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Serenity meaning in bible12/4/2023 ![]() ![]() Our Lord proposes himself as a model of meekness and humility, virtues and dispositions of the heart, which always go together.Īs Jesus talks to the people who follow him, “harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36), he wins their trust through the meekness of his heart, always so welcoming and understanding. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt 11:28‑30). Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. In the Gospel we hear Jesus say to us: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. On the contrary, they make us freer and simplify our life. Our Lord never oppresses us with his instructions and commands. But this yoke is easy to bear because it liberates us, and the burden does not weigh us down because he himself carries the heaviest part. ![]() The Messiah brought a yoke and a burden to humankind. ![]() And they tell us that “the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Ps 102:8), and that those who hope in him “shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Is 40:31). The prophet Isaiah (Is 40:25‑31), together with the psalm (Ps 102:1‑2.8.10), invites us to contemplate the greatness of God as opposed to that weakness of our own that we know through the experience of our repeated falls into sin. Jesus, the Model of Meekness for Us to Imitate Self-control and balanced judgment careful, serene reflection control of our nerves and imagination: All this requires effort and firmness–and perseverance. Wrath generates intense and prolonged disturbances in human life. They appear in the gaze, the smile, the bearing, the speech of a friend they double the value of the service rendered. Serenity and meekness is the most visible and charming part of charity. Thus, a serene person is not to be confused with a feeble one or a weak character the latter is often serene with those who please him and ill-tempered with others. The virtue imposes the government of reason illumined by faith over our sensibility disturbed by anger. The virtue of meekness differs from the meekness of temperament. Thus, the meek are promised the vision of God, or heaven. It is similar to inheriting the kingdom of God. The meek are told to receive in possession or inheritance “the earth.” “The earth” refers primarily to Holy Land, the Promised Land, an ideal not merely earthly and material, but really Messianic and spiritual. This virtue is manifested in their compassionate goodness, self-denial, and docility to God’s will. The Greek word aptly describes the humble and serene meekness of the “poor of God.” The term “meek” ( praeis) in the Old Testament implies much the same as “poor” ( ptôkhoi) but lays more emphasis on manly resignation to adversity and less on the adversity itself. In the Greek rendering of the Bible this concept was translated as praeis. ![]() The Hebrew word for meek is ‘anawim, “the poor of God.” This word did not exactly apply to those penniless, destitute of fortune, but had a precise religious-biblical meaning. The psalms had also praised the meek in very similar terms: “The meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace” (Ps 37:11). In the second beatitude, our Lord commended the meek with these words, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Mt 5:5). In his Sermon on the Mountain, Jesus gave the guidelines for Christian living. Otherwise, it is only a matter of tactics. With the moderation of meekness–related to temperance–the light of reason and the help of grace take control over our sensible appetites.īut to be true, meekness should be settled, not in our words and gestures, but in our heart. In the same manner that clemency mitigates a deserved punishment, the virtue of meekness injects a note of serenity and calmness to our actions. In some circumstances, we need to correct with severity. The external movements are moderated and given goodness by the virtue of clemency. Life’s internal movements are moderated by the virtue of meekness. Serenity brings our disturbed sensibility under the command of our reason–illumined by faith. Serenity should always accompany patience while patience leads us to endure the difficulties, serenity curbs our unreasonable movements of anger. ![]()
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