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[Thee wicked said among themselves,
thinking not aright:
“Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;
he sets himself against our doings,
Reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training.
He professes to have knowledge of God
and styles himself a child of the LORD.
To us he is the censure of our thoughts;
merely to see him is a hardship for us,
Because his life is not like that of others,
and different are his ways.
He judges us debased;
he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure.
He calls blest the destiny of the just
and boasts that God is his Father.
Let us see whether his words be true;
let us find out what will happen to him.
For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him
and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
With revilement and torture let us put him to the test
that we may have proof of his gentleness
and try his patience.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death;
for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”
These were their thoughts, but they erred;
for their wickedness blinded them,
and they knew not the hidden counsels of God;
neither did they count on a recompense of holiness
nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.] (Wis 2:1a, 12-22)

It’s no secret that when we are corrected or critiqued by someone we sometimes get angry with them.  This is true many times even if they are in the right and we are in the wrong.  Here in the Book of Wisdom, the author recognizes this tendency which many of us have now and again.  The author reveals the absurdity of this disastrous mindset when he speaks of wicked men plotting to take the life of a just man.

I bet there have been times when you’ve recognized this in yourself as well as times when others have pointed it out for you.  Yet, there are probably other times when there are just disagreements or heightened tempers that produce the same emotions in you.  No one is immune to these feelings.  Anger can turn into a grudge, and a grudge can be kryptonite to relationships of all kinds.

As we continue our journey toward Easter, we are presented with the unusual circumstance of being stuck in our homes with people we love.  Though we love them, disagreements and tempers burst in confined spaces over extended periods of time.   So the question for each one of us is simply, “Knowing the situation I find myself in, how will I respond when I get angry with those I love?  Despite my feelings, how will I be Christ to my family members?”