Can we really anger God?  Really?  I don’t think so.  I think writing like what we hear today from Baruch is a reflection, projection of our own stuff, our own anger onto God.  Certainly, I believe that he can take it but I wonder if the invitation, when we are angry at God or when we think God is angry with us, is to ask ourselves what is it we are angry about?  What are we so afraid of that we are angry?  I think we are called to claim this, realize it is something going on within us, process it and allow God to transform the anger and/or the fear into love.  How is this possible?  I think it is possible because we, like the 72 that we hear about in the Gospel reading, are commissioned to go and “cure the sick . . . . and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’” (Lk 10:9)  We have been given the power, by our relationship with Jesus, to recognize (and help others recognize) the Love that is God and to claim it, writing our names in heaven, become one with God.  When we claim this for ourselves and recognize the Christ within us, our darkness, our fear, can be transformed and we will live out of a place of Light and Love.

My husband and I have two children in their mid twenties.  They are each on their own spiritual journeys making choices I wouldn’t necessarily make.  I wrote recently that they challenge me to experience the gift of letting go.  Our daughter is choosing, at this time, to live in another country and our son has chosen to be homeless for a time.  Friends comment to me about how relaxed I seem to be with the choices of my children.  I do get concerned for them, but mostly I am ok.  When I do get anxious, fearful or angry because they are not doing things “my way”, if I can access the place of Light within me, I can let God transform this anxiety into something that is far more helpful to them and me.   If I can let the Light shine, I am more able to be a loving companion to them on their journey, instead of any angry, controlling parent filed with fear.

As we go about our journeys today, let us be attentive to where and when we are angry or afraid, and when we hear ourselves saying “God is angry”.  When we recognize this, let us take a moment and ask ourselves, what is really going on?  What am I afraid of?  Then we can access that place of Christ within and invite God to transform us.