St. Paul is always giving us homework that we would rather not do! But if we follow the admonition of St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians it will be a blessing for us and for our world.
“All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.” Driving the congested roads of Staten Island, I regularly fail the first part of this admonition of St. Paul! The strange thing about bitterness and anger is that it is far more destructive of ourselves than it is of those who are the object of our anger and our bitterness. When we are angry persons, there is a poison within us that robs us of our inner peace, prevents us from thinking clearly, and leads us to act in a way that is harmful to others and to ourselves. Whenever we find ourselves seething with anger, or feeling a deep-rooted bitterness in our hearts, we have to stop and reflect on what is the true source of that anger, that bitterness. When we name the source of our anger, the source of our bitterness, we can often bring that to the Lord in prayer and over time the Lord can help purge our hearts of what feeds our anger, sustains our bitterness. It is not easy, but the alternative is a life that is void of real happiness and peace.
The world would be a far better place if we could all learn to be more kind, more gracious, more understanding. Count to 20 before you blow your horn at the light! Let the person out of the parking lot or side street. Don’t fight over who is next on line at Shoprite. Call that person you know is lonely. Bring a meal to an elderly neighbor. Be patient with a co-worker who is always combative, always aggressive. Be patient with store clerks who earn far too little and are expected to do far too much. Every day we have the opportunity to change the world by the way we act in the world. We should not want to lose even one opportunity to change the world for the good.
Let us pray today that we will embrace the challenge St. Paul offers us.