Talks on the Commandments-Anger, Hatred, Fighting

Yes, the hour is coming for everyone who kiIls you to think he is offering worship to God." St. John, 16:2.

Alexander the Great was by nature passionate and impatient, but for many years he managed to hold the reins on his passions. One sad and tragic day, however, he lost his self-control. At a banquet a singer compared Alexander to the gods. Justly indignant at this was Clitus, a general who had saved Alexander's life. Clitus criticized such lickspittle honors.

Alexander would have run him through with his sword, had not an officer put it aside. The friends of Clitus hurried him away, but the half-drunk officer returned by another door to make little of Alexander. In a fury Alexander snatched a spear and hurled it through the heart of his general, the friend of his childhood, his companion and rescuer.

For several days the world conqueror writhed in remorse and sorrow, calling out the name of his life-long friend. He had conquered the world but he could not conquer himself. He had taken every worthwhile city of the ancient world, but he could not take that most important city - the city of his own spirit.
Here we have a picture of every man who commits the following sins against the Fifth Commandment: anger, hatred, revenge, quarreling, fighting, and inflicting bodily injury.

Very few of us will ever commit murder or suicide. Very few of us will ever directly take the life of another. Nevertheless, many of us have shortened the lives of others by the sharp and deadly weapons of sorrow and grief, anxiety and bitterness. Many a child has put early wrinkles and grey hair on a parent through disobedience, defiance and bad conduct. Many a home is a horrible hell through unfriendly looks, unkind words, lack of affection and even open aversion. What are the causes of all this? Sins against the Fifth Commandment:
1. Anger is the most common sin against the fifth law of God. It is a sudden, violent feeling of the soul, caused by a real or imagined injury, and carrying with it a desire for revenge. What a terrible tyrant anger can be. It drives out every reasonable thought and word and action. It makes us act like angry monkeys. It looks for words that will sting and wound. It reaches for weapons that will injure and hurt. It breaks up the strongest friendships. It makes miserable homes and sours the sweetest family relations.

Anger not only harms the one against whom you are angry, it hurts physically the one who is angry. Certain poisons or humours are created which work harm upon the human system. The white face and the red neck of the extremely angry person show that it is a strain on the human system.

2. Hatred means wishing evil to someone. Every law of God forbids that, but especially, it is against the Fifth Commandment. There is but one step between wishing evil and carrying it out. Hatred is the very opposite of the love which God has commanded for all His children.

3. Envy and revenge are the brothers of hatred. Rooted in the heart, envy flows over into evil actions. It feels sad at the prosperity or good fortune of another. It drove Cain to murder his brother. It drives many to be unkind in every way.

4. Quarreling is also forbidden. It means an angry argument. It means a finding fault and disputing angrily and violently. Usually it is loud and noisy, with a tendency to fighting and hurting others.

Quarreling is all too common among us Christians. We quarrel about money and we quarrel about so-called rights. We quarrel about where we are going, when we are going and how we are going. We dig up and rake up past mistakes and shortcomings.

Today we must realize how harmful, how sinful quarreling is, how it breaks up homes and loves and friendships, how it harms the work of the Church, of the parish, and of the community, how displeasing it must be to an All-loving God who has ordered us to love one another, who has told us:
"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God." St. Matthew, 5:9.

5. Fighting is likewise forbidden. It means striking or punching another, dealing blows. Often this takes place, God forbid, between those who claim they love one another. It is forbidden to all because it often causes physical harm; it is opposed to the law of Christian charity; it lowers man to the level of angry animals; it tries to settle arguments by might and not by right.

The guilt in dealing physical blows depends on the injury intended, done or risked; it depends upon the office or position of the one attacked, it depends on the amount of malice or deliberation. Those who fight at the drop of a hat are forgetful of the words of Christ: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land."

All these sins against the Fifth Commandment we find in that very spot where we would least expect them - in the home. In that very place where loved ones should be showing the very best in their hearts, we find a display of the worst. That is one of the main reasons it is so important for us today to realize the wickedness of such sins, and to determine with God's grace to avoid them.

We should say a word about strikes. No one, striker or strike-breaker or anybody else has any right to hit or beat or physically manhandle another human being.

Here again we see the wisdom of God's law against anger, hatred, quarreling, fighting and violence. We are intelligent, aren't we? We can discuss and settle our arguments without blows, can we not?

Don't be another Alexander the Great. He conquered all of the known world, but failed to conquer himself.

Some have the false idea that God is on their side, no matter how unjust their stand. Christ speaks of them through the Gospel of St. John above. They think they serve God when they kill the servants of God. We will not make that mistake. We will try with God's help and grace, to keep as completely as we can this fifth law of His. Amen.
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Adapted from Talks on the Commandments by Fr. Arthur Tonne