Keeping the sin of anger at bay

I’m certain that I can’t be the only one who has noticed that we live in a culture where there is a growing volume of anger on display. We see it everywhere. Earlier this week as I sat at a traffic light which turned green someone became incensed that I didn’t move more quickly through the intersection, screaming profanity and nearly running me onto the sidewalk. Incidents of road rage are spiraling; people attacking others in stores and on the streets; politicians spewing angry and hurtful diatribes on television every day; the list goes on and on.   But anger can also be in our homes and in our hearts and yes, even in our church communities – sometimes bubbling below the surface.  There are a good many people, for example, who are angry at the Church because they have to wear a mask or because a particular church building can’t be reopened.  Some have even let their anger prevent them from coming to Mass.  It is high time that we fight this spiritual evil that is so poisonous, that is a sin against charity, and that destroys everything it touches.

Anger is one of the seven “capital sins.”  These are grave sins because they engender so many other sins.  Anger easily leads to many other sins: like cursing, violence, and hatred. They can end up destroying our soul. Let us remember the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: You have heard the commandment imposed on your forefathers, ‘You shall not commit murder; every murderer shall be liable to judgment.’ What I say to you is: everyone who grows angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; any man who uses abusive language toward his brother shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and if he holds him in contempt he risks the fires of Gehenna (Mt 5: 21-22). 

We live in a divided country, so divided and polarized that civil, respectful debate almost never takes place anymore.   Sadly, members of one particular political persuasion are monikered as deplorables and losers.  Unbelievably, some who have identified themselves as such publically have been attacked and killed in recent weeks by the angry indignation of those who disagree with them.  Freedom of speech is permitted in many of our universities and schools as long as it supports one world view.   Those who oppose it are cancelled out and silenced by the angry voices of those who oppose a particular point of view.  We have lost the art of true debate about ideas and issues.  More recently, anger has led to ruthless and immoral behavior by some in our communities including the destruction of property, assault and killing of other people, even taking whole cities hostage.  A common set of values and ethics no longer binds us together as neighbors and citizens. 

It is important to point out that anger is not always sinful. As a feeling or a passion, it is not necessarily sinful. To become angry at a real injustice is not sinful.  We all know about Jesus’ anger when He drove the money changers out of the temple.  They were cheating the poor and downtrodden and Jesus was having no part of that injustice.

The sin of anger is different from righteous anger toward evil. When feelings of anger are not moderated by the control of reason, the anger becomes sinful and harmful.  It is an emotion that hardens into resentment and hate.  It is driven by the great sin of pride and self-absorption and often leads to destructive behavior.  Anger tears apart of the very bonds of charity that join us together as sons and daughters of the one God. Saint Paul was so concerned about the effects of anger that he wrote to the Ephesians: If you are angry, let it be without sin. The sun must not go down on your wrath; do not give the devil a change to work on you (4:26). This is good advice for all of us to heed.

As Christians who follow the law of God to love others, to your neighbor and even to love your enemy, it is never justifiable to allow anger to carry the day.  The philosopher John Locke once wrote that evil exists because good people choose to do nothing.  The displays of anger all around us are frightening and disconcerting.  They speak to a world view that a true Christian can never embrace. 

There have been protests in our streets recently.  Many are peaceful expressions of those who want to speak out against injustices that have claimed innocent lives.   But some have a different agenda, even calling for the destruction of statues, stained glass windows and our churches.  In the face of such expressions of anger and hate, we cannot remain silent.   As Bishop Hying of Madison, Wisconsin said last week:  “Such violence will only perpetuate the prejudice and hatred it ostensibly seeks to end.”

Of course Black Lives Matter.   All lives matter.  Every single life matters. That’s what I believe and how I attempt to live.  Mother Teresa challenged each of us as believers to see the face of God in every single person we encounter.  If we do, it is impossible not to respond with love and kindness, with respect and compassion.  The Church teaches that “every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God.”  (CCC 2319).

We can never turn a blind eye, deaf ear or mute tongue to the ugliness wrought by angry hearts.   The ends never justify the means.  In a country that puts to death innocent unborn children by the tens of thousands each year, where the sick and disabled are hastened in their deaths because they have no more value, where the poor are overlooked and pushed aside, where acts of senseless violence are claiming increasing numbers of innocent lives, where prejudice and bigotry are on full display because of creed, nationality or color of one’s skin, where people of a different political party are excoriated, attacked and beaten down, we can see that we have a long way to go.  St. Pope John Paul II predicted decades ago when he visited our country that by fostering a culture of darkness and death that easily destroys some lives, the culture will soon find ways to justify the destruction of any life, of every life.  It seems, sadly, that we have reached that point.

For believers, we know that every capital sin or vice has a corresponding, contrary virtue.  That is redemptive and hopeful as we seek to gain mastery over our passions.  In the case of anger, that virtue is meekness and purity of heart. Jesus taught the Beatitude: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Meekness is a fruit of charity and helps us to control our anger. It can be described also as gentleness, kindness, and mildness. It moderates, controls, and calms angry feelings. Meekness is not weakness. On the contrary, it is a strong and vigorous virtue whereby one gains authority over one’s anger. Meekness is the pathway to true and lasting peace.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church writes that “peace cannot be attained on earth without safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication among men, respect for the dignity of persons and peoples, and the assiduous practice of fraternity.  Peace is the tranquility of order.  Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity.”  (CCC 2304).  Christians must never surrender our religious liberty to the voices that seek the destruction of our public presence, the eradication of our sacramental worship and the denial of our belief in Jesus Christ as Savior of the world.

If we wish to grow in holiness, if we hope to bring about true peace and justice in our community, we cannot be angry persons. We may experience angry feelings at times. That is part of being human. But to persist in anger and become an angry person is a tragic and dangerous thing. It is like a cancer in a person’s soul. It is a danger to our own salvation, a threat to family life, and a destructive force in our nation. We must work to keep anger at bay.  Anger will never carry the day. We hold close to our hearts these days, the words of Saint Paul: “Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”