Today’s Gospel from the Sermon of the Mount has one of the elements of the Gospel that I wish were never there. The other is the warning about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The reason is because too often these passages are grossly misunderstood, especially when they are taken literally. This passage is hyperbole. No one is called to remove eye, etc. Indeed, a famous early Christian theologian never became a saint because he did indeed take this passage quite literally and removed a certain part of his anatomy. It was not considered a holy thing to do. Also be careful of the man who boasts that he never gets angry. He is often just the guy who ends up getting angry at everything all at once on the front page of the local and national newspapers.

Ok then, how do we understand these passages.

First, it is not a sin to get angry. Anger is an emotion and as such, it is not a sin to become angry for any reason. Indeed, anger is like the warning light in the car. It is a warning that something is wrong, usually that you have suffered some form of injustice or frustration. Yet, it is simply a warning light. You have a choice to resolve the situation or just move on. It becomes a problem when you don’t fix the situation and you don’t move on. Then you get into the reality of internal damage caused by unresolved anger.

Many people misunderstand all of that and consider it a sin to become angry. So, someone mistreats them and then they go to confession for getting angry–justly. That is not a sin.

photo: perkmeup from bigstockphoto.com

So, what is the admonishment that Jesus makes against anger? Well, let’s look at one of His students and let’s look at one of His converts.

Both Saints Peter and Paul make the same admonition against anger, giving light to that of Jesus. Both Peter and Paul warn that unresolved anger is an opening  for Satan. Your refusal to address that anger, work through it and let it go, will turn it into a tool for the Devil according to St. Paul (Eph 4:27) Or it becomes the bait that draws the Devil to ruin your soul according to St. Peter (1 Peter 5:8) Jesus is warning that unresolved anger becomes a source of your own destruction. St. Peter and Paul give you the mechanics.

Indeed, this tool is quite real. One of the forms of political motivations comes from a playbook: Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals that teaches readers how to emulate the Devil and to become his agents. (If you have taken any course that promotes this book, and strangely enough it is taught in a New England Ivy League Divinity School; you have opened yourself to the demonic.) Political organizers use it to motivate others through their anger. Make sure people stay angry and you can manipulate them to do your work through your working with their anger. This is really a tool of the devil and the people who use it are working directly for him, especially if they do not believe in the demonic in the first place.

Anger is an emotion that when unresolved can consume a person or worse yet, allow the devil to enter and own a person. It can draw the life out of him and lead him or her to do grave evil in the name of their belief in justice. This is why Jesus warns against it. It is not a sin to be angry, it is a sin to hold a grudge and refuse to forgive, it is greater sin to use your anger as an excuse to do grave evil. Further, you are open to the work of the devil in your life through refusal to address anger. Bring your anger to Jesus and allow Him to show you how to resolve it as He heals you. Bring your refusal to forgive or to let go of anger to the confessional as well.

The same can be said for lust,which Jesus also brings up. When you hear of someone committing a crime related to sexual activity, that person has gone through many stages of entertaining lustful thoughts and various forms of sexual gratification before he committed that crime. His crime did not begin when the action began, it began maybe months or years earlier when lustful thoughts were eventually left unbridled. Look at the evil this does. Not only are there sex crimes, there are also children born without two parents, women or less often men who bring up children alone as the other partner leaves and is never found. Not only is there great damage that a woman suffers many years later due to an abortion, many men suffer the same emotional damage even more so because in the US a woman has a right to choose an abortion, the father does not have the right to prevent it. All these problems begin when lust is left unbridled.

photo: marcelmooij via bigstockphoto.com

There is also greed, which St. Paul likens to a form of idolatry.

And so many other sins.

Jesus is reminding us that the worst of all human disasters begin innocently with an unbridled passion that can become a horrid form of physical, social, emotional and spiritual destruction.

This is why it is important to name the sin, which Jesus does, to resolve the issue, confess it if necessary and move on. Remember that when you dimiss the words of Jesus, you end up in the valley of death (Ps 23) alone. Your chance of getting out alive is virtually nil. It is, after all, the valley of death and you chose to be there alone. If you listen to the words of Jesus, He leads you to the fountain of life. Angry, lustful  people never find that unless they invite Jesus into their emotional struggles.

God Bless You,

Fr. Robert J Carr

Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor of St. Benedict Parish in Somerville, MA and is the editor of this blog.

You may also find his videos in English at Gloria.tv. They will soon also be appearing on the New Song Media website to be unveiled soon.