Pope John Paul II (the Great).
A Rosary Meditation … The Third Sorrowful Mystery, the Crowning with Thorns. “Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.” Pope John Paul II. The crowning of Jesus was meant to accomplish a certain thing. Some think that Pilate, in seeing Christ robed in purple and crowned with thorns, thought that by showing Him to the angry mob he would be able to placate them with this, His sorrowful condition, and so be able to save Him. If this is true, and there are other views, but IF this is true then it was social justice that Pilate sought for Jesus, albeit in a perverse way. Justice via violence. Isn’t social justice, for the masses or the individual, often pursued in a similar way today? Demonstrators the world over work for the common good by hurling rocks and bottles while others respond with tear gas and tanks. Buts it’s all for a good cause, isn’t it? In the name of “human rights” and the “freedom” of the individual to make their own choices we crown unborn babies, don’t we? And for those same reasons we allow the mentally ill to live on the streets, don’t we? After all, it’s easier than orphanages or mental hospitals, isn’t it? Cheaper too, by worldly standards. Everyone has an opinion and the right to theirs (it’s called “free will”), and this opinion may be wrong, but if its real social justice that we want in life shouldn’t it be sought from the Giver of Life and not Pilate or the angry crowd? Didn’t they kill True Freedom, which is what they thought to create, 2,000 years ago by seeking freedom in the wrong way and in the wrong place? And in our daily living THIS day we will show the world what? A better way? Or a new crown of thorns parading as freedom and justice?
Today …
Macrina the Younger was the granddaughter of Macrina the Elder and sister of St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Peter of Sebastea. She was well-educated, especially in scripture. She was engaged to be married when she was twelve, but when her fiance died, she decided to dedicate her life to God. On the death of her father, she and her mother retired to the family estate in Pontus and lived a life of prayer and contemplation in a community they formed there. Macrina became head of the group when her mother died and lived in Pontus until her death.
Consider … In reference to social justice and, come to think of it, life in general, there is this from Pope John Paul II to remember: ” Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn’t misuse it.” 😉
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