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From the Editor |
Are our motives always just when seeking justice? |
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By Goyo López Are you truly being righteous or are you being vindictive and revengeful?,” I quizzed my close friend recently. While on his normal morning routine of dropping-off his kids at school, he happened to encounter a former workmate doing the same. Only there was a slight difference. This person dropped off the kids at their respective high schools using a government owned vehicle. In broad daylight, and in direct violation of policy, this person utilized a public vehicle for private use. And it happened on practically a daily basis my friend noticed. “I’m going to call the Customer Service division and report this flagrant abuse of taxpayer property,” he said. The blood was boiling and the rationalization began. Was he doing the right thing because of the obvious policy violation? Private use of a taxpayer-funded vehicle with taxpayer-funded gasoline.Open and shut case! Right? So I asked my friend – in a less eloquent way than I’m writing now if he was truly filing a report because he felt a moral obligation to commit this act of righteousness. Did he truly hunger and thirst for justice? Or, was he merely masking his true feelings with this noble beatitude? Hmm. The more we dwelled on the situation, the more his true feelings came to light. You see, he maintains a strong disdain for his former colleague. Cats and dogs, oil and water – you know that type of relationship. In one of His mysterious ways, Jesus spoke to my good buddy. As the conversation progressed, so did my friend’s ability to look introspectively and recognize his shortcoming as a good Catholic. We’re all flawed to a degree, and on this particular morning he felt good recognizing two of these flaws. The first un-beatitude-like feeling was that of his continued animosity for this individual. The second was that the ensuing complaint would not have been driven by a hunger and thirst for righteousness and justice, but instead by a vindictive impulse. Everyday, we all rationalize or justify our actions, or lack of, with notable excuses. Even though we all struggle on a daily basis to become better human beings, devoid of vices, it is not easy. No one ever said it would be easy to walk in a Christ-like fashion. Although difficult, we must exert every effort to live life on earth with the beatitudes as a measure of standard. We must look inward and honestly, as well as analytically – questioning our desires, motivations, actions, thoughts and inactions – to verify they are in accordance with Christ’s compendium. My friend did this that day, and everyday thereafter, despite witnessing a continued violation. He never submitted a complaint because he knew deep in his heart it would’ve been for the wrong reason. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that the beatitudes invite us to purify our hearts of bad instincts and to seek the love of God above all else. Notch one for the good guys. – Gregorio “Goyo” Lopez is editor of La Fe, the magazine of the Diocese of Laredo |
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| Vatican Splendor |
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Tour the Texas sized exhibit in Houston. |
| From the Bishop |
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| From the Editor |
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Are our motives always just when seeking justice? |
| Cal and Irma: |
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They are the children of immigrants; now they work to include thr excluded. |
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Diocese of Laredo |
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