Pope: forgiveness is the only weapon against the anger that destroys human relationships
At the General Audience, Francis spoke of a "particularly dark" vice, which must be shaken off immediately without brooding when it leads to the hatred of others. But a "holy indignation" also exists when faced with injustice. The pontiff issued another appeal for the "helpless victims of wars" in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis dedicated today’s weekly General Audience in the Paul VI Hall to anger, a "particularly dark" vice that “only “benevolence, openness of heart, meekness, and patience" can counteract in our hearts.
For the pontiff, “Men do not stay together if they do not also practice the art of forgiveness, as far as this is humanly possible.” In fact, “Wrath is a vice that destroys human relationships. It expresses the incapacity to accept the diversity of others, especially when their life choices diverge from our own.”
Such an emotional state “does not stop at the misconduct of one person, but throws everything into the cauldron: it is the other person, the other as he or she is, the other as such, who provokes anger and resentment. One begins to detest the tone of their voice, their trivial everyday gestures, their ways of reasoning and feeling.”
“For this reason, the Apostle Paul – as we have heard – recommends to Christians to face up to the problem straight away, and to attempt reconciliation: ‘Do not let the sun go down on your anger’ (Eph 4:26). It is important that everything dissipate immediately, before sundown.
“If some misunderstanding arises during the day, and two people can no longer understand each other, perceiving themselves as far apart, the night cannot be handed over to the devil. The vice would keep us awake at night, brooding over our reasons and the unaccountable mistakes that are never ours and always the other’s.”
It is no accident that, “In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus makes us pray for our human relations, which are a minefield: a plane that is never in perfect equilibrium. In life, we have to deal with trespassers who are in fault with us, just as we have never loved everyone in the right measure.
“To some we have not returned the love that was due to them. We are all sinners, all of us, and we all have accounts to settle: do not forget this. We are indebted, we all have accounts to settle, and therefore we all need to learn how to forgive so as to be forgiven.”
Not everything that comes from wrath is wrong. “We are not responsible for the onset of wrath, but always for its development,” the pontiff explained.
“[A]t times it is good for anger to be vented in the right way. If a person were never to anger, if a person did not become indignant at an injustice, if he did not feel something quivering in his gut at the oppression of the weak, it would mean that the person was not human, much less a Christian.”
For Francis, “Holy indignation exists, which is not wrath but an inner movement.” Hence. “We must distinguish well: zeal, holy indignation, is one thing; wrath, which is bad, is another.”
In the end though, “It is up to us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to find the right measure for the passions. To educate them well so that they turn to good and not to evil.”
In greetings to Italian pilgrims, the pope mentioned that tomorrow Italy marks the National Day for Civilian Victims of War.
"To the prayerful remembrance of those who have died in the two world wars," he said, “we also associate the many - too many - civilians, helpless victims of wars.” Unfortunately, the latter “still cause bloodshed on our planet, like in the Middle East and Ukraine.
May the victims’ “cry of pain touch the hearts of national leaders and give rise to projects for peace. When you read stories these days, there is so much cruelty in war, so much! Let us ask the Lord for peace, which is always meek, not cruel.”
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15/02/2023 11:35
