Scale of Justice

Deacon Ed:

 Thank you for your fine contribution on the murals on the inside wall of our church.  You said that the scale of justice tilts towards the cross.  I have never heard that before and it seems to me to an ideal pregnant with meaning.  What does it mean? 

Hi Obi

I would like to have the words of St. Thomas More himself on this, but I don't. As I understand it, it represents Thomas More's vision of justice tempered with God's mercy. He was a lawyer, but he emphatically regarded his service to his country within the context of his service to God and the Catholic Church. This, of course, cost him his head but gained him sainthood.

It is truly pregnant with the ideal of life-giving justice. This is the whole area of "social justice" in church teaching. We can peel the onion many, many times as we reflect on the implications of mercy and justice as taught by the Church. It is extremely practical and, for some, very challenging. I should probably say, for ALL, very challenging. The gospel challenges us all. Some persons and/or religious groups are more challenged than others. The whole issue of immigration in this country is awash with questions to which Thomas More's spirituality could speak volumes, if only we, as a nation, would read them.

Pax, Ed