Anger

ANGER, which is the fourth of the seven capital sins, is not only a vice, but a passion; that is, it works upon, and excites the body as well as the soul. Whenever you see a person furiously angry, you may notice this. Unbridled anger seems to change a man into a wild beast. It heats his blood, flushes his face, gouges his eyes almost out of his head, sets his limbs trembling, sometimes makes him foam at the mouth like a mad dog; and hence people who are entirely carried away by their anger, are justly compared in the Sacred Scriptures to mute dogs and to vipers. In some cases a person can not speak for anger Sometimes for the moment he is like one. drunk or crazy, does not know what he is doing and actually loses the use of reason. Of course, when anger goes to these hideous extremes, it is sinful, and often grievously or mortally sinful.

But on the other hand, when anger is carefully kept within bounds and under the rule of reason, then it is free from sin. "Be ye angry and sin not," says the fourth Psalm (Ps., IV., 5). There is such a thing then as praiseworthy anger; it must be an anger which is not only kept within bounds, but is also for a just cause and no greater than fits that cause. Once in a great while there is even a holy anger. And there are times when for certain persons it is a duty to be angry.

This is especially the case with those to whom God has given charge over others. Rulers in authority over their subjects, bishops and priests in authority over the people, parents and guardians in authority over children, and teachers in authority over their pupils— for all of these anger, if kept within strict and reasonable bounds, may sometimes be virtuous. So it is when a parent, through zeal for God's commandments and without becoming entirely too angry, corrects his child; or when a judge punishes a criminal through zeal for justice; and it is in reference to such cases as these that the inspired Book of Ecclesiasticus says: "Anger is better than laughter; because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected" (Ecclus., VII., 4). Thus St. Gregory could write: "There is one kind of anger which impatience excites, and another kind of anger which zeal causes; the first of these comes from vice, while the second comes from virtue."

But when you are not in charge of anybody, and when you get angry at every little offence against you and often for no cause at all, you may be sure that that is the "anger which impatience excites," the anger which we name fourth of the seven capital sins. There have been boys who would fly into a passion if another boy looked at them, and who would want to use their hands if he simply spoke to them. From real injuries, of course, we are allowed to defend ourselves. It is no duty for us to let anyone kill or even harm us when we have the power to prevent it. But once the injury is done, then to give way to our anger, or perhaps to revenge the offence by doing some other injury just as bad—this is strictly forbidden. It may be that we shall meet with real offences and injuries in the course of our lives; even then we must not yield to violent wrath nor take the punishment into our own hands. "Revenge is Mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord " (Rom., XII., 19).

To a certain small extent God has entrusted His " revenge " and His justice to those on this earth who are in power and authority over us; and to these even a Christian may have recourse in certain circumstances. He may go into a court of law, for example, and bear witness against or prosecute another, without any sin whatever; not simply to satisfy his anger though, nor to get his revenge, but through zeal for justice and God's glory; for the correction of the sinner and for the common good. Otherwise, if the law should let murderers and embezzlers, slanderers and thieves, and other criminals go at large without any punishment, it would be neither kind to them nor good for people in general.

But no matter what their provocation may be, Christians must never hate anybody nor wish anyone evil. If you think for a moment, you will easily understand that it is one thing, and an extremely sinful thing, to pray or wish for evil and misfortune to fall upon some criminal who may have injured you simply through hatred of him; while it is another thing, and free from all sin, to desire and work that the criminal be punished by the law, for his own good, or for the common good, or for the upholding of justice and public order.

To yield to hatred, to take revenge into our own hands, to give way to violent anger—these always are unlawful and wrong for us. So far as we privately are concerned, we must repress our anger and forgive our injuries. "For if you will forgive men their offences," our Divine Saviour said, "your Heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you" (Matt., VI., 14-15). "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matt., V., 7). "Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land " (Matt., V., 4).

Meekness is entirely opposed to anger. To be meek is much the same as to be mild, gentle, sweet-tempered. Our Di vine Lord has adjured us: " Take up My yoke upon you and learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart " (Matt., XI., 29). And the more we wish to please our Saviour, the more earnestly we will strive to cultivate meekness in ourselves and to give ourselves the habit of constantly bridling our temper and repressing our wrath.

Because we can obtain this habit if we desire to. If we are willing to pray often enough and to work long and hard enough, God will surely help us to subdue our angry passion.

Certainly you must make allowances for one another. And you must have a true and humble opinion of yourself, and must remember that others are just as good and just as dear to God as you are. If anyone is such a daft fool as to think that he is miles above the rest of the world, why then, of course, he will be impatient and angry at every little provocation. But if you are gifted with wisdom enough to know that you are not the only star in the sky, you will bear with others and forgive them.

Oftentimes you can feel the first motions of anger as they begin to stir in you, and that is the very time to check and impede them. Cultivate cheerfulness and the sense of humour. Give yourself the habit of seeing the funny side that there is to nearly every provoking situation. Laugh or smile at that first moment, agreeably change the subject or the situation, and bring back the peace of your soul. Some persons form a rule, and by daily practice make it a firm habit, to do and say nothing while angry, but always to wait a little until they have become calm again; and like nearly all good rules, this rule has its foundation in Scripture: "Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger," St. James says, "for the anger of man worketh not the justice of God" (James, I., 19).

In this as in every other respect, prayer will work wonders for you. Right in the heat of temptation a short prayer may be said, even without moving one's lips. Many persons at the very moment when anger seemed to be overcoming them, have saved themselves by a quick and secret "Hail Mary," or by that little ejaculation which one might think was made for this very purpose: "Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine!" Therefore let us also frequently beg God to help us. Over and over again when you are on your knees, either here in the church or in your home, tell Him how much you desire to be humble and patient, how ardently you long to be meek and gentle, and beseech Him to assist you.

And sometimes think of His wonderful patience. How often is He offended and insulted by the human beings whom He has made. Raindrops during a thunderstorm do not fall in such numbers as offences and mortal insults rise up to God from powerless little mortals on this earth; yet instead of striking them dead on the moment and hurling them into hell, as human anger might, how long and how patiently does God wait for their repentance.

Think of the splendid meekness and long suffering of our Divine Lord. He was "led as a sheep to the slaughter" and He opened not his mouth (Isai., LIII., 7). He was despised, scoffed at, buffeted, spat upon, and He spoke no angry word. "Father, forgive them" came from His lips just before they closed in death. Keep His divine behaviour before your mind, and try hard to do what He asked you to, when He said "Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart." Strive to follow His example, to think of Him and imitate Him; and that meek example, glorious forever and beyond expression beautiful, which has changed a world of selfish, savage, passionate men and nations into a world that is already to a great extent civilized and softened, will help you also to tame your temper and to conquer your wrath.

It is true that in our law-abiding times anger is likely to do more harm to the person who yields to it than to anyone else; the man who loses his temper, is pitied by kind people and laughed at by those who are unkind, and generally that is the end of it. Nevertheless, anger is a sin, and a source of sins, and it will meet with its judgment and its penalty. Our Saviour has warned us long ago: "You have heard that it was said to them of old: 'Thou shalt not kill: and whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment" (Matt., V., 21- 22).

To be angry with our brother, to be harsh and unforgiving towards our fellow-men, to destroy the peace of happy homes by our lack of self-control—all this demeans and lowers us. We are not wolves nor dogs to pass our lives in snarling and growling at one another, but human beings, who have rule and dominion over the dumb animals, and who must keep a strict rule over ourselves. We are not wild men nor untutored savages, but Christian, civilized men and women. Unreasoning anger is out of place with us. Violent and loud anger, sulky and silent anger, all kinds of sinful anger, are unworthy of us.

Therefore resolve in your heart that it will never do for you to spoil your life or to lose your soul through this vicious passion, and through the many other sins which are likely to spring from it. You must watch your temper, check it, hold it down day by day, gradually giving yourself a stronger and stronger habit of keeping it in good control. Manly or womanly you should be, but above all gentle. Men and women you are, or will be in any case if you live long enough; but gentlemen and gentlewomen you will never be, save through your own persevering efforts to control yourselves and by the all-powerful assistance of God.

May our Divine Lord grant you the grace to fight this good fight in your soul for His honour and glory. May He, who throughout all the terrible provocations of His mortal life, with its cruel passion, was ever meek and humble, help you to model your hearts upon His sacred heart, and to learn of Him! "Let all bitterness and anger and indignation and clamour and blasphemy be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ" (Ephes., IV., 31-32).