World Day of Social Justice

 

Today we celebrate World Day of Social Justice.  World Day of Social Justice is celebrated on the 20th of February every year since 2009 as promoted by the United Nations Organization (UNO).  The United Nations Organization website states the theme of World Day of Social Justice 2022 as, “Achieving Social Justice through Formal Employment.”  The theme focuses that employment resources and opportunities play the utmost role in reducing poverty and inequality.

Social Justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within a nation and/or among nations.  The principles of Social Justice are upheld to promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous people and migrants. Promoting development and human dignity through Social Justice is the core value of the UN.

World Day of Social Justice is not a public holiday rather a global observance. The leaders at the World Summit agreed that social development means social justice, solidarity, harmony and equality within and among nations. Every country indeed takes social justice, equality, and equity as its fundamental values, but the governments are required to create solid frameworks to achieve “society for all” levels so that social justice will be promoted at local, national, regional, and global levels. Creating equal opportunities for job seekers, allowing equitable distribution of income, and offering greater access to resources via equality and equity became the flagship slogan of the world leaders.

The purpose of the day is to raise your voice against social injustice and to promote social justice throughout the world. The objective of the day is to bring the various communities globally closer and together that can help to eliminate poverty, physical and gender discrimination, racism, religious discrimination, illiteracy, and biases, etc. If societies of the planet become pure from the mentioned curses, only then a diverse global culture can emerge where everyone has equal opportunities, and everyone has acceptance for others.

This day is very much aligned with today’s Gospel.  Jesus is calling us to a deeper level of love. Jesus reminds us that the human heart was made to give. The best way to honor what God has created in us is to learn and to accept, forgive, and love ourselves as much as we forgive and love others.

The Gospel tells us that all the commandments are based on the love of God and the love of neighbor. We are called to love unconditionally as God does. We learn about sharing, forgiving, and loving through the experiences of our families. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples and us about how to love everyone even those who are not our family and friends. Jesus says, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  Let us use this day to lift our voices for social justice for all.