What wimps.
They won't even fight for what they believe in. William Wallace they aren't. They wouldn't make much of a Gladiator and they would have let the Persians right into Greece to have their way, 300 Spartans or not.
The meek peacemakers are a joke.
They pray while others act.
They sit down while others run forward.
They turn the other cheek while others lift their shields.
They allow the bad guys to win, the good guys to lose. No one respects them. They are the first ones to get picked on on the bus and they are the last people to get picked on in kick ball.
They get shot.
They get trampled on.
They get taken advantage of.
They get beheaded.
They get burned alive.
They get eaten by lions.
They get martyred.
They get crucified.
They go by the name of Karol Wojtyla.
They go by the name of Martin Luther King, Jr.
They go by the name of Ghandi.
They go by the name of Maximilian Kolbe
They go by the name of Thomas More.
They go by the name of Peter.
They go by the name of Jesus.
The meek are hardly weak. The peacemakers hardly ever make anyone around them feel "peaceful" enough to leave them alone. To do that requires real courage. To do that requires real fortitude. To do that requires being a complete and total servant of God.
"Let this cup pass from me, but not my will be done, but yours be done."
This is the prayer of the meek peacemaker, called to things that only they can do. To call attention to things that no one else wants to pay attention to. To the injustice, to the wrongs being done. To overcome those wrongs not through mighty rhetoric, force of arms, or even intellectual bullying, but by simply being truthful. By choosing and desiring the will of God even above their own will. To choose the path that is probably the most difficult yet the one that will most likely lead to the most lasting result.
This is why violence on the part of pro-lifers will never win.
This is why we will never beat Islamic Jihad through force of arms.
This is why the faith will never be spread by the sword.
This is why yelling and screaming about our culture does nothing.
Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount how to be the type of people that will change the world and repeatedly throughout history we do not listen. We do not pay attention. We think that we can torture our way to victory or that we can simply be the biggest fist on the block in order to gain victory. We think that only if the Church had more money or more political power she would be able to bring about the Kingdom of God.
We lie to ourselves in believing the myth of the world.
We will see the Kingdom of God when we are able to be the meek peacemakers that God has called us to be.
We will see the Kingdom of God when we allow ourselves to be arrested for praying a rosary on a Catholic campus.
We will see the Kingdom of God when we react with love when we are sworn at for simply stating the truth in public.
We will see the Kingdom of God when we stop listening to lawyers and start listening to the Law Giver.
We will see the Kingdom of God when we stop making excuses and start making saints.
That is hardly weakness. That is hardly being a wimp. That is hardly an easy challenge today. For today, pick the path of the meek peacemaker. Allow yourself to lose the battle. Allow yourself to be taken advantage of. Allow yourself to appear to the world to be completely insane.
The type of insane person that would think a crucifixion marked the greatest victory in the history of the universe.
Questions for Reflection:
- In your mind, how do you see someone who is described as a "meek peacemaker"? Is it someone that you look up to? Someone that you want to be like? Why or why not?
- Why does it take courage in order to be meek? Do you feel that you have that courage? Why or why not?
- If Christ means that peace is to not be troubled or afraid, what does that mean a peacemaker is really supposed to do? Are you a peacemaker? Why or why not?
- What concrete steps can you take to become more meek in your own life? What issues do you need to let go of?
- Where is it hardest to be a meek peacemaker? Why? What would it take for you to that in that situation today?
- Today, when someone disagrees with you, allow them to be right. If they are wrong, simply state that they are wrong and why. Don't yell. Don't get angry. Don't fight to make yourself heard. Simply state the truth.
- Being a peacemaker is about removing fear. Find someone in your life that is frozen in inaction because they are afraid. Take some time to pray with them to remove that fear.
- Take an opportunity to resolve an argument for a friend. This will probably mean praying with them, but if they ask for your advice, give it.
- Most people react negatively to something out of fear. Be conscious of what people are afraid of today and try to find the source of their fear. If there is a way that you can relieve that fear, do so.
- To be meek and allow God to work is difficult. Make a list of ways that you can be meek today.
Our Father: (To be prayed in the morning)
Our Father, who art in heave, hallow'd be your name. They kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, amen.
The Angelus: (To be prayed at noon)
The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, etc.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done unto me according to your word.
Hail Mary, etc.
And the Word was made flesh.
And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, etc.
Pray for us O holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray - Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, your son, was made known by the message of an Angel, may, by his passion and cross, be brought to the glory of his resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen
Act of Entrustment to Mary #5 (Pray in the Evenings)
O Mother, you know the sufferings
and hopes of the Church and the world:
come to the aid of your children in the daily trials
which life brings to each one,
and grant that, thanks to the efforts of all,
the darkness will not prevail over the light.
To you, Dawn of Salvation, we commit
our journey through the new Millennium,
so that with you as guide
all people may know Christ,
the light of the world and its only Saviour,
who reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit
for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer of the Garden (before doing something new)
"Let this cup pass from me, but not my will be done, but yours be done."
