Isaiah 55:10-11 / Matthew 6:7-15
Very often, it seems to us that the forces of evil are victorious and even overwhelming.
Men of violence assert their power and might over innocent people and even kill them.
It seems that justice is slow in coming, if ever at all.
The movie industry will take advantage of this fact by churning out all those kind of "pay-back" movies.
Justice is done only in reaching out for the gun. But it is only confined to the dream-world of the movies.
So where is justice? Is there any justice?
Yet, we know that there is justice. At least, we will remember Jesus saying this: He who draws the sword will also die by the sword.
However, Jesus also did say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.
Those are profound words of truth, profound words of life, words which, as the 1st reading puts it, does not return to the Lord empty without carrying out His will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.
We can only understand what justice is when we know what the truth is about.
In the gospel, Jesus taught us a prayer. It is a prayer of truth.
It is a prayer for justice. When we pray the Lord's prayer, we are also praying that the truth of God will bear fruits of love in our lives so that we will work for justice in the world.
Truth goes before justice. Because there can never be justice without truth.