Reflect
Did you know that anger is not always a sin? It’s the devil’s furnace when I deliberately use my words, actions, or silence as a weapon to hurt people’s feelings, move them to tears, or destroy their property. It gives birth to feelings of revenge and retaliation. On the other hand, anger can also be the prophet’s fire that boldly stands up for issues of peace, love, and justice—think of Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers in the Temple. Righteous anger blazes in the lives of the saints and leads them to boldly stand up and speak out.
Pray
Lord Jesus, you never hesitated to show brawn and backbone
for the sake of peace, love, and justice.
With a prophet’s fire, you overthrew the tables of the Temple’s money changers
and challenged the narrow-minded thinking of some religious authorities.
Bless me with courage so that as your disciple
I, too, can set the world ablaze with the prophetic fire of your gospel.
Amen.
Act
Commit to standing up and speaking out to a sinful or unjust situation. It could be something small that comes up in daily conversation or a justice initiative with which your parish is involved.
