by Joseph Nangle, OFM
Pax Christi USA 2023 Teacher of Peace
Slow down and pause.
Pope Francis’ 2024 Lenten message
The Gospel for this third Sunday in Lent gives us a formidable reason to follow Pope Francis’ advice to pause as we continue this liturgical season. We are confronted with an angry Jesus. (“He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the Temple area,” John 2:15) This is difficult for us to take in. We are accustomed to the Lord who is “meek and humble of heart, whose burden is light.” It calls for a pause to consider the nature of anger, outrage, exasperation.
For people who take seriously the imperative as articulated in Catholic Social Teaching, to “participate in the transformation of the world” (Justice in the World) often sparks anger at the enormous difficulties bringing about that transformation: a world of just relationships, devoid of violence and respectful of our Common Home.
We can be encouraged in such visceral responses by Jesus’ example in confronting the blasphemy of turning the house of God into a “den of thieves” as the Prophet Jeremiah had decried centuries before. He is truly outraged.
In the past several days we have seen two diametrically opposed reactions to this kind of justifiable anger. On Sunday, February 25, U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Aaron Bushnell, dressed in a camouflage military uniform, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington. His action, as he himself declared, was a protest against Benjamin Netanyahu’s unspeakably cruel war against the Palestinian people and the United States’ complicity in it. He cried “Free Palestine” several times before falling to the sidewalk in flames.
Across the world in a remote Russian prison, Alexei Navalny, political opponent to the what he termed a corrupt Putin regime, died suddenly “of natural causes” while serving 19 years in addition to a previous 12-year sentencing.
The reasons behind each death are worth considering for all who find themselves enraged over
similar situations. Both deaths resulted from a desperate desire to halt sins against humanity in Gaza and Ukraine – this desire is entirely understandable and shared by all people of good will, particularly social activists.
It is the difference in their expression of outrage which demands consideration.
The anger on one hand led a 25-year-old to self-immolate, and on the other to years’ long dedication to nonviolent protests. While one understands the motives for Airman Bushnell’s drastic violent action, his decision to kill himself is tragic. Equally understandable is Navalny’s motive for choosing a life dedicated to demands for change. The contrast highlights the value of sustaining a movement which we hope and pray will bring about results that can come from deeply felt and channeled anger.
These reflections are instructive for everyone and in particular, as mentioned, for those who understand Jesus’ Gospel both as a commentary on the current state of the human family, and as a call to engage in it. These analyses often result in healthy anger at all that militates against desired transformation and brings about an urgency to act.
As seen in the two examples of the results of such deep distress, there are two choices: constructive anger or destructive anger.
We know of persons who have lived their live consumed by destructive anger. It has become a way of life for them. Others have used anger and its power to accomplish great results toward righting wrongs. Constructive anger drives people to heroic but not desperate actions. We remember the iconic Lutheran pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who became so furious at what he was hearing about the rise of Nazism in his native Germany that he left his comfortable clerical life in the United States and returned to become part of the Confessing Church there.
Finally, a sign that justified anger and rage at the many infuriating events that surround us these days is constructive is emotional balance and a healthy sense of humor. Pope Francis has a final word to say here. This man, who carries the burdens of humanity on his pastoral shoulders and weeps over our plight, observed: “It is so sad to see consecrated men and women who have no sense of humor, who take everything seriously.”
Joe Nangle OFM is a Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace and the 2023 Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. As a member of the Assisi Community in Washington, D.C., he is dedicated to simple living and social change. Joe also serves as the Pastoral Associate for the Latino community at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Arlington, Virginia.
Joe Nangle appears to rule out the kind of forceful, explosive anger with which Jesus overturned tables, spilling coins, and drove money changers and livestock merchants out of the great temple of Jerusalem. Righteous wrath. I can’t think of a comparable action today that would not lead to arrest and multiple lawsuits. Jesus acted as a mythic hero, inspiring deeply felt responses from his followers throughout history. Some of those saints were indeed executed, like Joan of Arc, and contract-killed, like Oscar Romero. The sharply outspoken (slanderous?) teen Greta Thunberg has faced less severe reactions in our day. Asking the older or younger Christian of our day to express vehement holy outrage is illogical and imprudent for Church leaders, isn’t it? Yet the Holy Spirit blows where she will. Come, and fill the hearts of your faithful!