Sir. 15:15-20; 1 Cor. 2:6-10; Mt. 5:17-37
In the first reading taken from the Book of the prophet Sirach, we heard the words of the prophet Sirach speaking to the people of God and reminding them all that God has given us His Law and commandments, and it is really up to us to make the choice. Unfortunately, more often than not we chose to walk down the path of rebellion and evil than to obey the Lord and His commandments.
In today’s Gospel Jesus set a higher standard of behavior for His followers: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that the one who is angry with their brother or sister will be liable to judgment; and whoever
insults their brother or sister, will be liable to the council; and whoever say, 'You fool,' will be liable to the hell of fire.”The Law condemned murder. Jesus condemned even anger.
Anger is the most harmful feeling if we handle it in a wrong way. Anger has an aggression and bad influence on other people. In our daily life, it is unavoidable to face “Anger”: we get angry or make people angry.
Anger is perfectly normal, like any other emotion in humans, and it is healthy when it is in our control. However, we all need to be able to control and manage our anger because anger is neither healthy nor a good thing if our temper is not in our control, and we often take it out on others.
Our anger will affect our health and relationships with our loved ones if we cannot control it and frequently outburst it on others.
There was once a young boy who had problem controlling his temper. When he became angry, he would just say anything that came to his mind and hurt people. So his father gave him a bag of nails and a hammer and said, “Every time you get angry, hammer one nail into the fence in our backyard”.
The first few days the boy hammered so many nails that he emptied half the bag. Over the weeks, the number of nails he hammered to the fence reduced and gradually, his temper was much in control. Then came a day when he didn’t lose his temper at all. His father asked him to remove one nail each day that he manages not to lose his temper.
Finally, on the day the child was removing the last nail, his father says, “You have done well, boy. But do you see the holes in the wall? The fence is never going to be the same, even after repainting. Likewise, when you say mean things in anger, you will leave a scar in the person’s mind, as the nails did to the fence”.
The moral is: Anger is a dangerous weapon like a knife. When you put a knife in a man and draw it out, the wound heals but the scar remains.
The Bible’s first mention of anger is the story of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel offer sacrifices to the Lord. Abel’s sacrifice is found pleasing; Cain’s is not.
So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why have your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. (Genesis 4:5-7)
In the Bible there are many examples of humans acting in anger:
Levi and Simeon angrily wipe out a city (Gen 34;25). Saul tried to kill David (1 Sam 19:10). Jonah angrily reacted when God spares Nineveh (Jonah 4:1-2). Even Moses, who several times seems righteously angry on behalf of God’s holiness, disobeys God while frustrated by the people of Israel. (Ex 32:19; Num 20: Num 11:10; Ex 11)
James wrote the Christian community, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (James 1:19-20)
Anger impairs our ability to make wise decisions. “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil” (Psalms 37:8). Better to wait, do nothing, and ponder the matter once anger is no longer clouding our judgment.
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. (Proverbs 15:18)
Angry people tend to start fights, which is far more damaging than helpful. “Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9). Anger cripples reason. Many news articles show how anger causes reckless, illogical, and damaging behavior. Decisions made in anger are dangerous!
Jesus humbly came down from glory to live a poor life and die a painful death, so we could be rescued from God’s wrath against our sin. He took that rage upon himself on the cross so that we could be free to experience the Father’s love. He rose from the dead, conquering death, so we could one day stand with him in that victory.
Jesus’ example teaches us to humble ourselves before God, to acknowledge that our anger cannot produce his righteousness; and he leads us to sacrifice our pride, to lay aside our anger, and be at peace.
Anger can rage through our life and kill our relationships and destroy any pleasure we might have. It destroys our peace completely. It grows into hatred and torments us with thoughts of revenge and the strong wish to somehow harm our enemy. Anger can destroy everything, and therefore it is often referred to as the most destructive negative mind.
So we should be humble and train ourselves to manage anger.
Satish