Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord!

Last week we discussed the first two beatitudes. Today, let’s continue this topic and look at the following beatitude. The third beatitude says: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” This beatitude is quite interesting and deep. When we think about, it many questions arise. Everything becomes even more complicated when we turn to the holy fathers, who explain very differently these words of the Saviour.

St. Dimitry of Rostov says that “the meek are one and the same as the poor in spirit.” That they are the same, or at least very similar, is supported by the fact that some ancient manuscripts place this beatitude second and not third, as it is in the Slavonic, Russian, and English Bibles. Perhaps Christ repeated the commandment about the modest, humble, quiet, and meek so as to emphasize the importance of these characteristics for the Christian soul. Let’s not forget that without humility, there is no foundation on which to build other good deeds.

At the same time, we should probably consider another opinion – that meekness is a particular spiritual characteristic that is at least somewhat different from humility, and that it is acquired as a consequence of mourning over sins. Last week we noted that the person who deeply mourns his sins becomes incapable of sinning further because all of his attention, all his energy is spent on mourning. When a person is engulfed to such a degree in his spiritual well-being, he becomes meek, that is, he is calm, quiet, does not react impulsively to anything that moves him to sin. He calmly considers everything and decides not to sin. St. Gregory of Nyssa, the brother of Basil the Great, says that we should understand the meek in this light, for it’s not always prudent, even in our spiritual endeavours, to be quiet and calm. For example, when a hierarch sees that some heretical idea is creeping into the Church, he reacts energetically, quickly, sometimes even severely; and he does well when he acts in such a fashion. The same is true with parents when they react to children who are sinning or behaving inappropriately.

Not less important is the need to think about the meaning of the words of our Lord about inheriting the earth. Some of the holy fathers say that here the Saviour is talking about some kind of spiritual earth, but John Chrysostom rejects this idea and teaches that Christ was speaking about our physical earth, on which all of us live. He notices that for some people it is difficult to live only by the hope of a better future life, and therefore Christ promises not only spiritual rewards, but earthly ones as well. St. Philaret of Moscow confirms this, noting that the proud pagan world was defeated by the meek, i. e. by the Christians, when the Roman Empire, we could say the entirety of the world at that time, put off its ancient superstitions and turned towards Christ. We see the same thing in our personal lives. Those people who lie, cheat, steal, or murder, live perhaps for a time in comfort, but often because of their crimes they lose everything. The law and fate catch up to them. On the other hand, the meek, those who do not fall into the temptation of sin, live quietly and peacefully, with what they have. Sometimes they are able to build on what they have, but no matter what they are happy with what they have, that is, they feel that they have everything to live comfortably here on earth.

Let’s pray to the Lord God that we, through repentance, acquire true meekness so as not to fall into sin, and, in such a way, find not only spiritual rest, but also a peaceful life here on earth.

priest Alexis