Once I was reflecting on my childhood and the thought came to me that our family was poor. However, upon further reflection I realized that we always had food on the table. There were hard times when that food could be squirrel, rabbit, or even ground hog. But I never remember going days without any food in the house. What would we have done if there was no food available? This is the situation behind our first reading from the prophet Joel. Tragedy has struck Israel. Locusts have devoured everything. There is no wine or oil – the vines have been stripped. The fig trees are bare. The wheat and barley fields are ruined. The pomegranate, date, and apple trees are dried up. There is nothing to eat for anyone. Joel’s word of hope? It’s going to get worse! What can we do? Joel calls the people to reach out to God, starting with the priests; weep, wail, spend the night in sackcloth, fast, and cry out to the Lord. My family is going through a tough time right now but not anything like those ancients. Yet, I find Joel’s advice to be timely. Tough times have always drawn me closer to God. Unlike some in this world, our family still has food. How can I complain about our itty-bitty trials?

The psalmist says that The Lord will judge the world with justice. But what is justice? There is a nice article on justice that can be found at http://www.godgossip.org/article/thomas-aquinas-on-justice. It considers what the ancients thought about it, especially Plato and Aristotle, but then also looks at what St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Ignatius of Loyola said about it. Essentially justice is giving to the other what is due. What is due to nations that practice wickedness? Destruction. What is due to the people I live among? Respect, love, and doing what I can to support them. Humans are made in the image of God, so to follow that God and trust in him, I practice justice. It’s easy to think of justice in legal and punitive terms but it’s really more about how I treat others. Of course, to love others and practice justice, suffering is required. Not everyone wants to give to others what is due to them.

Finally, the Gospel reading speaks of Jesus as the strong man who attacks, overcomes, and then takes away Satan’s armor and distributes the spoils. Satan wants anything but justice for those under his sway. So, what must I do to practice justice? It begins with my life being swept clean and put in order. However, it cannot end there. I must put something into my life (house) or the evil one will return. I need to learn the virtues; I need to allow the Holy Spirit to produce fruit such as love, joy, peace, etc. If I just get rid of the bad and do not replace it with the good, the unclean spirit comes back with seven other spirits more wicked than itself.

Jesus has overcome the kingdom of Satan. However, trials will always come. So, what are we to do? Through the power of the strong man, we can sweep our lives clean and then fill it with the virtues. We can practice justice. When we do this, Jesus says, we do it to him.