This page was updated 10/19/2006 07:10 AM Click here for Men of Epiphany home page

Anger and wrath, these also are abominations, yet a sinner holds on to them. (Sirach 27:30)

Oh Lord, I know it isn’t right to hold onto anger. But I have been hurt! Someone has hurt me or my family or my country. They may not even be sorry for what they did. How can I let go of the anger? And yet, I don’t want to “hug tight” the wrath that wells up in my heart. What can I do?

The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail. (Sirach 28:1)
How can I hold anything against someone else—I who have been forgiven so much? Every day it seems I must come to you for grace, mercy, and strength, Lord. Help me to see that without your grace, I am capable of inflicting just as much pain as those who have hurt me. I, too, am a sinner.

Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. (Sirach 28:2)
Just as you taught in the Lord’s Prayer, the key is forgiveness. If my brother does not ask me, I can at least have my own heart ready to offer the forgiveness. By keeping my heart hardened against him, I am blocking the grace you want to pour out in his life as well as in my life. It is so hard, Lord, but I ask you to help me to be ready to forgive.

The Lord. . . .is slow to anger and rich in compassion. (Psalm 103:8)
Make me like you, Lord. I still don’t feel very “rich in compassion.” In fact, there are times when all I can think about is vengeance. Slow down my anger, Lord. I want to live in your peace and joy, freed from the shackles of resentment.

“Lord, only you can fill me with the virtues that I lack. And so I come to you and bow down. I beg you to help me to be patient. Help me to be humble and not to condemn those who have sinned against me. Help me to be willing to forgive, seventy times seven times, if necessary!”

Questions for Reflection/Discussion by Catholic Men

1. The theme of today's scripture reading could not be clearer: mercy and forgiveness. In the first reading we are warned against nourishing anger against others. How much of your day would you estimate is spent remembering and reliving conversations and/or circumstances when you were hurt or angered by another person? What steps can you take to let go of them?
2. In the same vein, why do you believe the first reading encourages us to remember our "last days" when it comes to holding on to unforgiveness, anger, and vengeance? How can you use this injunction during the day to check the amount of unforgiveness in your life?
3. The responsorial psalm speaks of the Lord’s healing and pardoning. Since the Lord has so generously pardoned you, who are the people in your life to whom you can provide healing and pardoning?
4. The second reading reminds us that we do not live or die for ourselves, but for the Lord. How can you make this a greater reality in your life? How do you think this Scripture relates to the need to change our behavior with regard to unforgiveness, anger?
5. Jesus' parable of the king and wicked servant in the Gospel reading could not be more obvious: we will be forgiven to the same extent we forgive others. We cannot demand justice for everyone else and mercy for ourselves. (“Justice for him Lord, but mercy for me.”) How can knowing this reality impact the way you relate to others?
6. The meditation is a prayer to the Lord to be filled with his virtues of forgiveness, mercy, and compassion. As a follow-up to this prayer, take some time at the end of your meeting to pray for one another to be become more and more like Jesus, and be filled with these virtues.

Come Holy Spirit!  ~  Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and en kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. Let us pray: O God, you taught the hearts of your faithful by sending them the light of your Holy Spirit. In that same spirit give us your right judgment and the joy of your consolation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

Prayer to St. Joseph  ~  Glorious St. Joseph, guide and protector of the Holy Family, we ask that you obtain for us from your son, Jesus, the strength and wisdom to lead our families to their Father in heaven. Most Chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we imitate your obedience to the will of God and be ever mindful of the vocation to which we have been called. Amen