中長時間抱有怨恨，是否對一直愛自己的父母，又是公義嗎？今天已為人父，當子女以此態度對待自己時，內心又有怎麼樣的感受呢？
上主，請求祢抹去我心中的怒氣和怨恨，並幫助我明白父愛的真正意義！
转发第29天心得：
只有天主能给到真正的公义，没有别人，因为只有祂全然知晓一个人身心灵完整的状态，而我们看到的都是片面的，自然没有资格做判官。谁知道大儿子在地里干活辛劳的时候，小儿子没有在猪圈找动物吃剩的豆荚；谁又知道佣工在葡萄园安心工作的时候，失业者没有在烈日下焦急等待着生存的口粮？因为我不是他，我不知道也许他肉体享乐，精神却承受极大的煎熬，或者连基本的温饱都没有。当抱怨不公的时候，请把视角放大一些，看看那些流民难民贫民，那些边缘人，和心灵承受痛苦者。那时，天主圣三也曾这样俯视寰宇，看到了世界的疾苦，听到了百姓的哀号。祂以下降的方式，空虚了自己，托起了整个世界。而我也要学习以祂的眼光看待并关爱祂拯救的世界！
當心裡覺得不公平的時候，就會「忿忿不平」，於是內心就失去平安。
若是覺得不公平越嚴重，內心的不平安就越大。
但是這樣不但不能解決問題，而且也傷害到自己的身心。毫無益處！
我們如何才能得到內心的平安呢？
「你們應該尋求天主的國和祂的義德，其他的一切自會加給你們」
今後我不再用「公平」去看事情，只追求天主的國和祂的義德，這樣才能每晚帶著天主的平安，安然入睡。
全能永生的天主，我完全相信祢有公平的計劃恩賜。??♂️
世人常常只看到眼前的事物發生，我們能夠看到一小段的故事。有些事情我們覺得它的發生，對某人或某個團體不公道，他們的受壓迫，受當權者的欺詐，剝削。
我們便想替他們伸張正義。對於那些天災人禍，火山爆發，地震，海嘯，颱風等天災，傷亡巨大，死傷無數。人為的戰亂，大國無理的入侵小國，樓宇被炸毀，數以百萬平民，喪失家園。覺得天主對事是否公平？為何可以讓它發生？天理去了那裡。以上的種種事件，是否對我們的天主失去信心？以前我是會問，天主是否睡著了？
但是當我讀到了一個比喻，我便明白了：我們好像站在一張很大的圖畫的一個很小的角落，我們只看到這幅畫的很小部分！我們看不到天主畫的全部畫面，比瞎子摸象，所摸到的還要小！天主是超越時空的，我們在世，只是數十萬光年其中的千份一秒。我們又怎樣能夠知道天主的計劃？這幅畫的全部呢？因為不幸發生之後，必會帶給人們的反省，從歷史發生的事中，後人便能夠學習，所謂前車可鑑。從災難中，可以發明新的科技，去預告天災，發明測量儀器或者用科技克服它。如：把帶給人類災難的核彈，改變做核能發電，核磁共振的醫療儀器等等。但是人類要很小心，切勿覺得我們的科技可以戰勝天主，便開始遠離天主！宇宙之大，人的智慧是非常有限，千萬不能想歪了。其實我們越知得多，越知道我們所知的實在太少！我們要信賴天主，祂給我們是最好計劃，最適合每個人的。祂是一個公議，仁愛的天主。亞孟。
I have a tendency to keep a perfect record of how others have offended me. Last Sunday Bulletin, our pastor taught us to forgive by looking at the Jesus in the Crucifix. He forgives those who crucified Him.