12 days ‒ Emptying oneself of the spirit of the world - Day 7

Blessed are the meek

Prayer to the Holy Spirit 

O Holy Spirit, inspire me. God’s love, engulf me. Holy Mary, my Mother, guide me in the right ways, look at me, and together with Jesus, bless me. Keep me from all evil, from all delusions and all threats. Mary, The Spouse of the Holy Spirit, obtain for me the grace of blessed meekness. Amen!

The Word of God 

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

Meditation 

While creating the man, God gave him land as his property. Man became the ambassador of God on earth so that he would manage everything on His behalf. After the original sin, managing the earth was extremely difficult for people. It brought “thorns and thistles.” The earth that was before the area of his government became a place of struggle. From then on, the spirit of the world leads people in such a direction that they feel the urge to argue about everything. I need to be go-getting; they have to notice me; I have to know how to advertise myself. Otherwise, how could I become known in the world? I wouldn’t have any career, I wouldn’t make a name for myself, I wouldn’t own anything. After all, I cannot be an absolute loser who even doesn’t know how to stand up for my own rights. The world is brutal, ruled by the law of the jungle: the stronger wins. So, how could I show my power?

Being meek, about which Christ talks, is, in fact, the fortitude. It means being gentle, which is actually one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Saint Maximilian Kolbe said that violence results from the power which feels too weak. The world shows its violence. Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko defined it similarly: violence is a sign of weakness. God doesn’t need to break people to dominate them. God’s gentleness is nothing but His almightiness. So, we see that what in human eyes may seem despised and rejected is, in fact, the manifestation of the almightiness of God.

Meekness leads to clinging deeply to God and relying on Him. I want to trust in Him totally. Meekness is about being more like Jesus, who was tormented, tortured, nailed to the Cross, and like a lamb, He did not open His mouth. Despite tremendous pain, there was no grudge in Him, no desire for revenge, no bitterness. He answered for the hatred with love, the pain with patience, the insulting with silence, and the injustice with forgiveness. Being the beloved child of God and having the life out of this world, you don’t have to strive for the world to understand or treat you properly. The more Mary teaches you to live with Christ, the less it will hurt when someone harms you. No one can take away your dignity; likewise, no one could take it away from Christ. Even though He was slapped on the face, He answered: “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” (Jn 18:23). This is a beautiful path to inner freedom, on which Mary teaches us how to be free from human dependencies or any domination, competition or need to always have one’s way. Meekness that is omnipotent made Christ say: “because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again” D 7 49 (Jn 10:17‒18). Therefore, I don’t have to frantically defend myself because God will protect me with His almighty power like He defended His son by leading Him out of the grave.

Mary’s meekness in Magnificat: “for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Lk 1:49). “For he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant” (Lk 1:48). We see that meekness and humbleness in Mary’s life are the manifestation of the Almighty Power and holiness of God. Being meek, Mary offers God the space to act. She knows that God has real power over the world; thus, she can trustfully entrust her whole life to Him.

The struggle of standing up to evil: what does it consist in? It is the temptation to fight for your beliefs and arguments, always play your cards, have it your way, and dominate. The temptation to perceive other people as your enemies who you need to outshout because they want to take your right reasons. But you have to love people, not fight with them. Jesus encourages us: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11:29‒30).

Spiritual reading 

“A Friend of the Cross is one chosen by God, from among thousands who live only according to their reason and senses, to be wholly divine, raised above mere reason and completely opposed to material things, living in the light of pure faith, and inspired by a deep love of the Cross.

A Friend of the Cross is an all-powerful king, a champion who triumphs over the devil, the world and the flesh in their three-fold concupiscence. He crushes the pride of Satan by his love of humiliations; he overcomes the greed of the world by his love of poverty; he retrains the sensuality of the flesh by his love of suffering.

A Friend of the Cross is one who is holy and set apart from the things that are visible, for his heart is raised above all that is transient and perishable, and his homeland is in heaven; he travels through this world like a visitor and a pilgrim, and, far from setting his heart on it, he looks on it with indifference and tramples it underfoot with contempt.”

St. Louis de Montfort, Letter to the Friends of the Cross, 4

Homework 

Fall in love with being with God one-to-one. 

Prayer of consecration 

I am all Yours, and all that I have is Yours, O most loving Christ, through Mary, Your most holy Mother. Amen!