Word of the Week

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Meek: Mansuetus (L.): means “gentle, courteous, kind” or “submissive”, behind it is a Hebrew tern that means “humble and spiritually poor.”

Meekness is the quality of heart that purifies and enlightens the mind and soul to understand the Father’s will. “The meek rely solely on God’s mysterious plans, awaiting the justice, not of men but of the Messiah” (CCC 716). The meek, are the Holy Spirit’s hidden mission during the time of the promises that prepare Christ’s coming (CCC 716).
Meekness is found 14 times in Sacred Scripture: 8 in the Old Testament and 6 in the New Testament. The OT vision to meekness is rooted in those who are poor in spirit; those who lean on God for all things. The meek understand and share in God’s fruitfulness in joy and prosperity (Ps.37:11; Is.29:19; Sir.1:27, 3:17). The meek maintain a mastery of self-control through trial and difficult circumstances. Moses embodied this virtue more than any major figure in the OT throughout his whole life (Num.12.3; Sir.45.4) (Hahn and Minch, 25). Meekness, as seen in the Beatitudes, is not a negative function of relationship in timidity, but rather a positive function in its humility and fidelity to God (Mt.5:5).

Moreover, meekness is primarily a characteristic of Jesus (Mt.11:29), “who obeyed the Father’s will unto his death (Phil.2.8)” (Hahn and Minch, 25). In this Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time we examine how the heart of Christ is enamored in a filial meekness expressed in thanksgiving toward his Father. Consequently, we ought to exemplify this same burning within if we are to give glory to the Father. In the words of the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, the Gospel of Matthew, “The meek exercise piety, the gift of filial love for God, which moves the soul to worship and protects against the hardening of one’s heart in the midst of trials” (Hahn and Minch, 24).

Linked with the virtue of obedience, meekness casts light on the soul that understands power to be not the seizing of something or someone, but rather the willingness to “let go and let God.”  Meekness is the interior strength that fights off anger and in turn orders reason. A virtue of lowliness, it sees all things in light of Christ and gives impetus to spiritual poverty. In this vein, it is a virtue that defines sainthood. Ultimately, meekness envisions prosperity as something not of this world—but of the next!

“Seek by way of meekness to subdue the troublesome.”

-St. Ignatius of Antioch

Primary Texts Consulted

•  Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
•  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
• Hahn, Scott and Minch, Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, RSV, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000.

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