Blessed are the Meek

The third beatitude is:

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Mt 5:5)

The idea of meek takes on a negative slant if we think it means being ‘weak and timid’. I do not think that this is what Jesus means here. Look up the dictionary and we would see words like “humble”, “patient” and “not resentful despite being injured”. These are words that would describe Christ in His Passion! In His Passion, Christ was definitely not weak and timid. He was strong, courageous and able to deny himself, leading to the self-emptying that St. Paul would refer to in his letter to the Philippians (2:7)

In vocation discernment, being meek is a useful trait. We actively put down the self-serving inner voice within us to allow that which is humble and receptive in us to truly listen to what God wants. A true meekness will bring down the strongest spritual pride. Only when we know that we are empty can we allow ourselves to be filled with God's spirit. We must not think that this means we should blindly follow eastern meditative methods found in Hinduism and Buddhism. Instead, we should have the disposition of the person who wrote Psalm 8:

When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,
the moon and the stars which thou hast established;

what is man that thou art mindful of him,
and the son of man that thou dost care for him?

Yet thou hast made him little less than God,
and dost crown him with glory and honor.

We are nothing compared to the greatness of God. Yet God allows us to consider lofty ideals. This truthful assessment of who we are would allow us to deny ourselves and allow God to take over. In meekness we allow God to take over in our prayer. In meekness we listen more than we talk.