Anger is common to all humans, whether we harbor it or someone else does against us. What is important is how we define and handle anger. Is it justifiable or not? And, in a biblical sense, is it sinful? It is this last aspect that will possibly cost us to lose our soul if we don’t address the cause!
My anger is more about
frustration and disappointment. It could
be about either something I have or have not done or in respect to what someone
else has or has not done. It usually
takes the form of being an annoyance. It
can be about something that was said, done, heard or happened that I initiated
or not.
For example, I look at my
health issues as more of an annoyance whether the cause is serious or not. This is true if it could lead to an early
departure from my earthly life or it constantly is uncomfortable each and every
day I live. Why? God knows when my life will end. Worrying about it or what will cause that
seems superfluous since He is in control and I am not.
A response I have received in
regards to my attitude has been that I have never lost anyone close to me due
to another person’s behavior because they believed they have the right to
destroy someone else. They are correct,
but again, I place what happens in God’s hands, who as our creator knows what
is best in all cases. You may call it
blind faith. I call it trusting in God’s
ways out of his love for all of us as St. Paul wrote in his letter the Romans: “…whether we live or die, we are the
Lord’s.”
The Book of Sirach written 200
years before the birth of Christ wrote: “Think
of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; remember the Most High’s covenant
and overlook faults.” Doesn’t that
bespeak God’s belief in Love, Mercy and Forgiveness of all and everything that
causes problems?
Peter asks Jesus in St.
Matthew’s Gospel: “Lord, if my brother
sins against me, how often must I forgive”?
Jesus’ response: “I say to you,
not seven times buy seventy-seven times.”
If seven represents perfection, then 77 states that there is no end to a
disciple’s willingness to forgive another.
Or as Jesus says in conclusion to the unforgiving debtor parable says: “…in anger his master handed him over to the
torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless
each of you forgives your brother from your heart”?
Let us take this week to look into our hearts about how we handle anger in our lives. Here are four basic rules of communication shared in Ephesians 4:15 – 32: 1) Speak the truth in love; 2) Do not allow what is bothering us to build up until we lose control; 3) Attack the problem, not the person; and 4) Act, don’t react. The anger you feel, due to something you believe unfair, may not dissipate immediately or even quickly, but it will open a door or a window to another way to heal and bring into focus by trying we better understand how God accomplishes in each and every one of us throughout our life.
Reading 1: Sirach 27: 30 – 28: 7
Reading 2: Romans 14: 7-9
Gospel: Matthew 18: 21-35
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