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Jesus got angry in the temple because the people were turning the temple into a marketplace. Jesus got angry with the Scribes because they valued the law more than the hunger of the disciples. He got angry with the Pharisees because they valued the law more than the crippled man who could not walk. He got angry with the Scribes and the Pharisees and called them a brood of vipers.
So what is Jesus saying? That we must not get angry? The anger of the Lord referred to in the Gospel is not the same anger as the anger in the temple or the anger at the Pharisees or the anger at the scribes because they were hard-hearted. The anger that the Lord refers to in the Gospel is anger that is nourished, anger that is nurtured, anger that is enlarged, anger, which is resentment, which is developed through the years. Anger that we don’t like to let go.
We are all guilty of that, including this priest talking to you. That kind of anger that we nurture, that kind of anger that we bring with us to sleep, that kind of anger that we wake up with, that is the kind of anger that is displeasing in the sight of God.
Modern psychologists call it resentment, which turns to resistance, and then builds up towards revenge. We all know that, quietly from a distance, when we see misfortune on the one who did us wrong, we say, “Sweet revenge.” “Wala pa akong ginagawa, pinaparusahan ka na ng Diyos.” (I haven’t done anything yet, and there God is punishing you.)
How is the Lord inviting us to respond to this resentment, resistance, and revenge? What should our response be? First, communication. If there is resentment, if there is “samang loob,” (hurt feelings) if there is resistance in your heart, talk. Talk about your feelings with those concerned. Communicate. Build bridges, not walls.
Second, compromise. It is not to compromise with evil. It is rather to look for meeting points, to look for halfway points where one party can give way and the other can give way and people can meet halfway, without compromising morality, without compromising the commandments. There are some things that we can give up. There are some things that we must keep absolutely, but we must learn to give way.
The third C is contemplation. When we have met halfway, let us look at the same direction and pray.
ANGER
Mt. 5:20-26
Love Like Jesus
