Episode Transcript  

One

Anger 

Anger is a God given emotion meant to prompt us to achieve something difficult, aorrect some evil, or endure something we can’t change without giving up. Anger is meant to be constructive. It’s meant to give us energy, the power to correct an evil we can change or endure an evil we cannot change. 

Anger becomes sinful when it’s destructive, when we blow up, curse, yell at our kids, say and do very hurtful things. Or when anger is disproportionate to the situation, it’s too strong and lasts too long, like going postal over minor things or holding on to grudges, resentment, and hatred. Or when anger is directed to an evil that is not your place to correct

If you’re getting angry about people, situations, and policies that you can’t change, and that you have no right to change, things that are beyond the scope of your authority, well, how can that anger be constructive?

So are you always getting angry about the decisions of political authorities? Church authorities?

What good is that kind of anger going to do anyone? Why worry about the decisions you can’t make? The point of anger is to help you carry out the decisions that are within the scope of your authority.

Two

We overcome sinful anger by meekness

Meekness is not weakness. When I say meekness, what is the first word that comes to mind? That’s right, you think of weakness. But meekness is not weakness. It’s just the opposite. Meekness is the calm strength that harnesses the power of anger and directs it to the good. 

During the Exodus, Moses is described as the meekest man who ever lived. But he was no wimp or pushover. He was the only one who could confront Pharoah face to face and lead one million rebellious Israelites through the desert for forty years. And I don’t think the people in the Temple thought Jesus was weak when he drove them out with a whip. Yet he was meek. He said, “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.”

So, maybe we need to rethink our understanding of meekness.

Three

The Virtue of Meekness

Meekness is the virtue, the calm strength that harnesses the power of anger and uses it for good. Meekness is the transformation of the raw power of anger into disciplined strength. The training of war horses illustrates meekness. 

Wild stallions were brought down from the mountains and broken for riding. Some were used to pull wagons, some were raced, but the best were trained for warfare. They retained their fierce spirit, courage, and power, but were disciplined to respond to the slightest nudge or pressure of the rider’s leg. They could gallop into battle at thirty-five miles per hour and come to a sliding stop at a word. They were not frightened by arrows, spears, or torches. The war horse had ‘power under authority,’ ‘strength under control.’ A war horse never ceased to be determined, strong, and passionate. However, it learned to bring its nature under the discipline of its rider. It gave up being out of control and rebellious. 

To understand the meek, picture a great stallion at full gallop on a field of battle, who, at his master’s voice, seizes up to an instant halt, awaiting the next order.

We don’t want to get rid of the power of anger, just harness it for good. Meekness is the calm strength that harnesses the power of anger. 

Four

Check and Command 

We harness the power of anger and become meek by two steps: check and command. When the emotion of anger begins to rage, check it, like a hockey player checking an opponent into the boards. Check the anger that is getting out of control, stop it. Then command the right response. 

So, when you face something which causes anger: stop, check it. Then, think before you react. Ask yourself, what do I really want in the end? A wake of destruction, to burn relationships and bridges, vengeance, just to look like an idiot who is out of control? No. I want union with God; to love him and to love my neighbor and even my enemies. Keep that in the front of your mind. 

Then think: What can I do in this situation?  If there is something you can or should do, then Act. Do what you can, change what is possible. If this thing is not your responsibility or there is nothing you can do, it is beyond my control, then stay calm and stay out of it. Then command the right response.

Remember, when anger rises, check and command.

Five

Righteous wrath

There is such a thing as righteous anger, and the model for it is Jesus in the Temple. But be careful, Jesus was cleansing the Temple, and too often we read that passage and think that we should follow Him primarily by getting outraged at the corruption in the Church. We think the primary way to imitate Jesus’ wrath is by reforming the institutional Church or society. And certainly, we may all have some small role in reforming the Church and society. But it’s a small role. Because we’re not to Pope or the President, or the bishops or the governors. We’re not even the priests or the congressmen. 

And, of course, in the New Testament, the Temple doesn’t primarily represent the Church. It represents the individual Christian. You and I are each, says St. Paul, “Temples of the Holy Spirit”

So, against what evil should our wrath primarily be directed? What corruption are we primarily called to reform? Us. Our sin. Our evil. Our vice. Our corruption. That’s the primary evil we know, that’s the primary evil we’re called to correct.

If you’re going to get angry, get angry about your own sins. And then use that energy to cleanse God’s temple, which is your own soul. Anger is the God given energy first to change the evil within us, the only thing we can control. 

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you. 

• Today, offer up your tiredness for the conversion of your loved ones, united to the prayers of all those praying the Rosary with us.

• Whenever you’re faced with a wave of anger, stop and think about what you want to achieve. Think about the consequences of your anger and the ways in which that would only make things worse.

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