The Priest at Prayer for July 27, Meekness

The Third Part - Vices and Virtues

Meekness

Second Meditation - Priestly Motives

I. If in the course of our priestly ministry we are to do any good to souls we need respect, but unless we curb our anger we run the risk of placing ourselves in situations that ill befit our priestly condition and make us appear contemptible.

People will not fear us because of our anger; fits of bad temper convict us of weakness and invite ridicule. And let us remember this: apart from a few places, where respect for the priest is very solidly established and where the priest enjoys a par­ticularly high social status, the Catholic priest, no matter what his rank within the Church's Hierarchy, means very little, as a priest, to society at large.

People are absolutely at liberty to approach us, if they will; if not, we shall be left to kick our heels in the most appall­ing loneliness. So why get upset? Why shout and let off steam in outbursts of impotent rage, the effect of which would be merely to repel people?

On the other hand, what great respect and love and esteem is given to the priest who knows how to be gentle and forbearing! How the priest, who by the grace of God and by his own sustained efforts has mastered his angry impulses, attracts and captivates!

Having learned first to wield absolute sovereignty over the domains of his own soul, having checked the brutal thrust of his own passions with the bridle of grace and reason, he has mastery over others. Like a keeper who has tamed wild beasts, he has other souls at his command.

This, in many priests, is the source of the great good they do and of the obedience so willingly rendered to them; not their learning, which is nothing extraordinary; not their wealth, which they do not possess; not the influence of friends or of politicians, a hindrance rather than a help to them; no, it is their kindness and gentleness that suffice; they make themselves all to all men; they maintain their self-control; and thus, by their quiet manner and gracious words, they are able to
witness even in this life the fulfilment of the Beatitude:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land.

II. Unfortunately, among the clergy, in every rank, there are to be found unpleasant characters, embittered souls, as high-voltaged, it would seem, as electric storm clouds. A sad fact which does us very little honour, being so much at variance with the spirit of Christ, who came not to destroy or to terrorise. No man more self-adapting, more gracious and better-mannered, than the Virgin's Son.

Brusqueness of manner does not square with our task of winning souls over by our speech; the words that enthrall and conquer are not tempestuous words. Anger is not in keeping with our position as gentlemen of good breeding and manners. If genuine good manners are simply the spontaneous expression of inward goodness made manifest in words and actions, of whom more than of the priest can this inward goodness be expected? The priest, above all men, is called upon to bear out the words of Christ:

"A good man utters good words from his store of goodness."

He is not expected to bring from his heart a store of vinegar and gall, fire and fury, nettles and thorns.

If the world, so trained in the art of apparent good manners, detects a streak of inhumanity in you, it will form its own conclusions; namely, you are uncouth because you are unfamiliar with your social medium, and the intolerance you show is to be attributed to the fact that you were suddenly and without due prepara­tion "jumped up" socially; you were lifted out of an inferior social stratum and made to live among educated people; and therefore, in your proud conceit and mis­calculation you thought that by arching or knitting your eyebrows, by blowing alternately hot and cold of temper, you would succeed in convincing others of your immense superiority over them, and would display your Savoir faire in the craft of bringing your subjects to heel.

O God, however eminent the dignity of Thy priests, do not withhold from them that courtesy and good manners which even among many souls who are entirely estranged from Thee have a captivating and irresistible power.

III. This "benignitas" is for St. Paul something more than good manners, it is the flower of all virtue, the proof that charity abides in us: the charity which sur­passes the gifts of tongues and prophecy, almsgiving, even martyrdom itself. When St. Paul comes to analyse the essence of charity, he does not enter into lofty theological disquisitions, he makes this sovereign virtue consist in something that is eminently practical, homely, and of everyday life:

" Charity is patient, is kind; charity feels no envy;

"Charity is never perverse or proud, never insolent;

"Does not claim its rights, cannot be provoked,does not brood over an injury;

"Takes no pleasure in wrongdoing, but rejoices at the victory of truth;

"Sustains, believes, hopes, endures, to the last." (1 Cor. xiii, 4-7)

Endow a soul with that rich store of qualities, and you will have a paragon of kindness, thoughtfulness, courtesy, meekness. Such a soul will be fashioned after the likeness of Christ, the great Model, who in His dealings with men was full of exquisite graciousness; he will be like St. Paul, whose letters, besides being treatises of Christian belief and its adaptation to human speech, may well be taken as a handbook of social propriety and dignified courtesy.

Dear Lord, that is my ambition. May the warmth of Thy grace dry up in my embittered heart every source of rudeness, harshness, and arrogant pride.

Resolution
To the best of my ability I shall avoid the occasions that provoke me to anger, because I realise that with this particular passion, as with lust, it is flight that makes for conquest; and the most dangerous occasion of exceeding the bounds of moderation is to indulge in arguing.

How few succeed in remaining calm and com­posed amid the tumult of an argument! I shall follow the advice given by the Apostle:

"A servant of the Lord has no business with quarrelling; he must be kindly towards all men, persuasive and tolerant,

"With a gentle hand for correcting those who are obstinate in their errors." (2 Tim. ii, 24-25)

If the Apostle demands gentleness and affability in the defence of the truth already known, what should we expect him to demand when the argument deals with mere opinions?

"There must be no wordy disputes, such as can only unsettle the minds of those who are listening." (2 Tim. ii, 4)

Such is the effect of mere controversy, according to the Apostle of the Gentiles; instead of clarity, darkness, doubt, anger, and an unsettled mind. These are the bitter and poisonous fruits we have tasted ourselves whenever we have argued for argument's sake; therefore, I shall never allow myself to be drawn into a heated discussion; and if I am requested to take part, I shall know what answer to give:

"And if anyone is prepared to argue the matter, he must know that no such custom is found among us, or in any of God's churches." (1 Cor. xi, 16.)

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Adapted from The Priest at Prayer
by Fr. Eugenio Escribano, C.M. (© 1954)
Translated by B.T. Buckley, C.M.

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Please pray for our priests and pray for vocations to the priesthood!