All of us have experienced injustices. Perhaps they occurred when we were children, on the job, at a party, with friends, with family, with strangers.
Injustices happen sometime to everyone. I recall that Our Lady of Medjugorje once said:
“There have always been injustices.”
Perhaps the injustice comes upon us because of jealousy, greed,
ignorance, misunderstanding, selfishness, revenge or just plain malice.
No one can live someone else’s life. We cannot control the meaness, real or unintended, of
others. But injustices do occur.
It was unjust for Joan of Arc to be judged a witch and burned at a
stake. It was unjust for the early Christians to be judged as subverters and fed to the lions or dragged
by horses to their death. It was unjust for Hitler to think the Jews an inferior race and exterminate as many
as he could. It is unjust for unborn babies to be denied life and aborted at any time of the mother’s
pregnancy. It was unjust that some of the very people that Jesus cured and ministered to clamored for His
death on Good Friday. It was unjust that He was caused any suffering at all, for He was a totally
innocent “Man.”
All of us are sinners. And at times of suffering we could say: “I guess I deserve this, for it is
better to make up for my sins here than in eternity.”
But it is very important to handle any injustice the way God would want us to handle it. And we
must look to the example of Our Lord for the answer.
First of all, we must ACCEPT any injustice with peace and love. Too difficult, you say? I must
confess that as I’ve gotten older, it is easier for me to accept the injustices of others. Why? I guess
because my level of expectation from others has gotten lower and my reliance on God, as the ONLY
ONE in Whom I can put my trust, has gotten higher. To some extent people will always dissapoint us,
but God is always 100% reliable.
Sometimes when people misjudge me or my actions, I walk away thinking: “I am no better and
no worse than what I am in God’s sight and what I am in God’s sight is what I am in truth.” So if the
shoe fits, wear it. If it doesn’t forget about it.
It’s not always easy to forget, however, but we must remember that God does not ask us to
forget. He does ask us to FORGIVE. That is the second point. Christians must know, as well, that
forgiveness is not in the feelings, it is in the will. If we WANT to forgive ... we do forgive ... no matter
what our feelings may “say” to us.
The third point is that we must PRAY for those who have treated us unjustly. Keep in mind that
usually people do bad things not because they THINK they are bad, but because they see a certain course
of action as GOOD. Satan never makes a bad thing look bad. He makes it look good. That’s why
people buy into it.
So courage, dear reader. All is not lost. What we have to suffer from others is permitted by God
for our sanctification. We must pray for the grace to react as true followers of Jesus. And if we fail, let’s
get up and try again.
God bless you!