Homily

Let me ask you, please, when was the last time you were angry? I hope it wasn’t today. I hope it isn’t right now. When was the last time you were angry? Okay, now when was the last time you were meek or gentle? What is the definition of anger? Dictionary says “ire, rage, fury, wrath, indignation, a strong feeling of displeasure.” Now, what is the definition of meekness? Dictionary says It is “calmness, patience, forbearance.” I suspect it’s a lot easier to remember the last time we were angry than it is to remember the last time we were meek, and that we can talk about anger more easily than we can describe meekness. St. Paul in his letter to the Church at Ephesus today urged them, and us, to walk with all humility and meekness, two of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Jesus tells us that the meek shall inherit the earth, but what is the meekness He is speaking about?

Meekness is not weakness. Instead, meekness is actually a strength. In Christian understanding meekness is not cowardice, or timidness, or fear, or not wanting to get involved. True meekness is part of the virtue of temperance, and it works against the vice of anger. Meekness is a virtue that controls anger and all the disorderly effects that come from anger. It is a form of temperance, or self-control, that keeps us from every kind of wrong resentment and bad feelings about another person’s character or behavior.

It’s not a surprise St. Paul links humility with meekness, because humility is knowing our true place in relationship to God and all of His creatures, while meekness helps to prevent us from acting badly towards God and our fellow man. Humility teaches us not to judge the actions and motivations of other people while meekness helps to keep us from being disturbed or angry because of what other people may say or do—especially if what they say or do is against us! Now it is true that sometimes we must make judgments—you might be called for jury duty—but we must always remember we cannot judge the souls of other people if we are living in humility. And, if we practice meekness then we will not allow anger to control our own words and behavior towards them. There is, of course, a righteous anger—when we are angry against those things which anger God, when we are angry against sins such as murder, racism, abortion or unjust aggression. But righteous anger is against the evil, not the other person. Even then St. Paul urges us just a little further in Ephesians, to be careful in our anger so that we do not sin (Ephesians 4:26-27). In Romans, he instructs us not to take revenge:

“for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord … Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:19-21)

The apostle James writes,

“Know this, my brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20).

If we look at our own anger, I suspect most of it comes not from being angry at an evil in itself, but rather because we believe it is an evil done against us, and we are angry with the person, not the evil. Here is the reason we need meekness—to keep our anger from turning into sin.

So many times people think anger itself is a sin but that’s not necessarily true. Often it is just an emotional reaction we did not invite, or choose, so there is no sin involved. But when anger is deliberately fed and worked on, or when we allow it to go on unchecked it often leads to sin. Meekness is the virtue that helps us to keep from sinning even though we may be angry, and like any other virtue it does not just come to us miraculously. We must practice it, work on it, strengthen it and apply it, and God will then give us the grace we need to keep it growing stronger.

St. Francis de Sales had four good points about how to practice meekness so that we can overcome the power of anger: (1) Try to hold back your angry thoughts and actively replace them with other thoughts. (2) Like the Apostles on the stormy sea, call upon the Lord to rescue you and restore peace to your heart. (3) When you are boiling, do not talk or offer any opposition to the point in question. (4) Struggle to be humble and courteous to the person you are angry with, especially if he has shown you any resentment in any way.”

St. Vincent de Paul said when he felt himself growing angry, he would keep from speaking or acting and never make decisions until his anger was completely under control. He said that actions, even though they seem to be good actions, if they are done in a state of agitation they are not fully directed by reason, and very often end in sin.

St. Francis de Sales wrote, “Be assured that all disturbing, upsetting thoughts do not come from God, Who is the Prince of Peace. They come either from the devil, or from our own self-love, or from the high opinion we hold about ourselves. These are the three sources of all our troubles. When such thoughts come to our mind we should banish them immediately and pay no attention to them.”

And we can do so if we practice meekness, and grow in the habit of being those who live in the peace that meekness brings, because it not only keeps anger from turning into sin, it also makes more room within our hearts for the peace of Christ to dwell. Meekness is not weakness, but rather it is strength for those who embrace it and practice it. So, with all the potential turbulence and agitation and friction that can come in the weeks ahead in December, let us count ourselves among the meek, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace.