J Justice and Peace

CHRISTIAN VIRTUES
Lesson Objectives
Doctrine:
• Realize that is only in Christ’s
spirit of compassion and love
that our work for justice, love
and peace can be fully
achieved
Morals:
• Cling to their Christian faith
that moves them to act justly
and lovingly
Worship:
• Pray for God’s grace to help
them develop the Christian
moral values of justice and
peace.
• Picture Analysis

• How do we know if Peace has been violated?

• How do we understand peace?
 Peace is the
Tranquility
of Order."

St. Augustine
Galatians 5:22-23
 Christ’s Promise of Peace

John 14:22-27
 Christ’s Promise of Peace
“Anyone who loves Me will be true to My word,
And my Father will love him; we will come to Him
and make our dwelling place with Him. He who
does not love Me does not keep My word. Yet the
word you hear is not Mine; it comes from the Father
who sent Me. This much have I told you while I was
still with you; the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit whom the
Father will send in My name, will instruct you in
everything, and remind you of all that I told you.
Peace is my farewell to you,
My peace is My gift to you.
 God’s Gift of Peace
Among the fruits of the Holy Spirit, peace is one that we all
desire to have. Peace is the tranquility of the heart born out
of righteousness, security in the family, loving relationship
with one another, and harmony in our society.
 God’s Gift of Peace
Peace is the fruit of Jesus’ sacrifice for the whole humanity
which climaxed in His Paschal Mystery- His life, passion,
death and resurrection.(Christos anesti) (Christ is risen)
 God’s Gift of Peace
Work for peace is possible only with the grace of the Holy
Spirit, who inspires and empowers us to love one another. In
short, peace is both a gift from God and a task of all human
persons.
PCP II 310- The road to total liberation is not the way of
violence, group struggle, or hate; it is a way of love,
brotherhood and peaceful solidarity.
 Nonactive violence is making peace
and keeping peace through sisterly
and brotherly corrections out of
love and concern for one another
and for the whole community.

St. Paul reminds us: “Mend your

ways, encourage one another,
agree with one another, live in
peace, and the God of love and
peace will be with you.” 2 Cor 13:11
“Peace is not merely the absence of war;
nor can it be reduced solely to the
maintenance of a balance of power
between enemies; nor is it brought about
by dictatorship. Instead, it is rightly and
appropriately called an enterprise of
justice.”
Gaudium et Spes, Vatican II
Peace can only come about when we
learn to treat each other as brothers
and sisters and recognize our shared
vocation as children of God.
Peace is a fruit of
Justice.
“If you want peace,
work for
justice.”(Pope Paul VI)
 Jesus’ Teaching on Justice

Mt.22:15-22
 Jesus’ Teaching on Justice
Then the Pharisees went off and plotted how they
might entrap Him in speech. They sent their disciples
to Him, with the Herodian’s saying “Teacher, we
know that you are truthful man and that You teach
the way of God in accordance with the truth. And
You are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for
You do not regard a person’s status . Tell us, then,
what is Your opinion:Is it lawful to pay the census
tax to Caesar or not?”Knowing their malice ,Jesus
said,”Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?Show
Me the coin that pays the census tax.”Then they
handed Him the Roman coin. He said to them, Whose
image is this and whose inscription?” They
replied,Caesar’s.”At that He said to them,”Then
repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God
what belongs to God.” When they heard this, they
were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.
 Justice
• Is the constant and firm will
to give human persons their
due. It empowers all human
persons to respect the rights
that are inherent in every
human person(Natural law)
and stipulated by society
(Civil law)It removes the
obstacles to peace. It rewards
those who respect human
dignity and punishes those
who sabotage peace.
 The word “commutative comes
from the Latin word “commutare”
which means to exchange one
thing with another. It focuses on
the obligation of one person to
another because of a specific
Commutative relationship they establish by
Justice reason of agreements,
transactions or contracts.
Sometimes commutative justice is
called contractual justice because
it regulates the exchange of
goods and services that takes
place according to what is agreed
upon between parties.
 It governs the relationship
between society and its
members. This virtue
demands that society,
through its government
agencies and leaders, give to
Distributive the individual members what
Justice is rightfully theirs.
The government which has
charge over the people
should equitably distribute
benefits as well as burdens
to every citizen.
Parable of the Richman
The story of Lazarus and the rich man
and Lazarus
 In keeping the principle of
subsidiarity( it means that
the government must allow
smaller groups, like families
and small communities, to
take charge of their own
Contributive/ welfare, if they can as long as
Legal Justice their efforts are within the
bounds of law)The Church
encourages everyone to
participate in the economic,
political, and cultural life of
society. It is the duty of all
citizens to contribute to the
betterment of their country.
 This type of justice also has to
do with the relationship
between society and its
members, but includes,
institution, systems, and
structures of society . It is a
fact that not only individual
Social Justice human beings can be guilty of
injustice. There are social
structures that are unjust
(structural sins)/
It calls a concerted effort to
reform or create social
structures that will effectively
serve the common good.
 Prayer for Peace and
Forgiveness
We confess that in our lives we do not
Always choose the way of peace.
We spread gossip which fans the flame of
hatred.
We are ready to make any sacrifices when
Caesar demands – but few when God invites.
We worship the false god of security and
nationalism
We hold out our hand in friendship –
But keep a weapon in the other behind our
back.
We have divided your body of people
Into those we trust and those we do not.
Huge problems challenge us in the world –
But our greed, fear and selfishness prevent
us from uniting to solve them
Lord, we pray for your help,
Your forgiveness and your
Reconciling power in our lives.
We ask this in the name of the Prince of
Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/themes/peace/reflection/prayer-peace-forgiveness/