Justin Appel
Dear Friends,
When Jesus spoke to his disciples on the hills of Galilee near the Sea, he delivered some tremendously challenging teachings. Today’s Gospel lesson from Matthew closely follows Jesus’ words about the law and the prophets (5:17-20). No longer were the disciples – soon to become Apostles of Christ’s Church – supposed to merely keep the letter of the Jewish law. Jesus himself is the fulfillment of the law and of the prophets’ utterances.
That might sound like a soft, comforting idea, but in reality, Jesus taught his followers that the full intent of these laws had to do with our vocation as sons and daughters of God. Living in a Christ-like manner is actually more rigorous, as Jesus’ teachings about lust, divorce – and in this case, anger – reveal.
Perhaps our thinking about anger is somewhat abstract, but Jesus’ instruction and consequent Christian teachings regarding anger, remain as concrete as possible. All kinds of resentments, remembrances of past offences, bitterness, desire for revenge, and idle or malevolent gossip about others – these are all manifestations of anger, and they should not have a place in our daily lives.
This is a hard saying! I find this an enormous personal challenge.
How do we apply it to our lives? Here are a few traditional Christian ideas regarding anger:
Do not resent others, even if they do you wrong. Our resentments usually proceed from our pride, and signal a failure to see Christ’s image in other people, regardless of their chosen behavior. Christ taught us to turn the other cheek to someone who strikes us.
Focus on ourselves, not on others. While it’s tempting to solve the world’s problems, no outward-oriented anger or effort can replace internal work.
Do not react. This follows from the first idea. The words or actions of others cannot damage our true selves, and we are free to choose how we react to them. A major theme in traditional teachings regards the need not to react to thoughts, but simply to be aware.
Be still. A major challenge within our spiritual walk involves learning to be conscious of God at all times. Prayer should itself be an activity that orients our persons toward God’s presence, and which should yield inner stillness. ‘Contemplative’ prayer seems to get a bad rap as a fringe activity in some circles, but in reality, all prayer strives towards a rigorous internal orientation towards God through the ‘eye of the heart’.
Bottom line? Our best defense against anger lies in constant prayer – in effortful, conscious communion with God.
Yours in Christ,
Justin