Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. Sirach 27:30

That is the first sentence in this coming Sunday’s First Reading.

Anger has been a battle for me for as long as I can remember.

Those last words, “yet the sinner hugs them tight,” sometimes that is me.

Anger is a feeling, and feelings are not right or wrong.

How we react to those feelings or choose to express those feelings can be wrong.

Sometimes I do choose to hug my anger tight.

I tell myself I have a right to it, or there is no justice, so I must stay angry.

Or worse, I think I am right, so I’m hugging my anger, as the reading says.

How can I ask God to forgive me my sins when I hold on to anger towards others?

As I read on through this coming Sunday’s Mass readings, I hit the Gospel.

Jesus tells us we can’t.

He tells the parable or story of the servant who owes a huge debt to their king.

The king forgives the debt of the servant.

The servant then runs into another servant who owes them a debt and hurts them and throws them into prison until they can pay the debt. 

What?!

The servant was just forgiven a huge debt by the king, but they can’t forgive a debt from a fellow servant?

That’s me when I choose to hold on to anger towards another, then turn to God and ask Him to forgive me my sins.

God’s saying, “What?! You want me to forgive you, but you won’t forgive them?”

Jesus, I surrender myself to You.

Help me to lay the anger I hold on to at Your feet.

Help me to forgive.

Blessings through forgiving!