Living a life of virtue means to live rooted in truth and being good, the Rev. Kris McKusky said, the Catholic Church of Holy Angels in Moose Lake church bulletin reported.

"While our emotions may be of some value, they are not the determining factor and can just as easily send us astray," McKusky said in the church bulletin. "It’s my hope and prayer that as we strive to live just lives, we allow the Lord to guide and transform us to more fully image His goodness, truth, and beauty; to live in accord with who He designed us to be and to find the happiness and peace that only He can give!"

McKusky said he's seen the term "justice" misused often. He said he often sees calls for "justice," but he believes most of the time those calls are actually for vengeance.

"Speaking in terms of justice may make people feel better, but like so many of the other terms we’ve looked at, is generally an emotional response to a perceived slight," McKusky wrote in the bulletin. "Generally speaking, contemporary calls for justice are often masked calls for revenge."

McKusky said that justice is categorized as a human virtue in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He said that virtue is governed by truth, the objective good and right reason.

"As such, its meaning doesn’t change based on our whims, but rather transforms our whims to be in harmony with who we were created to be and strengthens us to live holy lives with ease," he said in the bulletin.

McKusky wrote that justice has the obligation of truth and to find truth, you must also use right reason instead of using your gut-reaction.

"Justice also involves a genuine respect for the human person, thus protecting the rights and dignity of all parties involved," McKusky said. "As a reminder, in Catholic thought, that means that no matter how bad our acts have been, we never forfeit out inherent human dignity."