SIXTH SUNDAY OF YEAR "A"

SIXTH SUNDAY OF YEAR 

The Heart of the Matter and Anger

{Matthew 5, 17 - 37}

Jesus never beat about the bush; no hanky-panky or dilly-dally. He went straight to the heart of the matter. Jesus interiorises the values of life. He didn’t multiply obligations but called attention to the inner dispositions from which unlawful behaviour flows. So it is not enough to exclude adultery; it is the underlying lustful mentality that must be uprooted. Similarly, murder must not only be done away with, but much more the contempt and cruelty that find expression in the words of hatred and derision. Immoderate revenge is not the basic evil but rather the spirit of vindictiveness itself. God wants of us not just the performance of correct actions, but that we should be good persons. The love enjoined by the Gospel is a disposition, an attitude, an orientation of behaviour that is plainly irreconcilable with the kinds of conduct forbidden by the law. What Jesus is saying is that goodness is not merely refraining from prohibited actions. It involves, rather, a transformation of character, a realignment of values, a complete redirection of moral vision. That is to say, we are called to virtue. Virtue is a sort of artistic design that shines through your whole being. The Greeks described virtue as a well-tuned string  -  not too tight, not too loose, but just right, to sound the right musical note. Virtue is a pattern that makes people responsible and creative and securely sincere, and helps them to face up to situations, especially situations that make us angry.

Anger is a very common human experience. Situations make us angry; people make us angry. We get angry with ourselves also. Sometimes we know we are wrong to be angry. Much more often we think we are right. We think the fault lies with others  -  they made us angry. Or else certain situations provoke us to anger  -  and because these are bad situations we feel that we have the right to express our anger.

Jesus teaches with striking clarity that “every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgement; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says ‘You fool !’ shall be liable to the hell of fire” (Mt. 5,22). Must be take Jesus seriously ?

Jesus sees anger as the root of murder. Angry feelings, if they are nursed and not dealt with, become hatred. The fruit of hatred can sometimes become actual murder. Jesus warns us to avoid the possibility of such appalling effect of our anger by dealing ruthlessly with the initial feelings of anger.

We feel we have the right to be angry if we are exploited, let down, hurt, used or rejected. It is true that anger is a natural and even proper reaction to such things. Jesus does not say that we cannot feel anger. What he says is that we do not have the right, in normal circumstances, to hang on to it and express it. Instead we need to let go of our anger. Why does Jesus ask this of us ?

Jesus asks us to let go of our anger so that we can imitate him better. There were occasions when Jesus himself knew righteous anger or indignation and expressed it  -  but he was always in full control and his anger never led him to sin. His anger was the expression of his full moral freedom; our anger, on the other hand, could well be the expression of some attachment to our ego.  Instead of working up an anger and allowing it to devour us, we could turn that energy to something constructive like helping somebody in need, working for justice, or coolly stating our point of view with correct and dignified terminology.  But if we get up a in a fighting mood and allow anger to seethe within, we’re only murdering ourselves.

When Jesus was betrayed, insulted, ridiculed. tortured and crucified, he had the right to feel angry. But he let go of all feelings of anger and forgave his oppressors. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Lk 23,34). Jesus shows us a new and healthful way of living. As his disciples we must emulate him.

Whenever we are angry, we must first acknowledge our anger. We are not asked to repress our angry feelings by neurotically denying them. Then we must invoke the name of Jesus, and do it several times. The Holy Spirit will take over our emotions and our anger will gradually disappear, as there is a free flow between us and God.

Today is Holy Childhood Sunday. How many children there must be who are hurt and sad because of the anger of adults. Our hearts go out to the poor and neglected children; and as we do our bit to help them materially let us also help them spiritually by this prayer, taken from The Mothers’ Union Prayer Book.

PRAYER

God our Father, be near to our children growing up in the peril and confusion of these times. Guard them from the forces of evil at work in our society, and lead them in the paths of goodness and truth, and enable us as parents and guardians to give them at all times the security of our love, and the help of our example and prayers, through Jesus Christ our Lord.    Amen.