9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
“Be angry and sin not.” There lies in man both a justified and an unjustified anger: anger
against himself, against men, against conditions in which he lives. Anger has its origin in one’s
consciousness of having been injured. As far as it is directed against other persons, the anger
is founded on the idea that others underestimate our worth or fail to show us the respect we
feel is due to us. Anger results from the desire to revenge some real or supposed injury that
has been inflicted on us. Anger easily combines with hate, at least when the desire for revenge
appears reasonable and justified. In this case we do not desire that he who has done us harm
be punished out of charity, or out of justice, or solicitude for his soul, but rather out of the
evil desire to be avenged on the person who has harmed us. Anger often prompts us to act
unjustly and to punish one who has not merited punishment, or to punish far above the proper
measure someone who merited it. Anger and the desire of revenge and punishment are sins
against meekness and mercy. They destroy the mutual peace of men and give rise to many
sins against charity by causing unrest and rash judgments in words and works. With good
reason the Epistle admonishes us: “Be angry and sin not.” Be not aroused to anger; cling not
to anger; do not show your anger outwardly, but restrain and control your irritation. Never
make a decision in anger; for at such a time reason is impaired and we cannot judge correctly.
But, above all, when your anger is aroused, turn your eyes to God and seek to do His will. Seek
God’s will in all the disagreeable things and all the bitter things that disturb you, for they come
from the hand of God. If we consciously turn to God when disagreeable occasions threaten
us, we shall easily overcome our anger.
“Blessed are the meek” (Mt 5:4) does not mean that Christian meekness consists in our
having deep distrust of ourself; nor does it mean that we should never assert ourselves, nor
that we should allow others to treat us as they will. That is not the meekness of Christ; that
is spinelessness. Indeed such a negative attitude that shows indifference even against evil has
nothing to do with true Christian meekness. Christ’s meekness springs from strength, not from
weakness. It is born of an ardent love for God and neighbor, and is an index of self-control. It
flourishes in the silence of the soul possessed and blessed by God, in which the egoism of the
spiteful and impatient man and the low instincts of fallen nature are replaced by a higher life.
It is a new reaction to adversity. Christian meekness requires humanity, tenderness, sympathy,
and love for our neighbor. But it follows an unmerciful logic in the use of all these emotions and
cleans them of all self-love, pride, meanness, and servility. Christian meekness is the product
of a thoughtful, conscious, vital heroism carried to its logical end. It seeks perfection and the
divine union. Therefore it alone can use the strong, sublime virtue of meekness and tenderness
as the law of its own perfection. Only Christian meekness can uncover the weakness which lies
behind every outburst of anger and behind every ill-advised and spiteful word or deed. True
Christian meekness is to be found only in the regenerated man who is created after the image
of God in true justice and holiness.
“Be angry and sin not.” Jesus Himself became angry at the sight of the buyers and sellers in the
temple. “And when He had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, He drove them all out of
the temple, the sheep also and the oxen; and the money of the changers He poured out, and
the tables He overthrew. And to them that sold doves He said: Take these things hence and
make not the house of My Father a house of traffic” ( Jn 2:15 ff.). He is not indifferent to the
desecration of the temple. He cannot be. He opposes the evil with His very soul. Should not
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