The Passions
I can't control my anger, even with the people I love. Where do I start?
Well, the first thing is to stop being a kid. That's what a child does. A child doesn't control their emotions. So if you give yourself the leeway to say, well, I've always been like this since I was a kid, well, you're still acting like a kid. You have to grow up and mature and realize that most of anger has to do with pride and ego. It's not humility. It's not like Christ. Even when Christ was asked essentially stupid questions by the disciples, he didn't get angry. He didn't berate them. We have one instance in all of the Gospels where Christ shows anger, but it's anger in the face of those who are turning his worship into a money-making venture. That's it. So pride and anger are linked to egotism. It's not the people around you. People who struggle with anger often say, it's the people around me who are making me angry. No one can make you angry. It's a decision to get angry. It's a decision to lash out. It's a decision to do these things. We have to do as Saint Joseph the Hesychast said, choke the serpent in our throat. Do not let the serpent of anger come out. Now, obviously I'm very sympathetic. I struggle with anger a lot in my life. Anger is a very powerful and intoxicating emotion. And when a man becomes emotional and intoxicated by that, he loses his ability to act like a man. And so every man, when he sees himself struggling with anger, should realize that these are childish attributes and behavior, and should seek to eradicate them as quickly as he can. Saying the Jesus prayer, making the sign of the cross, taking the fault on yourself, making excuses for other people, being sympathetic to their struggles. On every level we should deploy everything at our means to crush anger inside of us and not let it rear its ugly head, because anger destroys relationships and love. It is the antithesis of God.
Edited from his answer on camera. The clip has the full thing.
From “Live Q and A 12/11/25”