TEXT: Thirty-Third Sunday Ordinary Time, November 16, 2025
November 16, 2025 Father De Celles Homily
33rd Sunday Ordinary Time
November 16, 2025
Homily by Fr. John De Celles
St. Raymond of Peñafort Catholic Church
Springfield, VA
“The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.”
These are the words that we sang just a few minutes ago
in response to the Psalm.
Over and over we proclaimed these words.
We hear a lot about justice today, especially in politics:
Some demand “social justice,” others demand “law and justice.”
But what exactly is “justice”?
Building on Aristotle and Augustine,
St. Thomas Aquinas gives us the classic Catholic definition:
“Justice is a habit whereby a man renders to each one his due
by a constant and perpetual will.”
Or we might say, “Giving to everyone everything that they’re due.”
So, in justice someone has a right to receive something,
and someone else has a duty to give something.
So, we say that a just man doesn’t lie
because others have a right to the truth,
and he has a duty to give it to them.
He doesn’t steal because his neighbor has a right to his own property,
and he has a duty to honor that right.
But who knows what all the rights and duties are that we have?
For example, we live in an area where rights and duties are debated every day:
The two parties across the river both claim to be
striving to achieve a just government
–to give every Americans what they’re due.
The problem comes from not always knowing what is due,
who has a right to it, and whose duty it is to give it.
It isn’t easy to attain justice.
As hard as we try, we just can’t seem to get there on our own.
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Scripture tells us that in the beginning God created everything in a perfect order
–the whole creation worked together as He planned.
From the perspective of justice, you can say that
there was no injustice; the world existed in original justice
where all rights were acknowledged, and all duties fulfilled.
But then Adam and Eve chose to commit the first injustice–the original sin.
Their injustice was not something as mundane as stealing or lying.
No, it was the greatest injustice possible
–they refused to give God the honor and loving obedience
that was due Him by His right as our Creator.
And so, injustice came into the world and remains today.
But the question remains:
Is it possible for there to be any true justice in the world?
In our first reading today, we hear the prophesy of Malachi that
“For you who fear [God’s] name,
there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.”
That sun of justice came into the world as promised
when He was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem almost 2000 years ago.
And with the birth of Jesus Christ–the Sun of Justice
–the world encountered the perfection of justice:
In every single action and word of His human life
He showed His perfection of justice
by constantly giving perfect honor and loving obedience
to the will of His Father,
and by loving us completely,
as He had promised from the beginning.
Jesus came not only to show His justice, but also to restore justice
–to set everything to be the way God intended it.
But instead of accepting His justice, we unjustly murdered Him on a cross.
Yet, even in dying He brought justice
because He accepted it in loving obedience, par excellence, to His Father.
And then, like the Sun rising in the east, the Sun of Justice rose from the dead and defeated injustice once and for all.
But if Christ conquered injustice, how come the world is still unjust?
Why is there poverty, hatred, greed and envy?
Why are the needy allowed to suffer and the lazy allowed to cheat?
Why do innocent children go hungry or suffer violence in wars and in our streets, or abuse in schools?
Why do young people get sick and die
and the elderly suffer and long for the comfort of death?
Where is Christ’s justice in any of this?
The psalmist says, “The Lord comes to rule the word with justice.”
When Jesus Christ came into the world,
He established on earth His kingdom of God’s justice.
In this kingdom, the will of God is the way of life
–all things are as they should be and there is no injustice.
But who do you know that recognizes Christ’s kingship in the world?
Who has chosen to live completely in His Kingdom of Justice?
Have you?
In a way we can say that all Christians belong to God’s Kingdom by our baptism.
But we can’t just belong to the kingdom.
We have to live in the kingdom.
We must, in everything we do, strive to give every person his or her due,
beginning by giving to God what is His due:
We must praise, honor, love and obey Him who is our King.
Sadly, the world hasn’t accepted Christ’s kingship–nor has it accepted His justice.
So, the many injustices of daily life remain.
But someday, as He promises in today’s Gospel,
Christ will come again into the world.
Then, His justice will reign.
Those who have accepted His kingship will receive what they are due:
They will live forever with Him in heaven where there is no injustice.
And those who reject His kingship, will receive what they are due,
as the prophet Malachi tell us:
“All evildoers will be stubble,
and the day that is coming will set them on fire”
But we don’t have to wait for the Second Coming to find justice,
as we strive to be just in our own lives today, in this world.
But again, there’s the difficulty in recognizing what is just, and who is due what,
not to mention the difficulty of making the effort and even sacrifices
necessary for justice.
In the end the only way to bring any real and lasting justice in this life
is with Christ,
who both shows us the way of justice and gives us the grace to live it.
This is another way of saying
that if we ‘re going to have any true justice in this world,
we have to make every part of our life in this unjust world
also part of our life in Christ’s kingdom,
giving our God His due honor and obedience at all times,
especially by following his fundamental rules of justice,
His Commandments,
including the most fundamental: Love God and love your neighbor.
St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading:
“If anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.”
St. Paul clearly means this literally:
In justice, a man is not due food if he’s able but unwilling to work for food.
But we can also read it more broadly.
That is, if we are “unwilling to work” for justice,
why should we expect to receive justice?
And I don’t mean just marching on Washington,
calling your congressmen demanding this or that piece of legislation,
or voting on election day,
although those things clearly have their place.
More importantly I mean working for justice in our day-to-day lives.
Why would we expect justice toward the children of our society
if parents don’t treat their children with justice
by giving the time, attention, tenderness and discipline they’re due?
Why would we expect justice toward the men and women of our society
if husbands and wives don’t strive, every day,
to treat their spouses with justice
by giving them the fidelity, affection and devotion they’re due?
Why would we expect justice in the economy if we don’t
treat our own customers, patients, coworkers, employees or employers with the honesty, respect, diligence and fairness that they’re due?
Why would we expect justice between nations or toward immigrants
if we don’t treat our own friends and family, including the unborn,
with the justice they’re due?
And above all, why should we expect justice between human beings,
if human beings don’t render to God
the worship, love and obedience that He is due?
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Today, we give our God His due by honoring Him and obeying Him
as we come together to celebrate the Eucharist
–the sacrament which is a real participation
in the death and resurrection of Christ
–a sharing in Christ’s perfect obedience
that establishes the kingdom of justice in the world.
As we hear St. Paul admonish us,
“If anyone [is] unwilling to work, neither should that one eat,”
we ask ourselves,
“Have I really worked this last week
to bring the kingdom of justice to this world?”
And if we have not, do we ask ourselves as we approach Holy Communion,
“Should I eat?”
For in eating this heavenly food
we both proclaim our profound commitment to His justice,
AND we’re given the grace to succeed in working for His justice.
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Next Sunday we’ll come together again to celebrate the Eucharist.
But next Sunday is a very special day, the last Sunday of the liturgical year,
The Feast of Christ the King.
Strengthened by this Eucharist,
let’s spend some time this week preparing ourselves
to celebrate that feast by renewing our commitment
to accept His kingship.
Let us pray that those who govern the kingdoms and countries of this world
will be moved to work for the justice of the only true Kingdom.
And let us pray that our King’s justice may indeed
come into the world through our lives,
so that the words of the psalmist may be fulfilled–both now and forever:
“The Lord has come to rule the earth with justice.”