In the church, we continue to experience a model of organization that is contrary to what any reasonable person could call justice. Women are not allowed to experience their full expression of ministry in terms of priesthood and authority. Priests are not permitted to fully express their humanity in partnership and intimacy with another. Children are abused in a variety of ways since they continue to be viewed as objects of power and not beloved children of God. Divorced and remarried individuals are banned from full participation with the community of believers. Lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transsexual (LBGT) members of our community continue to be excluded and told they are disordered. This Sunday, we will be forced to accept a new Missal that uses language that is unnatural and fails to accurately express the core of Catholic theology. The issue, of course, is more how this was accomplished than it is what is in the translation. The process wherein the people themselves declare how they wish to express their faith was overruled in the interest of maintaining the power of the hierarchy. 

In society at large we also experience many injustices. The movement known as Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is a reflection of the key challenges of our time. Many have criticized the movement of lacking a message or substantive demands. Such criticisms fail to understand the nature of this event. This is not a special interest group but much more. It is an expression of the frustration of the populace that is ground under the heel of the corporatocracy. While many have distracted us by claiming that it is the government that is the greatest threat to our freedom and our realization of our potential, the largest corporations have captured the agenda. OWS is a concrete expression of a society groaning under the pressure of exploitation. This is not something that will be resolved by a single piece of legislation nor is it the possession of either political party. This is the reality of a postindustrial world that seeks to be heard. 

The remarkable shift of wealth from the poor and middle class to an extremely wealthy few is contrary to anything that one could consider justice. Many have argued that an equal distribution of wealth is not what this country is all about. That is true but our Declaration of Independence declared that all had the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." If the rules are consistently slanted in favor of one segment of society over and against all the rest, then those ideals cannot be met. No one is asking to be handed wealth. What they call for is fairness. We should try very hard not to focus on what some in the OWS demonstrations look like and seriously consider their message. It does not require a clear declaration of demands. What it demonstrates is that when injustice occurs anywhere, it occurs everywhere. "If you want peace, work for justice" declared Pope Paul VI. In our church and outside of it we can do no less than begin this new year with a firm resolve to advocate for justice.