Your Parish and the Virtue of Justice

Do you or your parish actively practice the virtue of justice? Do you have a justice surplus or deficit? How do you gauge this? These questions apply to virtually any organization, including the local parish, as well as to individuals. Practicing justice in one’s work applies to all of us irrespective of our position within an organization such as the local parish. Regardless of whether you’re an employee, a manager, an advisory council member or a pastor, how just are your actions? And, collectively, how well is your parish providing what’s due to the parishioners?

The Virtue of Justice – Rendering What’s Due

St. Thomas Aquinas defines justice as “the perpetual and constant will to render to each one his right…”(Summa Theologiae II-II, 58, 1). In other words, we practice the virtue of justice when we give to others their due. A “just man” normally is someone who relentlessly, constantly thinks and acts in a way that respects others’ rights. We are all called to practice and grow in this key virtue, including within the activities of our day jobs.

Practicing Justice in One’s Job

Rendering what is due to my employer means I’m doing my job. I am doing what I’m paid to do, when and how I’m expected to do it. If I manage people or an organizational unit, justice–rendering what’s due to the organization– includes planning, organizing, executing, and following up to meet the expectations of my role and responsibilities. Advisory councils, in the case of parishes, act justly by providing advice to the priest and letting him know what he needs to know. This can look quite different than telling him what he wants to hear.  

Working with Justice at the Parish

How about your parish? Do you have people who never seem to show up on time for meetings (maybe not even for required office hours)? How about those who don’t do what they’re asked to do, or if they do, it’s substandard work? Have you seen a tendency by one or more to spend time on personal calls, texts, e-mails, social media and the like during business hours? How about extending break time or lunch time by a few minutes every day, but still expecting full pay as if everything is copacetic? And don’t forget the more socially inclined who waste others’ time with ongoing jabbering.

And for priests and managers–do you assign responsibilities to specific individuals to create accountability? Or do you leave it up a group to meet the deadline? When everyone is in charge, no one actually is in charge. Do you set clear expectations for your people and then monitor to hold them accountable? Do you avoid uncomfortable discussions or confront tough issues with clarity and charity? If you become aware of performance problems, how do you address them? Does, “He is a loyal person, and I’m sure they’re doing the best they can–after all, we’re a church, you know,” carry the day?

Leadership’s Responsibilities for Justice

If you hold a management or supervisory position in a parish, what are you doing to assure the practice of justice at the parish? If one or more employees can’t seem to get their job done properly, have you noticed it and determined why? Do they need more training and/or supervision; is your parish understaffed; or do you need to replace these people with someone else? Maybe you find it easier just to pile more and more work on the one or two competent people who carry the load for the others until you burn out and run off your best performers. “Give it to Joe or Jane–they’ll get’er done!” And ultimately you’ll wear out and run off Joe or Jane while the underperformers stick around!

Speaking of burnout–are you a management team martyr who spends far too much time at work? Some parishioners may feel sorry for you, and laud your loyalty and effort. What they should be telling you, however, is to learn to do your job properly. Learn how to delegate, and work at the proper level. Glomming onto every detail, and not delegating and training others to do less important tasks is not practicing the virtue of justice. It’s a disservice to your parish and the people working for you.

Parish Justice

The parish acts with justice as an entity when it provides others with their due. All employers owe their workers what they’ve agreed to pay them for the work done by them. Similarly, organizations including parishes have a responsibility to pay their debts. And, if you want your parishioners to support you financially, you need to act justly in how you spend their tithes. This would include, among other things, not supporting organizations whose practices run contra to Church teaching. Where your parishioners’ money goes is important; practicing the virtue of justice leads to good stewardship. 

The primary responsibility of a parish is to help parishioners save their souls. (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 45) This should drive all aspects of parish life. For example, making frequent Mass and confession available together with Eucharistic adoration will strengthen parishioners’ spiritual lives. And what does your parish do to help parishioners grow in their interior lives–their individual relationships with the Lord? As well, providing appropriate formation and other assistance allows families and the parish to flourish.  Presenting opportunities for socialization and collaboration beyond “donut Sundays” helps build up the parish family and the Mystical Body of Christ, for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

No, You Really Aren’t That “Different”

You may be thinking, “Some of what you say may be true, but we’re ‘different’.” Unfortunately, you are not that different from other parishes or organizations. More parishes and other organizations suffer from management malpractice than you might think. To be clear here: priests are not managers–they are pastors. Unless they and their councils hire competent managers and hold them accountable, things won’t ever improve. The virtue of justice will not be practiced as it should be at the parish. Good employees will be hard to find and keep; marginal ones will be with you forever.

“Oh, but, we’re a ‘spiritual community’–we need to focus on bringing souls to God.” Agreed. You need to focus on bringing souls to God. That means everyone needs to play their position and get the coaching they need to succeed. If they can’t play their position, it’s time to change out players. You’re not doing them, the rest of the staff, or your parishioners any favors when you avoid addressing these issues. You’re not acting with justice toward anyone involved.

Justice – Doing What’s Right for God’s Greater Glory

And, note what St. Albert the Great says about justice:

The function of the virtue of justice is to make all our thoughts and feelings rightly and properly ordered, and always in harmony with the will of God, so that our will conforms to the divine will, and our intentions are always directed to the greater glory of God. Similarly, this virtue, when fully cultivated, causes all our words and actions to be directed towards an authentically just purpose, reflecting God’s plan. (The Paradise of the Soul, p. 70)

If we have properly ordered our thinking and practices to be in harmony with God’s will, we will rigorously practice justice in fulfilling our roles and responsibilities for God’s greater glory. This is true for individuals as well as the local parish.

To that end, keeping an outward focus can help us be more intentional about meeting others’ needs and giving them their due. A quick examen question to consider might be, “Do I make it a point to think about how I can best fulfill my role and give what’s truly due to others? Have I connected what I’m doing in the moment with the pursuit of God’s greater glory and the salvation of souls?

Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times! – (Psalm 106:3)