The reason for meekness

CHRISTIAN believers always regard the beatitudes as the ultimate ideals to pursue in life. They are considered the pitch of Christian perfection, the very canon of God’s ultimate will for us.

As such, they embody and consummate all God’s commandments as revealed in stages through time and recorded in the Scriptures. The Catechism says they are the way pointed by Christ himself that leads us to eternal bliss.

This is how the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about the beatitudes:

“They depict the very countenance of Jesus and they characterize the authentic Christian life. They reveal the ultimate goal of human activity, which is eternal happiness.” (360)

From this doctrine alone, we can easily gather that the beatitudes must be shrouded in deep mystery, despite the simple human words with which they are expressed. Understanding and living them requires nothing less than grace.

For sure, the “very countenance of Jesus” is not just a matter of physical features. His inner identity is all steeped in mystery, because while he is man, he is also God. While it tells us many things, the revelation is not meant to diminish God’s mystery.

Thus, the beatitudes cannot help but express baffling, puzzling and even confusing ideas. “Blessed are the poor in the spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy…” (Mt 5,3-12)

They cannot help but evoke fits of contrasts, as their substance exhausts and overwhelms what human words and concepts can discern and enunciate. They beggar all description. They break all human molds and limits.

In them, the widest, loosest sense of freedom coincides with the strictest, most painful fulfillment of obedience. The most lenient charity and mercy goes together with the keenest, most exacting exercise of justice. Our weakness becomes our strength.

To understand and appreciate them, God’s grace is needed. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” (Mt 11,15) our Lord used to tell the crowd after transmitting divine lessons in parables, referring to grace.

When St. Peter correctly answered about who our Lord was, Christ told him, “Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven,” (Mt 16,17) again referring to the need of grace for us to see divine designs.

One of these beatitudes really intrigues me. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.” (Mt 5,4) There is no way we can understand this. How can a meek person ever win and dominate the world?

But this was how our Lord lived. And this was what he taught. “Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” Though he needed to reveal himself as our Redeemer, he most of the time passed unnoticed, from birth to death.

He did not spend all his time raging at the stubborn, stiff-necked people, though he had every reason to do so. In fact, he was very magnanimous. He forgave all, “for they know not what they do.”

Meekness, in all its forms, appears to be an indispensable ingredient for us to be able to absorb the malice of evil, remove the poison of sin, immunizing us from it and transforming it into a vehicle of our own salvation.

This must be the reason for meekness. It converts human defeat into our victory over sin and death, making us above the ravages of time. It enables us to share Christ’s passion and death as well as his resurrection.

Through it, we can say together with him: “In the world, you will have distress. But have confidence, for I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16,33)

This must be what our Lord meant when he said the meek will possess the earth.

So, we need to live the different forms of meekness: passing unnoticed, always being nice and affectionate to everyone, finding excuses for them, hardly taking any offense from them, eager to forgive and to ask for forgiveness.

We need to be patient and cheerful. Meek persons become sowers of peace and
joy in the world.