Ecclesiastes 7:9
Do not be quick to anger, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.
I don’t make any bones about it. I am a hot head of the First Order. No simmering here — I’m like a sparkler, quick to ignite, and as equally fast to fade out. Unfortunately, flying sparks can be hurtful, as my husband and children can tell you. I try and fail miserably a fair amount of the time, to curb my anger, as well as my potty mouth. It helps me to know that there are other Catholic mothers out there, like Sarah Reinhard, who battle some of the same vices. Sarah talked openly about her struggle with her sailor vernacular on a recent Catholic Moments podcast.
I’d do well to learn this prayer, in my times of frustration:
O Lord, must I fear Your wrath?
Retribution is Yours by right!
May I never dishonour Your Divinity,
My soul seeking to maintain Your love.
Shape my being into earnest kindness,
A reflection of Your perfection.
Grant me the grace of self-control,
That I may not display any anger.
Should I have such an outburst,
Instantly remind me to seek redress,
For such is offensive to You.
Anger is Yours alone to avenge!
Thanks to Catholic Doors!
Another Catholic woman who admits her propensity to anger is Mother Angelica. While not a saint (yet), she is a woman I greatly admire. She’s every one’s favorite Italian grandmother, who isn’t afraid to tell you when you’re making a grave mistake!
Born in 1923, as Rita Antionette Rizzo, she saw her parents divorce when she was seven. Her mother’s fragile mental state resulted in Rita going to school full time, in addition to running the family dry cleaning business. She joined the Franciscan convent in Cleveland in 1944, and after a severe back injury and unsuccessful surgery. To fulfill a promise to God, for restoring her ability to walk, she began a monastery in Alabama in the 1960’s, during a time which only 2 percent of the state’s population was Catholic. She survived shootings and weekly vandals to see the monastery grow and flourish.
After seeing a Baptist television station in Chicago, she turned her attention to bringing the Catholic message using the medium of television. In 198, she and twelve nuns turned the monastery garage into a television studio with $200. EWTN Global Catholic Network is now the largest religious media network in the world!
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