Anger Not Virtuous

Just wanted to drop you a line to say thank you. In particular, I thank you for reminding us that anger is not the core virtue of an orthodox Catholic. I am so tired of reading relentless cynicism and complaints in conservative Catholic media. There is no doubt that great evil surrounds us these days. And as you say, it is right to be angry about it. But anger is a passion meant to be directed to a good end — change (learned that one from St. Tommy Aquinas). Anger gives us the energy to labor for the eradication of evil. If we find ourselves constantly griping and bitter, something is wrong. Our anger is not being directed toward an evil we are able to affect. This is often the case with our complaining about “the terrible things going on in the world.” No doubt they are terrible indeed. But what can we do about it? That's a good question for each person to ask themselves, and the Lord. Part of the answer will come in a frightening way — as Fulton Sheen said, before we address social evil we must address personal evil. We must direct our anger against our own sinfulness, where it can be used effectively, while not forgetting to speak out against the sinfulness in our culture and world as well. I'm afraid I've gotten a bit carried away here 🙂 Sorry! You can tell that your article was thought-provoking, no? Keep up the good work.

Sincerely in Jesus,