Wrath and Anger are Hateful Things

My Dear Parishioners,

We are challenged this week to let go of any resentment in our minds or hearts: Peter approached Jesus and asked Him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive?…..So will my Heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from the Heart.”

We already know that Our Loving and Merciful and Forgiving Savior wants us to “pay forward” the mercy and forgiveness that we have received from Him: Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy and Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us.

We further learn through the Book of Sirach that resentment can lead to our own condemnation:

Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance, for He remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven…..Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.

Resentment is a relentless feeling of anger toward someone, or some group of people, who have hurt us in some way. So, it is much more than a passing moment of anger, but something that persists in our minds and our hearts. By persisting in our minds and hearts, it allows the person, or persons, who have hurt us to continue to have authority over us. Even if the person or persons are already dead, by harboring feelings of resentment, we still allow that person, or persons, to have power over us.

Resentment then spills over into our other relationships and robs us of opportunities to grow in happiness and joy. In its more advanced forms, resentment may even turn into hatred, much is the willing of evil upon another. Jesus, we remember, warns that if we harbor hatred in our hearts, we are the same as a murderer. This is why Jesus says we must forgive from the heart.

If you find yourself resenting someone, pray three Hail Mary’s for that person, daily, by name, whether the person is living or dead. The prayer will help us to eventually open our minds and hearts to forgive the person, which will then in turn free us to find happiness and joy.

In this month of Our Lady of Sorrows, we may also pray the Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows, and ask our Blessed Mother to help purify our hearts by helping let go of any resentment.

While forgiving others in this life may not lead to reconciliation with that person or persons in this life, it does make us true disciples of Christ and allows us to live in true freedom as a loving, merciful, and forgiving brother or sister in Christ. It may then, hopefully, with God’s loving and merciful Grace, lead to reconciliation with that person or persons in the Life to Come.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, and our Patron, pray for us!

Fr. Michael J. Pawelko, Pastor