The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-01-31

are we to understand by meeknesS!
are two questions that should be an
swered. but it should he noted that con-
crete examples give a better idea of
the meek and meekness than abstract
definition.
"A flood Of light upon this Chris
tian grace is thrown by two notable
examples given us by the Bible. One is
Moses. who was very meek above all
the men who were upon the face of the
earth Numbers, xii: g. The other is
Jesus Christ himself, who uttered this
Beatitude and who says: Take my
yoke upon you and learn Of me, for I
am meek and lowly in heart and ye
shall find rest unto your souls Mat
thew, Xi: %. No other Bible examples
are needed to show us, either positively,
what meeknes.s is, or, negatively, what
meekness is not.
APOSTOLIC INJUNCTION.
"It is obvious from the Bible models
of meekness and from those in the
history of the church. that meekness
is not a poor, weak. mean, helpless.
pitiful thing that ought to apologize
for its existence. The meek have no
apology to make, except to confess that
they ought to be more meek. Meek
ness is not CowardiCa, not inconsistent
with acts of bravery, nor with deeds
of daring. nor inconsistent with the
expression of righteous Indignation.
BE ye angry and sin not is an apos-
tolic injunction.
Though Moses was the meekest of
men, he was also one of the bravest,
very mighty; his meekness did not
prevent him from manifesting right
eouS indignation when he saw the hosts
of Israel worshipping a golden calf,
nor being the worlds greatest law
giver, as well as the greatest general
that ever commanded an army.
"And Jesus, our Divine Lord, whose
meekness is infinite, and who tells us
to take himself-it is He who says:
BLESSED are the meek: for they shall
inherit the earth. Surely his meek
ness did not prevent Him from being
grave, and mighty. and courageous,
and heroic: nor did it prevent him from
being angry on occasions. His indig
nation against the Scribes and Phar-
iSees must have waXed hot when he
denounced them so bitterly. He said:
'Ye serpents. Ye generation of vipers'
How can We escape the damnation Of
Hell!' Infinite meekness is not incon-
sistent with infinite wrath. We read
of the wrath of the Lamb and Of it's
being so terrible that men will cry to
the mountains and rocks to hide them
from it.
The school of Christ is the only
place to learn true meekness. Hence
Jesus says Learn of me- The meek
ness of Moses was human and so not
always altogether faultless the meek
ness of Jesus is Divine. The meekness
of the one compared to that of the
other is like starlight unto sunlight.
The people seem to have been
afraid of Moses-not so Of Jesus. He
was easy of access. Mothers brought
their little children to Him. Any sim
ner may approach Him, and talk TO
Him, and trust in Him. Moreover He
will teach all such how to be meek and
He Will save them with an everlasting
salvation.
ITS TRUE MEANING.
But what is the meaning of the as
sertion The meek shall inherit the
earth?' Do they now inherit the earth ?
Have they ever inherited the earth ?
Will they ever inherit it? The COM
mentators, ancient and modern, give us
very little help. Some like st. Jerome,
spiritualize this beautitude until they
change the form and meaning of Christ ;
words, into a shape quite the opposite
OF what they appear in the Gospel. BY
the word earth they would have us
understand heaven They would have
us read the beatitude Blessed are the
meek for they shall inherit heaven
| Now if our Lord had meant that. He
, easily could have said so. He did say
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for
! theirs is the kingdom of heaven and
what He said He meant. Away back
in Psalms (xxXViD David said the
meek shall inherit the earth
And So bearing upon this doctrine
We can recall our Lords words in the
gospels of Mark and Luke Mark
X:29-S0; Luke. Xvii:29-3O) when He
says those who for His sake forsake
all worldly goods and family ties shall
receive manifold more i'm the present
time Mark says A hundredfold more
/ in this time and in the world
! to come eternal life That the meek
! shall inherit the earth is a surprising
statement is no more startling thar
other words of Jesus.
our Lord does not say that each one
/ of His disciples shall inherit the whole
earth. Lazarus had very less of thi.
earth than others, but he took away
with him far more of this earth's Joy!
| than they. The earth is full of richie!
in one form or another and the meel
have had their full share. Their capac
ity is greater than that of the wicked
and naughty for enjoying the gooC
gifts of God by reason of the former!
relationship with God.
AS THINGS ARE
Taking things as they now are anC
the earth as it now is, the meek ar
the mighty. Meekness is power. Chris
tianity counts. Christ is moving on t
the conquest of the world. This wa
true of the time of Christ and the earl!
days of Christianity. Meekness ha
power with men and it has power witt
God, and that power will not cease il
working until this beatitude is literal,
fulfilled, Who are the worlds bene
factors? the real rulers? the proud, tn
naughty, the violent, the tyrannical
No indeed. The real earthly ruler o
nearly one-fourth of the human rae
is the man who lived twenty-five hun
dred years ago, Gaudama, the founde
or Buddhism, and, although he wa
fearfully mistaken, he had the Virtu
which has made him immOrtal-he wa