Once on a retreat the director warned us about the dangers of getting angry — about losing our serenity. While there is certainly a danger in anger (it is one of the seven deadly sins!) it becomes a problem when we personalize it, when the anger is about what is happening inside of me. Jesus shows that there is another side to anger when he reacted to those resisting his healing ministry by looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart. Jesus was angry not because he felt put upon by others but because this world had not yet become the place of compassion and mercy that God had envisioned. His anger did not fill him with antipathy toward those resisting him but rather caused him to reach out to the one who was hurting. When we look around and are grieved to see a world which seems ungodly we should be motivated to create a more just and peaceful world.
