text: Part 1:
  
  I don't think Jesus spoke in a didactic way about the relationship between justice and mercy; Jesus' teaching unfolds in his parables and in the Sermon on the Mount, especially the Beatitudes.  Of course, the church has been reflecting on his teaching, trying to understand and follow it, for more than two thousand years.  We live in the "time between the times" -- the "already" of the reign of God inaugurated by Jesus and the "not yet" of the full realization of God's reign in God's time.  In the time between the times, we seek justice and practice it imperfectly.   In the reign of God, God blends justice and mercy perfectly, because God is Love; but we do it imperfectly.  At least, though, we must keep both in view and recognize the priority of mercy without denying the importance of justice.  What an awesome task, especially for those in the church, charged with ministering to sinners, and those (like you) in civil society, charged with administering justice. (con't.)