Latest / The Uncensored Catholic / Show 194: The 7 Principal Virtues and Vices, Patience, Meekness and Wrath

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Show 194: The 7 Principal Virtues and Vices, Patience, Meekness and Wrath · The Uncensored Catholic

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Speaker 1: Hey, you're welcome. Today's show we are continuing our series
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on the seven virtues and their opposite vices, and today
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will be patients. And patience is an interesting one in
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that it engenders both meekness and peaceableness, and the opposite
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of meekness, I guess or patience is wrath. So wrath
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is the opposite vice. We'll get into that in ju
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just a second. That comes from Father Sparago's exhaustive Catechism
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of the Catholic Church, of course, but first we will
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return to radio replies. And we questioned our states. Christ
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gave us the command search the scriptures John five thirty nine,
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and the presanswer that was a retort, not a command.
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You cannot turn a particular buke into a universal law.
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This once again you see Protestants, I would say generally,
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you know, I mean I was well kind of brought
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up and confirmed in the Methodist Church, but also attended
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the Presbyterian Church because my mother had gone to a
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Presbyterian college, and I actually went to a Presbyterian college
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for two semesters, worked as a Methodist youth minister later
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on in college, and then went to a Southern Baptist
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university and had to take classes on their doctrine, and
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so I know pretty well how Protestantism works. And they
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actually encouraged people to just to take like random sentences
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out of the Bible and then sort of read into
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it a meaning out of context. Well, in that context,
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Christ was it was a retort. It was a reply
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to essentially criticism and Jesus saying, search the scriptures and
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you'll find out. Well, they'll take this person is taking
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that search the scriptures as a universal command, and they say,
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we're in a universal law. It would have been possible
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of fulfillment by the vast majority during the fourteenth centuries
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prior to the invention of the printing press. In other words,
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until Gutenberg, a Catholic, conventted the printing press and began
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printing Bibles, most people had no access to a Bible
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because each one had to be hand copied, and they
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were incredibly valuable, and each parish church would have one
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and people could come in and read it. But you
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also have to remember, well over ninety percent of the
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population was illiterate. It wasn't due to someone trying to
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deprive them of the Bible. It was due to the
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lack of universal literacy. There wasn't well, there certainly wasn't
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compulsory public education. That's a very modern thing. But most
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people were illiterate then. That's actually contrary to the efforts
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of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was opening schools
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and everywhere they had a monastery or an abbey, and
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they were trying to teach people to read. It's just
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the priorities of people really before the Industrial Revolution were
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put food on the table. I mean, from the time
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you were ten years old, and maybe even younger you were, well,
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certainly younger you were going to be working in the garden,
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in the fields if you grew up in a farm,
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but you had nine, eight, nine ten year old kids
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working in the coal mines. It was a struggle for survival.
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So you have, like they said, were at a universal law.
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It would have been impossible to fulfill by the vast
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majority of the during the fourteenth centuries prior to the
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invention of the printing press. But taken in context, the Jews,
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who boasted their fidelity the Mosaic Law, would not believe
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in Christ. He challenged them, you the Jews, those specific
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people he was addressing not anybody who picks up the
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Bible and reads that page. That's another fallacious idea of protesism,
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that every word in the Bible is addressed to the reader. Actually,
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a lot of times it's just a recording of a
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conversation between Jesus and actual, real living individuals. When he
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says to Saint Peter, thou art the rock, he's addressing
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Saint Peter, and Saint Peter, only can you challenge them?
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You search the scriptures, for you think in them to
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have life everlasting, And the same are they that give
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testimony of me in orders to scriptures give testimony to
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who the Messiah would be by the signs he would show.
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The Catholic Church could say the same way to Protestants,
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you are ever speaking of searching the scriptures as opposed
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to my methods, and think in them to have everlasting life, independently,
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independently of me. Yet the same are they get this
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give testimony to me. In other words, the Bible describes
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the Catholic Church and the sacraments. Jesus said, unless you
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eat of my flesh and drink of my blood, you
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have no life in you. Only. The Catholic Church is
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a valid Eucharist extent the Orthodox but that that's a
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conversation we've had before. But the Anglicans don't. The Lutherans don't.
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For them, it is mere symbolism, no honest and understanding.
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No scholarly Anglican believes that when he goes in he's
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eating the body and blood of Christ. Neither does any Lutheran,
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even though Martin Luther did actually believe in the Eucharist. Well,
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they broke with Apostolic succession. They have their ministers have
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no power to turn bread and water into the body
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and blood of Christ. Jesus said, you must be baptized
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to be saved unless you're born again of water in
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the blood. Again, that's water in baptism and the Eucharist.
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It's not being born again by reading your Bible or
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saying a formulate prayer, as many protests claim. You actually
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have to partake of the sacraments that you can only
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find in the Catholic Church. Person contenders, do we not
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read that the early Christians searched the scriptures daily and
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acts what was it seventeen eleven? I believe they first
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received the true doctrines from the teachings of the Church
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and then merely checked it in the scriptures. That is
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the right procedure, as Catholics today do the same. But
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your way is not first to be taught by the
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church and then to verify, but to try to make
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your own religion from the Bible with an untrained mind
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and by that private interpretation which Scripture excelf forbids. And
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the person says, well, I am afraid of nothing as
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long as I have the pure word of God to
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fall back upon. And they answered, without the Catholic Church,
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you cannot prove it to be the pure word of God. Remember,
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the Church wrote the Bible. Jesus didn't leave us a Bible,
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he left us a teaching church. Nor need anyone be
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afraid of the pure word of God. What we must
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fear is the Word of God adulterated by the people
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who read into it whatever they like. And we'll pick
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up again with this question and answer session in our
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next show. But let's move on now to the virtue
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of patience. And it's corresponding or contradictory whatever you would say.
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Vice patience, as I said, brings about meekness and peaceableness.
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You could say they're all the same virtue, or you
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could say they're different aspects of the same virtue. I
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think that's a better way to say it, and I
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think it's the way Father Sparago kind of treats it.
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Patients consists in preserving one's serenity of mind amid all
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the contrarities contriarities of the life of this life. For
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the love of God. Some persons are patient in order
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to make themselves admired. Many, on the other hand, except
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cheerfully only a part of their suffering e g. They
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will endure sickness patiently, but this cannot endure to be
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a burden too. But they cannot endure to be a
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burden to others on account of it. You often see
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that I mean someone who's patient and being sick but
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will not. Essentially, it's an issue of pride. It's an
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issue of that ideas personal dignity. We don't want to
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be a bird into others. Well, that actually gives the
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other a chance to do service. You may be actually
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doing them a great deal of good by allowing them
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to do penance and helping care for a sick person.
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Of course, for some people it's just their job. Doctors
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and nurses and all that it is not truly, that
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is not truly being patient. Our Lord affords us the
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most exalted example of patience in his passion. Our heavenly
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Father also exhibits himself to us as a model of patience,
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for he bears with sinners, even with those who provoke
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his justice, as perjurers and blasphemers do. Job and tobias
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were remarkable for their patients. The patient man is like
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a rock in the ocean on which the waves break again.
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He may be compared to a lamb, which does not
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utter a sound when it is slain. The trials of
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life in which it especially behooves us to maintain air
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tranquility of mind are sickness and reverses, misfortunes, in other words,
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relapse into sin, the pressures of many and onerous duties
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appertaining to our calling sickness and reverses reverses by which,
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like I said, he means misfortunes are not really calamities.
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They are graces. God sends them upon us for the
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good of our souls. We ought therefore to welcome them.
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We must not be irritated with ourselves if, by reason
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of our frailty we relapse into our old sins, and
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thus are forced to acknowledge that there is more of
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a human, more of the human, than of the angelic
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nature about us. We must have as much patience with
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our sin as with our fellow men. Our Lord says,
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bring forth fruit in patience Luke eight point fifteen. We
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must not lose our equanimity when our work is pressing
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and difficult. Excitement creates haste, and hastiness always does harm,
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just as an overflowing stream or a violent rain destroys
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and devastates. We ought to imitate the angels who minister
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to man without disquiet or hurry. We ought also to
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wait with patience for the end of our life and
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for our interests into eternal felicity Romans eight twenty five.
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Felicity again is happiness. Tranquility of mind is displayed by
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not yielding to anger or to sadness, or complaining to
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any great extent and calling for the commiseration of others.
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It's rather difficult for any human being to do. Don't
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get angry, don't get sad, don't complain. Well, we're all
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going to get a little angry sometimes, and we're all
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going to experience sadness, and we're all going to complain
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unless we are living saints, and I am not. We
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ought not yield to anger. Anger obscures the reason and
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makes us act unjustly. The anger of man worketh not
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the justice of God. James one, here, I'll give you
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a challenge. If you want to see how great good
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your patience is, call the IRS about an issue on
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your tax returns. You know, every now and then you
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get lucky. I actually had an issue recently and I
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was able to find a direct number and instead of
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being on hold, they gave me a call back time
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and it was actually resolved within an hour or so.
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The last time I actually had to call into the IRS,
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I was on hold for an hour and a half.
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And this was after like fifteen times trying to get through,
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and they say, due to call volume, we can't accept
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your call at this time. So it took me like
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three days to then get on cold for an hour
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and a half to then be transferred to five different people,
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each of whom put me on hold for about twenty
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to thirty minutes. And the first three or four say,
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I don't know why they sent you to me. This
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run department. I need to send you over here and
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then divinely get the right person who says that forum
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has been received and it won't be processed for another
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twenty weeks, and you can expect a letter in the
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mail telling you what to do next after that, but
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allow four to seven weeks for the mail to reach you.
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And if you can be patient in the face of that,
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when you have other work to do and other things
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demanding your attention, some of which are really important, and
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you're stuck on hold, reaping the fruits of your tax dollars,
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just to be told that there's nothing they can do,
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then you know you may actually be a living saint.
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I am not. I am not at all in that regard.
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In fact, I can be quite vocal. I am Irish,
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but you know at least half of my genetics or Irish,
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more like about sixty percent. So yes, there was some
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colorful language exercise. We okay. So the anger of man
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worketh not the justice of God, nor ought the tribulation
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of this life to render us sad. There is indeed
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a sadness which is pleasing to God, which is caused
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by the loss of eternal things. Our Lord says blessed
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are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted Matthew
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five five. But the sorrow of this world, I e.
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That the of the worldling the person in the world over,
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the loss of mundane things worketh death Tewod Corinthians, seventy ten.
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Sadness hath killed many, and there is no prophet in
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it Ecclesiastis I Think thirty twenty five. It is, however,
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allowable to complain on account of severe physical or mental suffering,
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so long as we submit to the will of God,
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our Lord uttered complaints upon the cross. Our heavenly Father
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frequently complained of the conduct of sinners by the mouth
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of the prophets. But a medium must be observed, and
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we must not lament of our trifles, nor let our
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complaining be prolonged or exaggerated. To do so is evidence
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of selfishness or even cowardice. Complaint. Complain to God as
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long and as loudly as you will for your complaints
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or an appeal to Him for help, and consequently are
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pleasing to him. But if you fill a fellow creature's
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ear with the sad tale of your care, he will
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soon weary of your conversation. Not so God, He is
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ever ready to hear you and to impart to you
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such consolation as will cause you to forget your sorrow.
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Our Lord says, come to me all you that labor
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and are burdened, and I will refresh you or give
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you rest, depending on translation. Matthew eleven, twenty eight. Patience
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produces many virtues that lead to salvation. Saint Teresa. I
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believe the Saint Teresa of Avilla said that if we
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bear slight things patiently, we shall acquire courage and strength
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to bear great things. The patient man displays fortitude equal
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to that of the martyrs. Patience is the guardian of
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all the virtues, for their obstacles to be encountered in
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every good work, and they can only be overcome by patience.
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Saint Gregory the Great declares that by unwavering patients the
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crown of martyrdom may be acquired without the sword. The
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patient man is greater than he who works miracles. Patients
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leads to salvation, and your patience you shall possess your souls.
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Luke twenty one to nineteen. Fragile things are not so
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likely to be broken if they are wrapped in wool,
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Nor our souls so likely to be lost if they
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are safeguarded by patients. The patient man is like a
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ship at anchor, and the peaceful harbor protected by the
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protected from the stormy waves of the ocean. If we
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would bear with patience the trials of life, let us
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place our Lord's passion before our eyes. Let us also
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consider the sufferings. That sufferings are a favor from God.
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Think upon the passion of Christ. He drank the bitter
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cup in order to overcome our repugnance to drink of it.
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He suffered first that we might not fear suffering frequently.
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Think of Christ crucified. Your sufferings cannot be compared with his,
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either in intensity or in number. A soldier scarcely feels
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his hurt if he sees his general to be severely wounded.
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Let the sick man, says Saint Francis Desau, offer his
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pains to God and pray him to accept them in
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union with the sufferings of Christ. Remember the words of
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the archangel Raphael to Tobias. Because thou wast to receptible
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to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee.
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That's the book of Tobit Tobit twelve fourteen. Again, if
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you don't have the Book of Tobit or Sirac or Wisdom, etc.
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In your Bible Maccabees, et cetera, you have a fake
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and false Bible in which the words of God have
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been changed to suit a heretical and false version of Christianity.
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And Martin Luther admitted such when he said he purfoctly
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chose the words of God in the Bible to suit
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his opinion because he willed it to be. So you
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can look that up. That's a quote from Martin Luther.
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Doctor Luther wills it. He said, anyway, without suffering, there
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is no salvation for though many tribulations we must for
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through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God
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Acts fourteen twenty one. As the bitter pill was coated
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with sugar to render it palatable, so when looking forward
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to the rich recompense in store for us, the chalice
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of suffering loses its bitterness. The laborer could not labor
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all day long without the anticipation of the wages to
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be paid him, and the thought of our eternal reward
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enables us to bear the trials of life with patience.
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Think of the martyrs and of others who have greater
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afflictions than you, and your thorns will lose their sharpness.
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Beware of losing merit by impatience. Remember that you will
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earn great merit if unwillingly you do not diminish, but
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only add to your suffering. Patience is displayed pre eminently
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by meekness and peacefulness. Meekness, which I suppose, is an
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aspect of patience. Maybe we should look at that way.
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Meekness consists in showing for the love of God no
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irritation when wrong is done to us. Many persons are
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meek through timidity or for convenience sake, but that is
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no virtue. In other words, it's not meek meekness as
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God intends. As Jesus was meek. Remember, Jesus was all powerful.
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Jesus feared no man right, but he was meek and humble.
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That's the kind of meekness we're talking about here, not cowardice.
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One who is meek does not excite himself when he
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is wrong. He bears injustice in silence, and is polite
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and obliging to the offender. There is something divine in meekness.
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God himself is infinitely long suffering. He does not exert
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his almighty power against transgressors. He bears with the sinner
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and gives him ample time for repentance. God appeared to
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Moses in the burning bush in Exodus three to Elias.
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He spoke by a whistling of a gentle win three
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Kings nineteen twelve. This was not without a deep significance.
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The Holy Spirit also assumed the form of a dove,
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and our Lord proclaimed himself by the mouth of the
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prophets to be the Lamb of God Jeremiah eleven nineteen.
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Who can fail to be astonished that the meekness of
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God when we hold the Redeemer upon the cross, meekness
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is agreeable to the Lord Ecclesiastes or Ecclesiasticus one thirty five.
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God chose Moses on account of his meekness and sanctified
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him from the same book. By meekness, we gain power
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over our fellow men. We attain peace of mind and
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eternal salvation. Our Lord says, blessed or the meek, for
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they shall possess the land Matthew five point four. That is,
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they shall gain command of her others those who are
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meek gained the affections of their fellow men and render
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them kindly disposed. If one who is incensed against another
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is met with meekness, his anger vanishes, as darkness is
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dispelled on the rising of the sun. A mild answer
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breaketh wrath. Proverbs fifteen one. Bad men may be won
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by kindness. He who subdues anger within himself will be
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able to conquer it in others. Also a good example
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of the effect of meekness is given by the conduct
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of Blessed Clement Hoffbauer, when he was collecting alms for
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orphaned children in Warsaw. Going up to a group of
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men at a card tabe when a hotel, he asked
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them for a donation. One of the card players spat
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in his face. Half power quietly wiped his face and said,
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that serves for myself. I now ask you for something
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for my poor children. The man was greatly ashamed and
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gave half Bower all the money he had about him.
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What is more, a few days later he went to
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him and made a general confession. Saint Francis Savior was
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stoned by the Indians while he was preaching. He went
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on without taking the slightest. Notice, the Indians who had
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thrown the stones were so amazed at his meekness that
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they were the first to be baptized. He who is
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complete mastery over himself will find all the world subject
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to him. Far more is done by meekness than by anger.
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One catches more flies to Saint Francis to sal with
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an ounce of honey than with tons of vinegar. If
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two hard substances strike against one another, allowed crash and suit.
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But if a hard substance comes against what is soft,
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scarce the sound is heard. One must bear with the
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rate one as one bears with a sick for anger
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is a moral malady. Anger rests in the bosom of
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the fool, says Ecclesiastes seven to ten. Okay, my dyslexia
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has finally cleared, and I can now see the difference
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between Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiasticus in followers Barager's abbreviations. I have
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been struggling with this for weeks, as you may know,
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and I can guess what you know. I can never
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explain how my brain works. I am actually dyslexic, and
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yet I am reading to you from a book in
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you know fairly complex language. I can write. I've written
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fifteen books. All I can tell you is I will
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stumble over something. I will stumble over something. I can't
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get it right. The more I look at it, the
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more confused I get. And then suddenly something will click
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and I can see clearly. I don't ask me to
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explain it. You know, I thank God for it, because
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if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be able to
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do my job. By meekness, we gain peace of mind.
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For our Lord says learn of me, for I am
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meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest
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in your souls Matthew, eleven twenty nine. Consequently, the meek
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are always cheerful. By meekness we gain eternal salvation. The
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land promised by Christ to the meek is Heaven, Psalms,
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thirty six eleven. And again it's inversions. I've got three
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x's in front of me, V and I, and you know,
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first time I look at them, seeing X V XXI,
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and I know that's not right. So three x's Vienna
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nine eleven, thirty six eleven. There was a servant who
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could not control his angry temper despite all his master's
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rebukes and admonitions one day, the later, the latter promised
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him a half dollar if he would not utter an
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angry word all day long. The man refrained from a
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single outburst, although his fellow servants were extremely provoking. When
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the master gave him the half dollar at night, he said,
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if you can conquer yourself yourself for the sake of
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so paltry as some how is it that you cannot
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do so in view of eternal reward. These words had
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an effect on the speaker as desired. He had no
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cause to complain of the man in the future. Meekness
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can only be acquired by the diligent practice of self control.
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Saint Francis is so naturally of a choleric temperament, attained
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in the course of twenty years a perfect mastery of himself,
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so that he was thought to be phlegmatic by nature.
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In other words, he was hot tempered by nature, but
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was thought to be well meek by the end of
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his life, which is quite an accomplishment. I can say
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the same of both of my great grandfathers, who were
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rather amous for their tempers when they were young men,
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and by the time they were great grandfathers. One was
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much like me, always laughing, always making jokes, maybe drank
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a little too much, saying a lot, and was beloved
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by the entire community as being charismatic and fun to
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be around, and lived to be over one hundred years
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old and was a real real character. The other became
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very quiet and saintly and meek, and was also beloved
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in the community as being one of the kindest, most
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nice men known. And I hope, I hope to live
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long enough to follow in their example. We ought to
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behave with meekness towards those with whom we live, and
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superiors ought to be gentle toward their inferiors. It is
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especially an incumbent upon us to be meek in our
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intercourse with those with whom we live. Some do not
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observe this rule. They are angels abroad and devils at home.
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Superiors ought to show meekness toward their subordinates, but meekness
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in them is called gentleness. More is done by gentleness
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than by severity, For the human mind is so constituted
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that resists force and yields to mildness. That's a very
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important point that is very true of the human mind.
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When forced we get indignant. You know, that's just part
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of our nature. Superiors should be righteous. Superiors should be
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rigorous to themselves, and lenient toward those under them. Meekness
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was the chief characteristic of the apostles. Our Lord said
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to them, Behold, I send you as sheep in the
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midst of wolves Matthew ten sixteen. It ought also to
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be the chief characteristic of the Christian, For Christ speaks
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of the faithful as sheep John ten one or lambs
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John twenty one fifteen. Both these animals are remarkably gentle.
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Peaceableness consists in willingly making a sacrifice for the sake
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of remaining at peace with one's neighbor, were reconciling one's
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self with him. Abraham was content to take the worst
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portion of the land in order to keep peace with
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lots servants Genesis thirteen. Saint Francis Dessau was unjustly expelled
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from a large a lodging he had taken in Rome.
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He quitted it without murder, without murmur, obviously, without murder,
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without murmur, without you know, grumbling, And the next night
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a hurricane destroyed the house Saint Ignatius of Loyola. When
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returning from Palestine, was rudely refused to passage in the
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ship on which he rushed to embark. That vessel sank
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on its way to Europe. The one in which he
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sailed got safely to port. Piece is invaluable to mankind.
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The angels who announced the birth of Christ could wish
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nothing better to mand Luke two fourteen. Our Lord promised
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to give his peace to his apostles John fourteen twenty seven,
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and he saluted them with the words peace b tou
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John twenty twenty six. This was also the salutation he
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placed upon their lips when he sent them forth to
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preach Matthew ten twelve. All the good things of this
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world cannot please us if we are not at peace,
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For without peace we can enjoy nothing. Peacemakers are like God.
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He is not the God of dissension, but of peace.
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For Corinthians fourteen thirty three. He is the Lord of peace.
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Second Thessalonians three sixteen. The prophets foretold his coming as
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the Prince of Peace Isaiah nine six. And at the
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birth of Christ, the temple of Janus was closed because
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peace reigned everywhere. Peacemakers enjoy a special protection of God,
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and receive one hundredfold as a reward all that they
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give up for the sake of peace. Our Lord says,
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blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children
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of God Matthew five nine. God will replace one hundredfold
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what we surrender for the sake of peace. We have
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seen how Saint Francis is Sou and say Ignatius were
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saved from disaster and death through the love of peace.
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Not only this world, but also in the life to come.
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Does God reward us for all that we do for
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His sake? Mark ten, twenty nine. Forgiveness and forbearance are
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better than contention and complaining. Hence everyone ought to be
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willing to make concessions for the sake of peace, And
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as far as lies in his power to avoid all
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that may engender strife, we ought to put up with
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a great deal for the sake of peace. Beary ye
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one another's burdens, glaciers and six ' two. Many people
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are peaceable as long as no one interferes with them,
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and all goes in accordance with their will. But the
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slightest contradiction irritates them terribly. Such people are like stagnant water,
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which is all well enough as long as it is
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left alone, but stir it up and emits some most
30:46
unpleasant odor. We ought to also carefully avoid everything that
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may stir up contention. One should never contradict anyone without
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a good reason. Saint Teresa bids us never to enter
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upon a strife of words about matters of no importance,
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especially at once on fireside. A ship in which the
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timbers are not well joined will sink, so every community
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will fall to pieces whose members are not welded together
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with the bonds of love. However, one must not, for
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the sake of peace, omit or give up anything which
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the Lord commands that is not peace, that is not
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the peace God desires. Hence our Lord says, do not
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think that I came to send peace upon earth. I
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came not to send peace with the sword Matthew ten
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thirty four. Some people will not let you be at
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peace with them unless you acquiesced in their evil deeds.
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Such peace is unlawful. And now to the converse of
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meekness and also patience and peacefulness, wrath. Wrath consistently in
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exciting oneself about something at which one is displeased A
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man who is in a rage is more like a
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beast than a man. His countenance is distorted, ashes his teeth,
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raises his voice, gesticulates widely, stamps his feet, and knocks
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things over that would be me. On hold with the
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irs for seven hours or so. Those who are of
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a choleric temperament carry their anger about them everywhere as
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the viper does its venom. They are like a surly dog,
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which barks and bites if you do but touch him,
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Like flint that gives out sparks when it is struck,
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like an empty vessel which cracks when put on the fire.
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Where the vessel full of water it would not break,
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where the heart full of grace its patients would not
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give way. Angry people always put the blame of their
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anger on others, but experience proves that they give way
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to irritability when they are alone. Zeal for God's glory
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is called just anger, such as was the anger a
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lord displayed when he drove the cellars of doves and
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the money changers of the temple in John two, or Moses,
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when returning from the mount he saw the people worshiping
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the golden calf. Just anger is not really, anger is
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the offspring of charity, and like charity is patient, kind, calm,
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and not actuated by hatred. Just anger is quite lawful.
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Be angry and sin not Psalms four or five. That
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anger alone is sinful, which desires to take personal revenge.
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Those who indulge anger injure their health, temporarily lose the
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use of reason, make themselves hated, and incur the danger
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of losing eternal salvation. How foolishly, those who those act
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who are transported with anger, they punish themselves for another
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man's fault. Anger is prejudicial to the health and shortens
33:43
one's life. It causes the gall to overflow and poisons
33:47
the blood. The man who is in a rage is
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like an angry bee which loses its sting, or like
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a volcano that widens its crater and burns itself out.
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Anger exhausts the body in every part. When a man
33:59
is in a rage, he trembles in every limb. His
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heart beats high, his tongue falters, his face burns, his
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eyes glow like fire. He shouts aloud. Anger, cherished in
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the breast, destroys life as the worm at the root
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of a tree. Envying anger shortened a man's days Ecclesiasticis
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or Cirac thirty twenty six. Many men have had a
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stroke brought on by anger. Some have fallen down dead
34:26
through rage. If anger is so hurtful to the body,
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what must it do to the soul? Anger temporarily deprives
34:32
a man of the use of reason. Every violent emotion
34:35
troubles the understanding. The mind of an angry man is
34:38
like the surface of a sea, when lashed into fury
34:41
by the waves. It reflects nothing distinctly. Aristotle compare the
34:45
effect of anger on the mind to that of smoke
34:48
in the eyes. Or it may be compared to fog,
34:50
through which it is impossible to see things in their
34:53
true proportions. Anger is an intoxication, a temporary madness. For
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one who is thoroughly in rage is not the master
35:00
of his own actions. Here's Saint Francis Desau, speaking of
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one who is mad with anger, said, Lord, forgive him.
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He knows not what he does. Thus, in his anger
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a man will act most unjustly. He would do what
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he afterwards regret regrets. The anger of man worketh not
35:16
to the justice of God. Men in their anger are
35:19
worse than wild beasts. For the liam and he is enraged,
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does not fall upon his companions, whereas the rate the
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irate man vince his wrath upon his fellow men. He
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is worse than the evil spirits, for they live in
35:33
amity with one another, although they are the authors of
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all dissension, And how men rage against one another whence
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come blows, murders, feuds, and lawsuits. A man who is
35:45
easily provoked to anger is hated by his fellow man.
35:48
He is as little welcome as a hurricane or a
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water sprout. Everyone avoids an angry man, as everyone gets
35:55
out of the way of a mad dog. He has
35:57
no friends Proverbs, He has no friends. Be not a
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friend to an angry man, And do not walk in
36:04
the way with a furious man. Proverbs twenty two twenty four.
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Men are easily led by calm reason, but they resist
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if an angry man attempts to domineer over them. It
36:17
is easier to deal with a brute beast than with
36:19
a man who is prone to anger, For the beast
36:21
may be tamed, but with the wrathful man, no one
36:24
is ever safe. He who gives way to wrath is
36:26
in danger of eternal damnation, for he deprives himself of grace.
36:30
The Holy Spirit does not dwell in the heart where
36:33
anger resides, For where anger is there is no peace.
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As the inhabitant of a house constructed of wood is
36:40
in constant danger of having it burned down, so the
36:43
caloric or angry man, hot tempered, is in constant danger
36:47
of injuring his soul and being cast into everlasting fire.
36:51
In fact, hell has already begun for him. Since he
36:54
is a prey to unceasing agitation and unrest, anger must
36:59
be overcome in the following manner. We must never speak
37:03
or act when we are angry, but if possible, betake
37:06
ourselves to prayer. If in our anger we have injured anyone,
37:10
we should make amends for the wrong done without delay.
37:13
One must never speak or act when one is angry.
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One should do as mariners do when a storm arises.
37:18
They cast an anchor and wait until the tempest is over.
37:23
Saint Francis Desau, on being asked how he could remain
37:27
so imperturbably placid in regard to persons who were raging
37:32
with anger, replied, I have made an agreement with my
37:35
tongue never to utter a word when my heart is excited.
37:40
A heathen philosopher wants counseled the Emperor Augustus to repeat
37:43
the twenty four letters of the Greek alphabet when he
37:46
felt within himself the ebullition of angry passions. Let every
37:52
man be slow to speak and slow to anger James one, nineteen.
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Silence is an act of patience. This enables ones to conquer.
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When the excitement is allayed, one can act as one
38:02
thinks best. Prayer is very efficacious is a means of
38:05
dispelling anger. When we fill the rising of passions within us.
38:09
We should do as the apostles did when a storm
38:11
arose in the lake. They went to our Lord for succor.
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If we do so, God will command the waves of
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anger to be still and calm. The saints counsel us
38:20
to repeat silently and ave Maria hell Mary as a
38:24
means of driving away the devil who tempts us. Or
38:27
one may recite the glory of patry to glory b
38:29
to Father's son the Holy Spirit. At any rate, we
38:32
must have recourse to prayer immediately, for if we delay,
38:36
our anger will gain ground and will not be easily quelled.
38:39
If we have offended anyone in our anger, we should
38:42
make amends by extreme politeness. Let not the sun go
38:45
down upon your anger Ephesians four twenty six. Wrath frequently
38:50
begets hatred. It is better, says Saint Francis, to sound
38:53
never to let anger into thy heart, than to keep
38:56
it within the bounds of prudence and moderation. For it
38:59
is like a viper, which, if at once gets its
39:02
head through a hole, slips its whole body through, and
39:06
once admitted, it is no easy matter to drive it out.
39:11
So y'all, we'll wrap it up there. Remember the words
39:15
of Saint Padre Pio, pray, hope and don't worry, and
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I'll talk to you next time.