By Fr. Roy Cimagala *
WE cannot deny that there are moments when we find ourselves
angry, or even when we need to be angry. We just have to learn how to
handle this emotion that in itself is neither good or bad. It depends
on how we do it.
In this regard, it might be good to take a look again at
that occasion when Christ got angry with those who turned the temple
area into a marketplace. (cfr. Lk 19,45-48) We can also take this
occasion to realize how we, especially priests, ought to preach so
that like Christ in this gospel episode, we can attract people to our
words.
As noted in that occasion, people were hanging to Christ’s
words such that those who wanted to put Christ to death could not
carry out their plan.
Yes, anger is one of our God-given emotions, locked into our
nature as persons. It has its legitimate use. But precisely because of
our precarious human condition here on earth, we have to be wary of
it. In fact, anger is also considered one of the capital sins, along
with pride, envy, greed, lust, gluttony, sloth, that can beget many
other sins.
If ever we have to be angry, let’s try our best to be angry
in the spirit of Christ who showed anger over the self-righteous
Pharisees and scribes, and over those who turned the temple area into
a market place. Christ’s anger is what is called righteous anger, one
that is done always in charity and in the truth, and not just due to
opinions and biases. It’s an anger that is meant to correct, purify,
heal.
Besides, Christ’s anger is only momentary. It does not last
long. As a psalm would put it, “his anger lasts only a moment, but his
favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing
comes in the morning.” (30,5) He is slow to anger, and quick to
forgive.
We really have to learn how to hold our horses, especially
when we feel provoked or incited. We have to lengthen our patience,
our capacity to suffer. We have to broaden our mind so we can we can
quickly and easily capture the more important things in a given issue
rather than react immediately to things that are only incidental to
that issue.
With respect to preaching, we have to understand that it is
a task entrusted to his apostles and shared by all of us in different
ways. The clergy take a leading role in this affair. It’s a serious
business that involves our whole being, and not just our talents and
powers.
Obviously, to carry out this mission, we need to know our
Lord and his teachings. We have to go to him and read the Gospel.
Reading and meditating on it should be a regular practice for us, a
habit meant to keep us in touch with him.
Thus, every time we read the Gospel, we have to understand
by our faith that we are engaging with our Lord in an actual and
living way. We are listening to him, and somehow seeing him. We can
use our imagination to make ourselves as one more character in any
scene depicted by the Gospel.
For this, we need to look for the appropriate time and
place. We have to be wary of our tendency to be dominated by a
lifestyle of activism and pragmatism that would blunt our need for
recollection and immersion in the life of Christ.
* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
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