"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land." -Matthew 5:5

April 20, 2021 

Jesus gave us this beatitude, on his Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the meek, they will inherit the land."  (Mt 5:5) The word meek comes from the Greek praus, which means bridled strength.  Like the bridle used to direct the power of a horse.  If we, who are made in the image of God, need to be bridled or directed, it is the powers of our soul which need the bridle.  Saint Thomas Aquinas taught these powers are threefold: the power of the intellect, the power of the will, and the power of our passions. 

These bridled powers are on display in the life of Saint Stephen at his martyrdom.  He was using the power of his passions as he spoke about the savior, his intellect when he boldly proclaimed the truth to those who would become his executioners.  "You stiff necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors.  Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?  They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murders you have become.  You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe it."  (Acts 7:51-53)  He used the power of his will when he choose to make an act of forgiveness against those who murdered him when he, "...fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them; and when he said this, he fell asleep." I say that Stephen's "powers" were bridled.  He could have done it another way.  Perhaps he carried a sword, which he could have drawn to defend himself.  Would he have been criticized?  Or, he could have went the way of today's progressive culture.  He could have organized a group of like minded believers, made signs and picketed the temple area.  They could have demanded their rights as a minority group, they could have attempted to raise their voices until they got their way.  Instead, he simply raised his voice to tell the truth, in the hopes this would bring those in hearing to repentance and new life in Jesus. 

Pope Saint John-Paul, II taught that all we posses in our nature is good, yet this nature is fallen through original sin.  Our powers to reason, our passions, the power we posses to make choices are all good, just in need of being raised up.  If we follow the error of our day and are led by our wants and desires alone without God's help, we may end up with a picket sign in our hand, or worse we may use force and violence against another or their property.  I should be clear,  joining a picket line is not necessarily bad, we must however make the distinction between right and wrong.  The solution from JPII, we must submit these passions, wants, and desires to the Truth, thus shall our "powers" be bridled by the Holy Spirit, raised up, and they will be of use to the building of the Kingdom and God's glory!  God's grace is built upon nature.  He does not remake it, he builds upon what we already have, imperfect as it is. As a matter of discernment, God's leading will always be towards unity with one another, the other spirit leads to division.  

As Saint Ignatius Loyola taught, the good spirit will make his appeal to our reason and intellect, while the bad spirit speaks to our emotions and passions. This submission of all that we have been given by God in our nature is the path for our lives as Christians.  It is most certainly a process as opposed to an event.  I do not believe there is reason to think that Saint Stephen was "woke" one day and was supernaturally gifted with power, no doubt the Lord transformed him over time.  

I began my journey with the Lord at the tables of Alcoholics Anonymous, before fully embracing the Church.  I am reminded that back in those early days of my walk, when I frequently went to an AA meeting or some church event outside of a Sunday Mass, I often did not "feel" like going.  When I did make a choice to seek grace, I don't believe that I ever walked away not feeling enriched and glad I went.  

I must remember today to make the same positive choices, to say yes to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit on an ongoing basis, when I am inspired to pray or give, especially the simple things like a smile, a listening ear, or some other act of kindness to another.  It is always simple, like we read in Micah, "You have been told O man what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do what is right, to love with tenderness, and to walk humbly with your God."  (Micah 6:8) 

Thanks be to the Father, who has sent his Son to be our savior on the cross!  Thanks also because he sends this Savior to us daily as the True Bread from Heaven that we may be nourished and satisfied, even in our deepest hunger and thirst, desires and passions!  (John 6:32-35)  The humility that we must observe as expressed in Micah, is to be honest about our desires and our personal weaknesses, whether it's laziness, sexual passion, dishonesty, greed, whatever.  These all come from somewhere within our nature as Jesus put it, "It is not what enters one's mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one."  (Mt. 15:11) 

Remember, the bad spirit has no creative power.  He can only use what is in our nature already, this nature weakened by the original sin can be enticed and twisted by the bad spirit.  The good and Holy Spirit will do the same, he will build his grace upon our nature.  The good spirit will build by our cooperation, the bad spirit through deceit.  By making daily decisions to cooperate with God, we will be raised and ever led on the path of the abundant life which God came to give us.  May he help us!            

Saint Augustine taught:   Any evil that may happen in our life is always allowed by God.  When God does allow something bad to happen to us, it always with the foreknowledge of the good He will bring about, IF, we learn obedience to Him.  It can also be said, the devil is on a leash, God is in control of how much chain the evil one gets.  Therefore, don't blame God when you go too close to the fire!