Episode 8: Justice

La Bonne Vie

Kyle and Deacon Conque talk about the virtue of justice. Join us as we pun our way through a deep dive in the role of justice in the fullness of Christian worship, community, and homes.

Show Notes and Outline of Topics

Quote from Pope St. John Paul the Great, Message for Celebration of World Day of Peace, 1 January 2002.
"True peace therefore is the fruit of justice, that moral virtue and legal guarantee which ensures full respect for rights and responsibilities, and the just distribution of benefits and burdens. But because human justice is always fragile and imperfect, subject as it is to the limitations and egoism of individuals and groups, it must include and, as it were, be completed by the forgiveness which heals and rebuilds troubled human relations from their foundations."

1. Hierarchy of theological and cardinal virtues

○ St. Thomas Aquinas’s approach to moral theology: vision of the human person
○ Josef Pieper, Christian Idea of Man
○ Justice as Answer to the Prudent Question

2. Justice Before God

○ The virtue of religion: justice applied to God justice in worship and the beauty of the mass
○ the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, enabling worship that is just and right
○ letting the source and summit ripple out into our homes
○ Justice and the Examine Prayer, Episode 1 of the Festina Lente Podcast
○ We owe God devotion: the devotional life of our home
○ virtue ethics: grace perfecting our nature
○ nature of worship: we become like the thing we worship

3. What is justice?

○ Living the truth with others
○ duty, obligation, and relationship with others
○ religion: re-ligare, binding again
○ right relationship and the boundaries for freedom with others
○ gift of self to the one thing needed
○ worship through a devoted and righteous life
○ justice and charity
○ motivation of charity leads to justice

4. Justice in the Home

○ the danger of justice without prudence: discipline that is prompt and consistent
○ justice is lived out for community and with community
○ hunger and thirst for righteousness propels us to seek justice in and through Christ
○ seeking justice with the Holy Spirit's Gift of Knowledge

5. Who is Owed What?
○ the starting point of justice in community
○ seeking justice as a Christian: self-sacrificial charity
○ the pursuit of justice is a blessing
○ justice and docility: Christ as the example
○ emotional life and the difficulty with justice: sin and narcissism
○ ordered social justice vs. modern "wokeism"
○ justice and the fourth commandment
○ grace to order our homes justly
○ demanding justice from our children is a two-fold blessing
○ An example: "Yes Sir, No Sir; Yes Ma'am, No Ma'am"

6. No Justice, No Peace

○ Pope St. John Paul the Great's view of the human person in light of mercy and forgiveness
○ mercy, forgiveness, and justice
○ hurt feelings can inspire or corrupt justice
○ beyond justice-benevolence: good will for all
La Bonne Vie is a podcast offering from John Paul the Great Academy dedicated to discussing the joys, triumphs, struggles, and issues with boldly living out our Catholic, classical mission in Acadiana through vibrant family lives.

Our theme music, "Vive La Bonne Vie," is by L'Angelus.