ACTS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
When people witness suffering, their first reaction, if they are the least bit sensitive, is to try to relieve it as soon as possible. This reaction is understandable, and we must always remember and encourage such a response. This type of response justifies the importance of charity, acts of mercy, and all sorts of relief and development agencies. But acts of mercy and emotional responses to suffering must never blind or restrain our concern for justice. Oscar Romero once said, “When I feed the poor I am called a saint, but when I ask why the poor are poor, I am called a communist.” The task of justice and peace begins when the questions of why are asked. Works of mercy deal with symptoms, and aid can, potentially, be an obstacle to the development of a just society… If Moses, for example, had only built a first-aid station to assist the Jewish slaves in Egypt, then there would have been…
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