– Te Rama Aroha The Light of Love Cross Themes –
Tika Justice
Tika Justice is the sacred principle that each person receives that which they deserve by right of their God-given human dignity. It is always understood in relationship to God, others, ourselves and all creation. It encompasses the generous aroha and mercy of God. Tika Justice is essential to our faith and requires us to act. God calls us to live justly and embrace a consistent ethic of life that recognises our interconnectedness and the sanctity of life. Tika Justice is the foundation for the Catholic Social Teaching core principles of Human Dignity, Common Good, Solidarity and Subsidiarity and seeks to transform the world we live in.
Tika Justice is modelled in Jesus and is shared through the wisdom of the Church’s Tradition(1).
(1). The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. (2006). Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Young people will develop an understanding of how God’s justice can protect and transform our world. They will learn how Tika Justice can help us engage in right relations with God, ourselves, others and all creation. They will develop an understanding of the importance of restorative justice, how it differs from retributive justice, and the consequences of choices and actions. We know tika by the fruit or outcomes it brings: peace, consolation and space for healing.
• Jeremiah 22:3 — The Lord says: Do justice and righteousness, rescue the disadvantaged, and don’t tolerate oppression or violence against the immigrant, the orphan and the widow.
• Psalm146:7-9 — The Lord God upholds justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry, the Lord sets the prisoners free, loves the righteous … but defeats the ways of the wicked.
• Micah 6:8 — He has showed you what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
• Luke 4:18-19 — The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
• Matt 25:34-36 — Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
• 1 John 3:17-18 — But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees someone in need, yet closes their heart against them, how does God’s love abide in them? Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.
• Proverbs 21:3 — To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
• Isaiah 61:8 — For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
• Matthew 12:18 — Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
• Psalm 89:14 — Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
• Amos 5:24 — But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
• “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” (St. Mother Teresa)
• Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, said regarding justice and common good, “I cannot ‘give’ what is mine to the other, without first giving them what pertains to them in justice.” We all have a valid claim to share in the goods of the earth, since these are a result of God’s gifts to us(2).
• Pope Francis has called for a “revolution of tenderness”: a love that comes close and real; a movement starting from the heart which flows to the eyes, ears, and hands. His insight is personal and practical. He challenges us to ‘get off the couch’. The oppressed, or those who are treated unfairly, are people before they are a ‘category’. He reminds us that “they are a real presence, a person of innate dignity”. They are as likely to be close by as far away. As Pope Francis reminds us, “the other has a face” and a name(3).
• Catholic Social Teaching Principles guide us how to live in just love: Human Dignity, Common Good, Subsidiarity, Solidarity, Participation, Preferential Care for the Poor, Distributive Justice, Promotion of Peace and Stewardship.
• Justice is not merely a simple human convention, because it is not first determined by the law but by the profound identity of the human being. (CSDC #202)(4)
• The Three Theological Virtues (which enable human beings to participate in the divine nature): Faith, Hope, Charity. (2 Peter 1:4)
• The Four Cardinal Virtues (i.e. the pivotal human virtues): Prudence (wisdom), justice, fortitude (courage) and temperance (self-control). (Wisdom 8:7)
• The Catechism (Para 1803) defines a virtue as “an habitual and firm disposition to do good.” It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of themselves. …”The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.” (St. Gregory
of Nyssa)(5).
(2). New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference. (2019). Statement on Fairness.
(3). New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference. (2019). Statement on Fairness.
(4). The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. (2006). Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
(5). NZCBC. (2014). The Catholic Education of School-age Children.
It is important to reflect on the experience and examples of Tika Justice in your own context. In terms of your own school and wider community within Aotearoa New Zealand:
• What are some past examples of justice?
• What are some examples of the opposite of justice?
• Where do you see justice today at your place, and elsewhere in this country?
While teaching and learning within Content Areas is based on specific Cross Theme Achievement Objectives, the following provides foci for supporting awareness of where Touchstones connect to the Cross Themes in a whole-school Catholic character context.
Young people will develop an understanding of how God’s Tika Justice can protect and transform our world. They will learn how tika can help us engage in right relations with God, ourselves, others and all creation. They will develop an understanding of the importance of restorative justice, how it differs from retributive justice, and the consequences of choices and actions.
