We are living in a time when civil unrest, bitterness, and anger seem to be prevailing in our world today. Things have reached numerous boiling points over time, especially in the last year, in our country and others. As we prepare to receive a new president-elect, we see it manifesting in a variety of unprecedented ways.
The protests and riots of this past summer, and the stunning breach of the Capitol on January 6 are just two examples. Basic civility is lacking in everyday life. Relationships are fracturing, people of differing views can no longer listen to one another, and the middle ground - where both sides do agree - is becoming harder to find. Most importantly, it seems we have forgotten how to disagree with one another without hating each other.
Agreeing to Disagree
Disagreements are a part of life, and that is nothing new. They are - and have always been - a part of our political, social, religious, and personal landscapes. Disagreement prompted the founding of our nation.
Even our own Church Fathers and some of the Saints disagreed with one another over Church teachings, scriptural interpretations, and specific elements of the Faith. Many of them left us examples that disagreement can happen with love, desiring the good of the other and the collective common good, while together striving for the truth.
Pope Francis said it much better than I can:
“Only to the extent that love is grounded in truth can it endure over time, can it transcend the passing moment, and be sufficiently solid to sustain a shared journey.” - Pope Francis, Lumen Fide
If we meditate on that and set it against the backdrop of our society today, we can see the chasm between what is right and what is happening right now. Yet, there has always been a way for disagreements to be grounded in holy charity. If love is to desire the good of the other, and we all desire our collective good as a nation, then we must get back to love.
That seems clear to everyone, so why are we giving lip service to that truism, but failing to act on it collectively?
Spirits of disunity, hatred, and bitterness are freely engaging the hearts of many in this battle today for our society. It is the evil one who incites spirits of anger and divisiveness. These see opposing viewpoints as problems that must be eliminated, and obstacles to the other agenda as the vile work of haters.
In this line of thinking, any methods, even those causing great damage and fallout, are rationalized as permissible so as to achieve a desired goal. This thinking is not consistent with the teachings of Christ.
Learning From Our Teacher
The Lord addressed hatred, disunity, and making enemies in holy scripture repeatedly as He taught us to conduct ourselves as Christians, following God’s laws and His teachings. We received these New Testament lessons directly from Jesus:
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)
“But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqua,” will be answerable to the Sanheidren, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.” (Matthew 5: 22)
The Holy Spirit inspired further teachings like these throughout sacred scripture. There are many more examples than can be listed here:
“Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger. Do not leave room for the devil.” (Ephesians 4: 26-27)
“All bitterness, furor, anger, shouting and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice.” (Ephesians 4: 31)
“Know this my dear brothers, everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” (James 1: 19-20)
“The ill-tempered stir up strife but the patient settle disputes.” (Proverbs 15:18)
“But now you must put them all away, anger, fury, slander, malice, and obscene language out of your mouths.” (Collosians 3: 8)
“If possible, on your part, live at peace with all.” (Romans 12:18)
Living His Teachings
In today’s society, especially for believers, living at peace with everyone can be difficult. Even some of our most beloved saints fell prey to anger and spent much of their lives mastering this imperfection. St. Jerome carried around a rock with which he beat himself when he became angry. I don’t recommend that for everyone, but I can see how it would be effective!
St. Francis de Sales struggled with a terrible temper in his early years but became a paragon of gentleness and love through self mastery. He said that we nourish our anger with a thousand false pretexts, allowing us to believe it is just, so that we can continue nurturing it.
It is this nurturing of anger that allows it to take deep root in the soul over time. When it does, it smothers and uproots love. At best, this causes a deep imperfection we are unable to overcome. At worst, it throws us into a perilous state of mortal sin.
It is hard to see our nation engaged in such a terrible state of conflict and dis-ease. Spend two minutes on social media and you will see that combative, hostile, unchristian behavior is now the norm for many people, even many who profess the Christian faith. We must detach from these destructive attitudes. Even when we feel righteous anger, we must strive to moderate it appropriately.
Our Spiritual Arsenal
Sadly, many Christians do not acknowledge the power of prayer, fasting, sacrifice, redemptive suffering, the Sacraments, the Rosary, or the Mass to move the heart of God and humanity and to radically change the course of human events. This is true even among our Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ.
This grave indifference may be as great a tragedy as the current national chaos. God has made superabundant graces available to us by these means. Now is the time for believers in the faithful remnant to go into battle, wielding these powerful spiritual weapons. We should all be engaging in prayer, the Sacraments, the Mass, fasting, the Rosary, and sacrificing to the extent that we can.
In the early days of the Faith, Christians gathered daily in secret, received the Eucharist, went to school in the catacombs, and fortified themselves to live the teachings of Christ. This gave them the zeal to live the Faith. We can't do all of that today, but we can use the many spiritual weapons we have at our disposal to reinvigorate ourselves. We need the zeal of the early Christians to persevere in this critical time.
What beyond prayer and the above arsenal of spiritual weapons will change our nation in such a time of crisis? What more can we do?
We cannot be responsible for the behavior of others, especially that which is reprehensible and against the teachings of Christ and His Church. What we can be responsible for are our own behaviors, which come from our own thought patterns.
We should add to our spiritual arsenal the practice of examining ourselves interiorly and rooting out those behaviors which are not Christian. We are not called to be doormats, but we are called to be salt and light.
Our Greatest Consolation
Together, we can move the heart of God, but in the end, He knows all, controls all, and ordains all. As we move forward together, we must never forget what is perhaps the greatest gift of our Christianity in this trying time:
Our knowledge of His divine sovereignty, which shapes our view of whatever is swirling around us in a given moment. This allows us to keep our peace, do our part, and know our place, which is within the faithful remnant, proclaiming and demonstrating the power and the goodness of God.
How are you activating your faith in these complex times? What is consoling you? How are you working to be salt and light? Please share with us below.
