Is. 1:17 tells us: “Learn to do good; Seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, obtain justice for the orphan, plead for the widow’s case.” Old Testament readings tend to focus on the oppressed people of the time, widows, orphans, and the strangers in their land.

  This is not the only place in Scripture that we are called to act for justice. You may recall a song often sung at Mass, Let Justice Roll Like a River, based on Amos 5:24. Amos is calling us to let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! He sees the sin of the people, and he is sent by God to warn them to turn away from sin lest they be judged. He calls them to let justice roll—the land should be flooded with justice. As it is, the land is thirsty for justice. It is apparent what sins the people were committing in Amos’s day. One of their sins of injustice was taxing the poor unfairly. The court system was unjust because judges and witnesses were taking bribes. The innocent and the poor were being oppressed by the corrupt justice system. 

“Let justice roll on like a river,” God said, but they were damming up the river and creating a desert of injustice. Yet, these same corrupt people who oppressed the poor and innocent proudly entered the temple to give sacrifices to the Lord and to celebrate His holy festivals. The unrighteous people came to worship God with corruption in their hearts and on their hands. God sees their sin and evil hearts. God hates that they oppress the poor and have ignored God’s laws about treating them fairly and generously. God rejects their sacrifices because those offering them are unrepentant.

Jesus also followed this Old Testament teaching. To some who thought they were righteous and regarded others with contempt, Jesus told this parable in Luke, "Two men went to the temple to pray: one a Pharisee and the other a Tax Collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself was praying thusly: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men: thieves, rogues, adulterers — or this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I give you a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off; would not even look up to heaven as he prayed, rather he beat his breast in sorrow saying, 'God, be merciful to me; a sinner.' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other, for all who exalts himself will be humbled, and for all who humbles himself will be exalted."

Who is the widow, the orphan in our time? We still have widows, although they are not in such dire straits as the widow in Old Testament times when, once the father, the head of the family, was gone, widows had no source of income. Today, most widows have worked and may have retirement income, and these widows have paid into Social Security, so they have an income to support themselves and their children. This doesn’t mean that all widows and orphans are in a good situation. Many wives and children have spent their life savings taking care of the husband and father if he had a chronic illness. And there are single women with children, widowed or never married, that might need caring for as well. As Jesus taught us in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, we are not to judge but are to seek justice for all.

Today, we must seek justice for all, including the many marginalized in our world—the immigrants, the disabled, the LGBTQ community, the poor, and many more who are disenfranchised. If you are Roman Catholic, study Catholic Social Teaching to see who you can help! And even if you are not Catholic, this teaching is a good guide for all people.

This blog is, in part, taken from my book, I Thirst