(Source from “The Word Among Us”)

Blessed are the meek. (Matthew 5:5)

If someone called you meek, would you consider it a compliment or an insult? Are you being described as humble and patient or overly submissive and weak?

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus called the meek “blessed,” so clearly, he thought it was something worth striving for. He also called himself “meek and humble of heart” (Matthew 11:29). And he was: he was submissive, but only to the will of his heavenly Father.

This is what it means to be meek: to bend our will to God’s. This kind of meekness requires strength, not weakness, and a willingness to trust and obey the Lord.

In today’s first reading from the prophet Zephaniah, it seems that meekness was exactly what the people of Jerusalem were lacking. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been overrun by the Assyrians just a generation or two before Zephaniah wrote these words. A similar fate awaited the southern kingdom because they were worshipping other gods and breaking the Lord’s commandments.

And who would survive the “day of the Lord’s anger” (Zephaniah 2:3)? Only a “remnant” of people “humble and lowly,” who would observe God’s laws and seek “justice” and “humility” (2:3; 3:12). They would be blessed for their willingness to be meek before the Lord.

And so will we. When we follow God’s commandments, even when our passions and desires push us in the opposite direction, we will enjoy freedom from sin. When we seek the Lord’s will in all that we do—especially when we are faced with an important decision—we will feel peaceful and secure that we are following the right path.

Is there an area in your life that you are struggling to submit to the Lord? If so, repent and ask for the grace to give it to him. And even if you don’t see the blessings right away, believe that they will come, just as Jesus promised.

“Lord, help me to be like you, meek and humble of heart.”