THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
(Acts 15:1-2.22-29; Revelation 21:10-14.22-23; John
14:23-29)
In one story two drivers arrive at the parking lot at the
same time. There is space for only one car. The men begin to argue over who
will get the place. Then one man pulls out a gun and shoots the other. A boy
who sees the crime asks, “Was a man really killed for a parking space?” It
wasn't just for a parking lot. There was more at stake than this.
Most probably we are not going to kill another person for a
parking lot. However, anger can move us to do things that we will regret. Words
thrown in anger can cause the loss of friends. We can hurt a child mentally if
not physically by a blow delivered in anger. How is it that anger can get out
of control even with us?
When we perceive an injustice, we react with anger.
Therefore, anger is not necessarily bad. Mothers Against Drunk Driving have
been energized by anger. Their efforts have resulted in a greater awareness of
responsibility when we drive. However, sometimes we miss the correct perception
of injustice. Because of pride, we think that if something becomes inconvenient
for me, it is an injustice. Out of pride we are inclined to get angry at the
driver in front of us driving the legal limit. Pride makes us consider
ourselves better than we really are.
Somehow we have to conquer pride so that we don't get angry
unjustly. In fact, by overcoming pride we can control all strong emotions or,
better to say, passions. We have to overcome pride -- the love of self -- so
that we don't seek someone else's woman or man. We have to control our pride so
that we don't get too much sun on the beach. In the gospel today Jesus gives us
the key to control pride.
He is responding to a disciple's concern: “'Why are you
going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?'” Jesus says that he
reveals himself to his disciples because they love him and keep his
commandments. To control pride, the love of self, we have to love Jesus above
all. This is not difficult because he is the perfect person. Most of us
recognize our mother or father as more generous or wiser than we are. From our
knowledge of Jesus in the gospels we must say that he is even better. He
deserves our love and obedience.
But it is not by our own efforts alone that we control
pride, anger, and the other passions. Jesus helps us with his peace. It is not
the transitory peace that we feel at the end of one day but vanishes like a
dream the next. No, the peace that Jesus offers us is the peace that no pain,
no difficulty can steal from us. It is the peace of knowing that our destiny is
eternal life with him. Once because of the threat of a winter storm, a
university announced that it was going to close a few days before the end of
the semester. A college girl from a place far from the university stayed in the
dorm. Her classmates asked her how she was going to get home. She replied that
her father promised to pick her up. "But he can't get here in the middle
of a snowfall," her friends objected. She replied, "I just know that
if father told me he was going to come for me, he will come." We are even
more certain that Jesus will come to give us eternal life. Nothing else counts
for much when we have the peace that comes with the guarantee of eternal life.
How to conquer anger? We have heard of home remedies like
going outside and yelling as loudly as possible. But Jesus offers us a simpler
and more effective solution. We will conquer anger and all other passions when
we accept his peace. It is the guarantee of a parking space in eternal life. It
is the overcoming of pride by recognizing Jesus as better than us. It is to
have him as a friend forever.
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