St. Dorothy Church recently issued the following announcement.

Anger is an emotion with which we are all too familiar. We grow angry with others, with situations

beyond our control, and many times we grow angry with ourselves. The oddest thing about being angry is that it sometimes feels good. 

When we get good and angry at somebody, it feels so good that it is hard to change. Anger locks us up in a prison of our own making. We are both, the prisoner and the jailer. The longer we hold the anger within ourselves, the harder it is to ever change.

The author of the Book of Sirach is all too familiar with this phenomenon. “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” We keep forgetting in our lives that only we can let go of the anger we feel. When we forgive someone, when we admit to the powerlessness of changing situations, when we forgive ourselves, we then experience freedom. If we cherish and hug the

anger tight we hurt ourselves, not the other person. 

Granting forgiveness to another, or even to yourself, does not mean you approve of what they or you might have done in the past. It just means that you are letting go of the hate. If you stop letting the

offender control your feelings, you can regain some peace and enjoy the mercy of God. Stop and think about your own lives. Whom do you need to forgive? Act quickly, so that the peace of God may soothe your troubled hearts.

God bless you,

-Father Murphy

Original source can be found here.