In my previous column, I wrote how St. Thomas views prudence as the queen of virtues, orchestrating the other cardinal virtues (justice, fortitude and temperance). For one to be prudent, he or she must properly exercise the other cardinal virtues. In this column, I will address justice.
St. Thomas in his Summa Theologiae devotes 66 questions to justice compared to 16 for faith, six for hope and 24 for charity. In justice, St. Thomas includes teachings on political and legal matters.
St. Thomas approaches justice through what he believes about the human person, who is by nature a social and political “animal.” This means a person is part of some natural society, such as a family, or some created society, such as a union or political party. Another participatory society is the one created by God, which is the Church. The person is always a part, living in relation to another.
Justice as defined by St. Thomas (and the Catechism of the Catholic Church ) is the virtue that consists of a constant and firm will to give God and neighbor their due. Where fortitude and temperance guide and perfect one’s action in relation to oneself, justice guides and perfects one’s actions in relation to others. Justice establishes right relations with others.
What is “due?” Due is that to which someone has a legitimate right or claim. Some claims are established by nature, such as right to life. Other claims are established by law, such as right to vote.
Note that it is an act of the will. It is the concrete rendering to the other his due. The just one doesn’t always have to agree with what the law rightly establishes as just. He simply must do it.
According to St. Thomas, there are three expressions of justice. First, there is general or legal justice. This is an individual’s rendering to what is owed to the political community. Next, there is distributive justice, which is the political community rendering what it owes to the individual. Finally, there is commutative justice, or an individual’s rendering what is owed to another individual. Note there is goodness and wholeness in each of these expressions.
Failures or “sins” against justice also (usually) garner wide and loud attention. For most of us, though, we will sin against justice and likely not even realize it. Sins against distributive justice, for example, include disrespect of persons by an authority distributing some communal good to individuals, not according to right but some other “personal” criteria.
Sins against commutative justice in action (deed) are probably the most commonly identifiable. These can include murder and theft. Examples through speech, which we might not consider as sins, include reviling, backbiting, gossip, derision and cursing.
Whatever its type, every sin against justice requires that restitution be made to the one injured with compensation also required in cases where strict restitution cannot be paid or fails to restore what has been unjustly taken. This is why a good, proper examination of conscience is necessary before partaking of the sacrament of penance.
Where is God in this? Just as the gift of counsel through the Holy Spirt elevates and perfects prudence, the gift of piety elevates and perfects justice. It is a Spirit-taught reverence for God. It includes for the Christian to offer easily and joyfully the worship and obedience due to the Father.
St. Thomas notes that this piety perfects the whole of justice, for the one ordered justly toward God is then oriented properly to his or her neighbor.
St. Thomas also says that justice when perfected by piety manifests itself in the meekness spoken of by Christ in the Beatitudes. He says, “The Spirit renders a man meek by removing from him all possible obstacles to justice and piety. The meek one remains ever ready to act in the pursuit of justice. Meekness is the mark of a man who has been justified by God.”
Reconciling justice and mercy, St. Thomas writes, “God acts mercifully not … by going against His justice but by doing something more than justice. … (For example,) the case with one who pardons an offence committed against him, for in remitting it he may be said to bestow a gift. Hence the Apostle calls remission a forgiving: Forgive one another, as Christ has forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32). Hence it is clear that mercy does not destroy justice but in a sense is the fullness thereof. And thus it is said: Mercy exalteth itself above judgment (James 2:13).”