Ezekiel 18:21-28
Ps. 130:1-2.3--4.5-7a.7bc-8 Mt 5: 20-26. Dear Christians, the readings of today are inviting us to do good without backsliding to Wrongdoing. The gospel mentions anger as a threat to our righteousness thus leading us back to wrong doing. “Whoever is angry with his brother, will be liable to judgment; and whoever insults his brother will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to the hell of fire”. Anger is one of the capital sins, which means, it is the root of other sins i.e. insults, humiliation of others, murder etc.
What is anger then? Anger is one of the most basic human emotions. It is a feeling of being against someone or something or themselves. By its very nature, anger involves bitterness. Everyone gets angry and our bodies can inform us of when we are angry. According to many psychologists, there are stages of physiological signs of anger, like: A stimulus triggers emotion; Tension or Stress begins to build; Adrenaline is released contributing to growing tension; Breathing rate increases; Heartbeat accelerates; Blood pressure rises; There is now a body and mind “Fight or Flight” response.
All of us in one way or the other have experienced this. We need to manage our anger appropriately. This will help us avoid yelling and hurling words to others and acting in ungodly way. How can we handle our anger in godly ways?
1. Acknowledge your anger to God – No need of pretending that you don’t get angry. Or don’t call it in another way. Be honest with yourself, and then with God. He knows anyway.
2. Learn to get angry slowly- Someone told me that, “if you are angry do not make any decision”. This is true! Be calm first because angry words spoken quickly are usually regretted later. Take time to make sure that you have good reason to be angry. Learn to avoid jumping to unwarranted conclusions. Believe God can help you be calm.
3. Confess wrong beliefs and repent- repent all the damage your anger have inflicted on God and on others. Avail yourself for the Sacrament of Confession and reaching out to those you’ve harmed with your anger and asking for forgiveness.
4. Place your anger under new management- Surrender yourself to Christ and His Word. He will shape and restrain our anger by a new kind of self-control. This will help us not only keep the law which says, “You shall not kill”, but going beyond to banish the sort of attitudes that leads people to injure each other.
We can conclude that anger, insult and humiliation of another are not listed in the commandments, but are actually offenses against the commandments with dire consequences. Jesus gives invites us to reconcile with others a she basis for the worship. Unnecessary anger, backbiting, insults and humiliating each other are sins against love and constitute murder of another. We should shun them renew of our personality, a true “conversion” of heart and mind. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit may transform our outlook through His Gift
of self-control.
Amen.
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