Dante is a master at illustrating the effects of sin.
In his “Inferno,” the punishments of hell are presented as physical manifestations of the spiritual realities of sin. An example from this text pertinent to this weekend’s readings occurs when he descends into the fifth circle of hell:
(Dante) stood intent upon beholding,
Saw people mud-besprent in that lagoon,
All of them naked and with angry look.
They smote each other not alone with hands,
But with the head and with the breast and feet,
Tearing each other piecemeal with their teeth.
Said the good Master: “Son, thou now beholdest
The souls of those whom anger overcame;
And likewise I would have thee know for certain
Beneath the water people are who sigh
And make this water bubble at the surface,
As the eye tells thee wheresoe’er it turns.
Fixed in the mire they say, ‘We sullen were
In the sweet air, which by the sun is gladdened,
Bearing within ourselves the sluggish reek;
Now we are sullen in this sable mire.’
This hymn do they keep gurgling in their throats,
For with unbroken words they cannot say it.” (Inferno VII.109-126.)
This is the place where the wrathful and sullen are punished, both manifestations of anger. The wrathful spent their lives attacking their neighbor and now are doomed to eternal assault. The sullen repressed their anger deep within, allowing it to slowly fester and boil; now they spend eternity bubbling underneath a swamp. As Sirach notes in our first reading this weekend,
Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail…
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?
Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
remember death and decay, and cease from sin! (Sir 27:30-28:1, 5-6)
Dante depicts the spiritual consequence of cherishing wrath. Unfortunately, it can be all too easy to fall into this ourselves. How often can we hold onto a grudge against someone who has wronged us? How often can we become enraged as we watch the news or scroll through social media? All too often we can fool ourselves into thinking that remaining angry and stewing in anger will serve us. Yet, it is nothing but a poison for our soul. It corrodes our spirit and can impede our own reception of mercy.
Our Lord reminds us that the way to life, freedom, peace and joy is not through wrath but through forgiveness. He exemplifies it for us first and foremost by going to the cross and offering his life for the forgiveness of our sins. The consequence of this perfect act of love is the Resurrection. If we desire to participate in that gift, then we must be mindful of Christ’s response to Peter this weekend and forgive “not seven times but seventy-seven times” (Mt 18:22). In other words, we must always be ready to let go of wrath and bestow mercy.
In the life of the Church, we learn this through our participation in the sacrament of confession. There, we leave at the feet of Jesus the many ways we offend him through our sins and receive his merciful embrace. Grace is offered to us there so that we can be merciful to others just as God is merciful to us. May we not allow ourselves to become mired in anger and vengeful in wrath, but may we find freedom and peace in practicing forgiveness toward our neighbor.
Father Froehle is pastor of St. Michael in Farmington.
Sunday, Sept. 17
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
