Melto D’Moronoyo: Law and the cross, our Jubilee of Justice

On Saturday, 13 September, at St Joseph’s church in Croydon, the Maronite Eparchy of Australia, New Zealand and Oceania marked the Jubilee of Justice as part of the ongoing celebrations for the Jubilee Year of Hope.

The event coincided with the vigil Mass for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, which ushers in the final season of the Maronite liturgical calendar: the Season of the Holy Cross.

More than 50 sons and daughters of the Maronite church, serving in the legal profession, gathered to participate in the Divine Liturgy.

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In his homily, Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay reflected on the providential convergence of the two celebrations:

“At first sight, the world of law and the mystery of the Cross might seem far apart. Yet Saint Paul tells us: ‘The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God’ (1 Cor 1:18).

Christ’s cross is the place where divine justice and divine mercy meet. Human wisdom sees defeat; divine wisdom reveals victory.

What looked like humiliation becomes the throne of glory. What appeared unjust, the innocent condemned, becomes the foundation of the world’s salvation.”

Bishop Tarabay emphasised that justice is central to God’s plan of salvation. Recalling the prophetic command “to defend the widow, the orphan, and the stranger,” he reminded the faithful that justice “is not an optional virtue, but a defining mark of God’s covenant with his people.”

Turning to the reality of human justice, Bishop Tarabay noted that noble ideals such as “equal justice under the law,” though enshrined on statues, in constitutions, and in courtrooms, remain vulnerable to the whims of the fallen human condition. Without being “anchored in truth, natural law, and moral foundations…legal systems can drift into being instruments of the powerful.”

“The cross,” he said, is the key to authentic justice.

It is “the enduring reminder that true justice is not just procedural. It is relational, restorative, and sacrificial. On Calvary, God did not crush humanity under the weight of sin, nor did he ignore the wrong. Instead, he bore it himself. Justice was not abandoned, but fulfilled in love.”

Quoting the Gospel reading of the feast: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself” (Jn 12:32), the bishop explained that “the lifting up of the cross is not an exaltation of suffering, but the raising of the lowly.”

Building on these principles, Bishop Tarabay exhorted the lawyers present to use their vocations “to ‘lift up’ those who are bent low: victims of crime, the poor who cannot afford representation, children and families who need protection, migrants and refugees who need advocacy.”

“The true measure of justice is how it treats the weakest members of society,” he said.

He reminded them that to serve the vulnerable and victims of injustice faithfully requires living in the Holy Spirit, the Advocate who leads us into all truth.

Lawyers, therefore, are called “to be advocates in the Spirit: defenders of the defenceless, seekers of truth when it is hidden, courageous voices when the law is manipulated by the powerful.”

Integrity, he stressed, is essential and non-negotiable. Public confidence in the law depends on it. Integrity not only safeguards individual rights, but it also builds trust, serves the common good, and ensures the flourishing of society.

Yet this commitment to integrity “often comes at a cost,” for, as St Paul teaches, “the cross appears as foolishness and weakness” (cf. 1 Cor 1:18-25).

Standing for truth and justice is not always easy. It may “seem foolish in the eyes of the world, but in God’s eyes it is the path of salvation.”

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Bishop Tarabay presented each of the lawyers in attendance with a Jubilee medal. The medal was both a sign of gratitude for their service in the cause of justice and a tangible reminder of the hope they are called to bring through their practice of law.

On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the Jubilee of Justice became an occasion to not only exalt the cross but also to honour the vocation of those who serve justice in our community.

Entrusting the lawyers to the wisdom and strength of the cross, the bishop concluded his homily with this prayer:

May the cross give you strength when the work is heavy, courage when the right path is unpopular, and wisdom to see that justice without mercy is not true justice at all. May all who work in the law be instruments of God’s justice and mercy, lifting up the weak, protecting the vulnerable, and bearing witness to the wisdom of the cross. Amen.

Dominic Altakchy is a Subdeacon of the Maronite Eparchy of Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.