“Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; … and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.”
It’s clear that we have a problem with anger. Whether it’s the news or social media, or the way that people respond to the employees at stores and restaurants, there are a lot of angry people out there. Gallup’s world emotional survey confirms that people are angrier than ever. Twenty two percent of people report being angry for a lot of the previous day. Not just that they got mad at some point in the day, but were angry for a lot of the day. That’s some real anger problems.
The anger that Christ condemns is not the passion or feeling of anger, but the sin or vice of anger. When we experience that passion or feeling, what do we do with it? We can choose to dwell on that anger, to let it fester inside of us. We can choose to express it in acts of rage and fury. Or we can choose to set it aside, or to channel it into something good. When we experience anger about evils and injustices present in the world, the passion of anger moves us to right wrongs and restore justice. Or, if doing that is not within our power, righteous anger forms an internal resistance to the evil that I cannot remedy. I might not be able to right every wrong in the world, but I can resist succumbing to thinking that evil is okay by resisting it with righteous anger.
What do we do when we encounter anger in the world? Christ tells us today that if someone has something against you, you should “leave your gift at the altar” and go back to be reconciled with your brother. Two things are remarkable here. First, he is preaching to people in Galilee, one hundred miles from the Temple in Jerusalem, where the one altar is located. Leaving your gift at the altar for these people means walking one hundred miles on foot back to Galilee to be reconciled with a friend or brother. It’s that important.
The other remarkable thing is that He doesn’t say to do this if you realize that you are angry with your brother. He says to do it, “if your brother has anything against you.” True Christian charity does not just allow us to wash our hands: “Well, if she wants to feel that way, that’s on her.” Being reconciled to one another – even if it isn’t strictly your fault – is essential for having a rightly-ordered relationship with God.
Anger makes us blind. When you only see red, you don’t see reasonably. Those enflamed with anger do and say things they regret. The father of a friend of mine in Spain was a professional bullfighter. I once attended a bullfight with him and was fascinated by how he explained everything. You’ve probably seen drawings of the bullfighter (who is called a toreador – not a matador) holding out his red cloth in front of the bull, getting him to charge. They do in fact do that, but it’s not the whole story.
Before the bull is tricked into charging in such a way that the artful toreador can stab it between the shoulder blades, down into the heart, a series of aggravating and weakening maneuvers take place. Assistants mounted on armored horses “pick” at the bull with barbs, injuring it in just the right place to get it to charge with its head lowered, in such a position that it is no longer as dangerous to the toreador and his team, and more dangerous to itself. By the time the bull is tricked into making its suicidal charge, it has been worn down by anger, caused by pain.
The bull in the bull ring is the perfect image for the person gradually made more and more angry in 2026. Both news stations and social media networks know that the best way to pull you in is by making you angry. When you find things on social media that make you happy, you tend to move back into the real world. But when you find things that make you angry, they suck you in. Social media algorithms will feed you more and more anger-inducing headlines, and the longer you stay in, the more money they make. Just as the toreadors get the bull to duck its head and expose its back, social media and other sources of anger maneuver us into a posture of anger and spiritual blindness. The anger they build in us damages our relationships with real people, sending us back to social media, since we now have no friends. Repeat cycle, cha-ching, cha-ching.
So, what can we do about this anger? Last week we saw that generosity is fundamentally about what kind of person you want to be. So is anger. Consider: What kind of person do I want to be? Do I want to be the angry person? Or do I want to be happy? Even if my anger is justifiable, and maybe even righteous, would I rather have the anger than peace or happiness? That’s the crazy part: So often, we’d rather be angry than happy! Start with a simple prayer: “Lord, I renounce this anger!”
Next, when you’re angry, put down the device, disengage from the screen, and seek out face-to-face interactions. It is a lot easier to restrain the evil fruits of anger like hateful speech or plotting revenge when you are face-to-face with another human being. Even just disengaging from the situation for a while can be a big help. Or, write down what you want to say, and then go back and read it later. My mentor in college told me that his career had been saved numerous times by writing up an email, getting it all out, and then leaving it in his drafts folder until the next day. Sometimes he sent a highly edited version. Usually, he just deleted it. (I’ve done something similar on Saturday mornings, re-reading a draft of a sermon.)
If you want to hold up a mirror to anger, read a book by Franciose Mauriac. Mauriac’s books, particularly the famous Viper’s Tangle, show better than any other work of fiction what anger does to the human heart. You’ll answer that question, “what kind of person do I want to be?” differently after reading Mauriac.
When you’re angry, remember how often God has forgiven you. There are so many sins for which each of us deserve even the torments of Hell, that our loving God has chosen not to hold against us, thanks to the merciful intercession of Christ on the Cross. Could you not extend some of that grace to others? Look at Christ crucified and think of His dying words: “Father, forgive them.”
Though it might be hard in the moment, seek an opportunity to soberly consider the virtues of those who anger you. St. Paul tells us not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil by good (Rom 12:21). Someone told me how she was tempted to anger with someone over decisions he’d made, decisions that affected her and many other people, but when she began to pray for him, she saw things in a different light. Prayer changes us, and when we pray for our enemies, or just those who make us angry, it changes our perspective on them. Remember our Lord’s injunction to leave your gift at the altar and be reconciled to your brother. Choose to treat others with respect. You might be surprised at how they respond.
As we look forward to starting Lent this week, fasting is also an important remedy to anger. On a supernatural level, fasting softens our hearts and the hearts of our enemies to bring about reconciliation. On a natural level, it teaches us to control our impulses, saying no to carnal appetites to practice saying no to our irascible appetites (anger). That need for impulse control is why, especially in men, struggles with anger and struggles with sexual sin often go together. Fasting will help you get a grip on those impulses and temptations. Just don’t fast so much that you’re in a bad mood – that would obviously become counter-productive.
We read in the Book of Sirach today: “He has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.” When you are tempted to harbor anger, or to act out of anger, think of that image. Will I reach out to the fire, the anger that will just burn me up inside, or will I reach out to the water of Christ’s healing love, of forgiveness, of grace? If you choose anger, it will be given you, but if you choose love, forgiveness, and grace, God will give you life.
The Rev. Royce V. Gregerson
Parish Church of Our Lady of Good Hope, Fort Wayne
VI Sunday through the Year, A.D. MMXXVI
More about overcoming anger:
Father Gregerson 