First Saturday of the Great Fast: Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit; The Holy Martyr Conon (249-251)
Hebrews 1:1-12; 2 Timothy 2:1-10; Mark 2:23-3:5; John 15:17-16:2
Great Fast Day 6
Read Mark 2:23-3:5
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
In our gospel today we see something we don’t often see: Christ getting angry. Anger is one of the eight evil thoughts, a particular demonic temptation for us to lose control and condemn our brothers and sisters, or to over-react or not consider a situation truthfully. Although not all anger is sinful or demonic.
Our Lord today is angry at the hardness of heart and lack of love of those in the synagogue, but He does not sin. It is important for us to understand that anger is an appropriate response to things worthy of anger. Injustice should make us upset. However, this impulse must be carefully guarded to ensure that we do not lose control and fall into sin through our righteous anger.
St. Augustine writes: “If angry emotions which spring from a love of what is good and from holy charity are to be labelled vices, then all I can say is that some vices should be called virtues. When such affections as anger are directed to their proper objects, they are following good reasoning, and no one should dare to describe them as maladies or vicious passions. This explains why the Lord himself, who humbled himself to the form of a servant, was guilty of no sin whatever as he displayed these emotions openly when appropriate. Surely the One who assumed a true human body and soul would not counterfeit his human affections. Certainly, the Gospel does not falsely attribute emotions to Christ when it speaks of him being saddened and angered by the lawyers because of their blindness of heart.” (The City of God, Book 14)