This article is second on the theme of helping Catholic handle anger in their life of discipleship. Read the first article here.

A few days ago I received permission to reprint a 2007 article I published with the now shuttered Godspy online magazine called “Anger Management: Lessons from the 2006 Amish School Shooting.” Re-reading that article in 2025 has been sobering.

That event was horrific, devastating, and evil–with one luminous exception: the Amish community’s immediate commitment to eschew anger and forgive the killer. The move was not without controversy, even among Christians. But there was debate, wonder, and discussion: how do you acknowledge evil and injustice and also obey the command to love your enemies and forgive?

I read the article, remembered the debate, and wondered: does the article even makes sense to us, 20 years later?

Let’s take the last 90 days. In my state, Minnesota, we had Democratic state politicians and their spouses shot and killed (or seriously wounded) in their homes this June. We had a Catholic school shooting in August that killed two children and injured tens more–including a young nephew of a friend and partner of this apostolate–while they were praying at Mass. Nationally, we had the shock of a well-known GOP political influencer killed while holding an open debate with university students. And by the way, two days ago, a man was convicted of attempting to assassinate our current president on the campaign trail–and as far as I can tell, few have noticed. That was the summer of 2025: and as far as I can tell, every shooting was motivated by extreme anger.* It was not the coordinated action of “the other side.” It was the fruit of fury.

The violence is evil. The tragedy of gun violence is real. But I want to discuss how most Christians are struggling to address the division and hatred that seem to be at the boiling bottom of every one of these events. They were angry, we are angry, they are angry at us being angry: it never ends. Parishes need to find a way to teach people in this environment how to spiritually address the difference between righteous anger and the deadly sin of wrath.

Addressing our unique background in 2025: the algorithm is going to get you

A number of people have said they are exhausted by the current political culture, but we have to recognize that it is not just the failings of the people who inhabit political offices at the moment. The dry tinder to this fire is how we consume our information and media–really, how it consumes us. While objectivity in reporting has never been perfect, there hasn’t been until recently this open anonymosity between media outlets–or hard leaning into the preferred narrative slant of its consumers. The more we are fed what we want (news coverage angles), the more we resist other food (differing opinions). The last two or three presidential elections have brought this division of news sources to a fever pitch.

But other countries have had press corps that were clearly divided on party lines (Great Britain, for example). The critical difference now is that we get our news through social media, which has an economically-rewarded algorithm for outrage. And when there are things to be genuinely outraged about, the froth builds quickly. The platforms incentivise keeping us boiling. The only break is sleep. We get angry. And angrier. And angrier. It can feel like your brain is on fire–because in some ways, it is. We were not created for a 24-7 war on our hearts.

There is a lot to be angry about, and yet…

Anger can be the appropriate response to injustice. Righteous anger reminds us that God’s order for the world, his law of goodness and love, has been grievously breached.

The psalms are not sunshine and butterflies. The prophets were not handing out lollipops. Jesus flipped tables because people were being extorted in the name of God. We live in a fallen world, we have since nearly the beginning of time, and we see it every day.

Yet. Jesus said, You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement…. (Mt 5:21-22)

St. Francis de Sales was known for his piety and gentleness, but openly said he struggled with anger mightily as a young man. He prayed every day to not turn to anger, his greatest weakness.

Desert father Abba Ammonas, widely regarded as one of the holiest of men, said: I have spent fourteen years in [the desert] asking God night and day to grant me the victory over anger.

Do we truly think that as sinful human beings, wounded by original sin, we can keep walking into the thick forests of temptation (facebook, X, bluesky, and my goodness Reddit and Discord) from morning to a minute before we sleep and not fall? Especially when there is more to be angry about than ever before?

Maybe the clue is: Where is our desert? Where can we listen to God instead of the screaming?

So what do we do? Four things, and a bonus path for peace

We can obey the Lord’s call to life and justice–even in a world tempting us to be angry all the time–by deliberately engaging in four spiritual practices.

1. We need to treat anger as a passion that can turn destructive quickly, like an unstable element. Anger can be appropriate and point to injustice–but as I said in my previous article, too much of this medicine kills the patient. Anger is often a hot potato you cannot drop that sticks to your hands and burns to the bone. We need to learn to express righteous anger and–literally–drop it. As Francis de Sales says in his Introduction to the Devout Life, everyone thinks they are righteously angry–but most have moved into destructive anger, into wrath. We become vigilant against wrath by actively dropping anger after a brief moment of righteous acknowledgement, and move into something more constructive.
2. We regularly confess destructive anger. As a people, we are lacking in our faithfulness to sacramental reconciliation. But even those of us who are faithful–do we confess anger, even when it is unexpressed? You may be withholding unleashing your intense anger against another person (that’s good), but holding it can destroy you. Confession offers grace that can help us resist anger in the future.
3. We renounce a spirit of wrath in the name of Jesus. First, praying in the name of Jesus is powerful, and calls on his grace and power to help us live in his way as a disciple. We have been given spiritual weapons to live in God’s freedom, and renouncing what comes from the Evil One–spirits like wrath, for example–is one of those weapons. It is as simple as remembering you are in God’s presence and saying out loud, In the name of Jesus, I renounce a spirit of wrath. If this feels unfamiliar to you, you change the words a bit and state “In the name of Jesus, I renounce the lie that anger gives anyone life.” And like St. Francis de Sales, pray for peace and gentleness as gifts of the Spirit.**
4. We forgive in the name of Jesus. Forgiveness is hard to understand for many, but possible when we humbly ask for God to supply what is lacking in ourselves. We pray the words “In the name of Jesus, I forgive _____ for _____.” We extend God’s love to that person, even if we do not feel it ourselves, because the Lord did say to love our enemies. Forgiveness is the surest way to release the burning destructive force of anger.

And the bonus path to peace? Get off social media. I’d say engage it less, but I have to admit I’m more and more inclined to think the spiritual problems of social media outweigh the social benefits. (And yes, I’m still on a couple of platforms myself–it’s how I connect with friends and family scattered across the world.  And you may have come to this article through facebook or LinkedIn–it does help get the word out about our apostolate.) At some point, I need to ask if that social convenience overcomes my constant struggle in resisting anger, or not. I think we all need to ask the question.

Many people, the exhausted middle in the United States, are begging each other to resist the physical violence and “turn down the temperature.” The hard question is how to do that. But Christians have the answer from Christ and his master disciples through the ages. We need to be sharing some of this “how to” in our parishes as the current moment of adult discipleship. By all means, name what is wrong, fight for what is right. But stop hating: Jesus said love your enemies. Stop living in wrath: it is a deadly sin, literally it can kill. Stop playing with anger: this is not a game. It will challenge us to holiness–and it could just save our people, our brothers and sisters, as well.

* Yes, the wrath may be co-morbid with other problems. But it has been always there.

**If you want to learn more about the practice of renouncing, and the power of praying in the name of Jesus, I suggest reading Neal Lozano’s Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance from Evil Spirits. This is not about exorcism, which is a prescribed rite of the Church reserved for trained and appointed priests. This is about living in baptismal freedom in Christ, avoiding sin, and closing doors to evil influences.