Winter Sports Rosary Rally
Sacred Heart Academy
January 21, 2018
In these little reflections, I often like to focus on a particular virtue. I know, through Sports Leader, that's kind of the program, that you have a virtue and you talk about it, work with it, and all of that. The virtue that had crossed my mind for this time is the virtue of meekness. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” ~ Matthew 5:5 For many who encounter this verse of Scripture, including the woman who wrote the article that I'm getting all of this from, can read that verse of scripture and think: “That's not for me. I don't want that, I don't particularly want to be meek.” I mean, after all, you are being trained, you are being formed, to be Strong Women of Great Faith. That is exactly what we need. This world needs Strong Women of Great Faith. This world needs strong women who will understand that the world’s approach to women is not perfect, that there are many obstacles in the way, including the systemic treatment of women. Even beyond that there is the need to respond with courage, strongly and appropriately, to any kind of harassment. We indeed need strong women!
Meekness seems to suggest something different, doesn’t it? To be meek seems to be sheepish, nervous, indecisive, shy or timid and not at all strong. But if we look at the Greek word from which meekness comes from we find the word “praus” (pronounced prah-oos.) There you go, you've learned Greek! I believe, now don't quote me on it, but I believe this is where we get the English word prowess - the ability to do something and do it well, with mastery.
Something else I learned recently, Kentucky is the only state in the continental United States that doesn't have an equestrian state sport. Kentucky, of all places! There is a young woman, a 15 year old, who is going to a private school in Virginia because she is the second or third highest ranked equestrian in the United States. She would be one of you - a Valkyrie, her mom would have sent her to Sacred Heart, if we had a state team for equestrians, but we don't because the state doesn't even do that apparently! Strange, and something to work on I guess. We may not have a team, but do we have any riders? I know we've got bowlers and ballers, swimmers and cheerers. Do we have any riders though? No riders, OK. I know one thing, equestrians love their horses.
In search of horses the Greeks would go up into the mountains and they would capture these wild horses specifically looking to find the one. The one in a hundred, the one in a thousand, that one horse that could be a war horse. Many of the horses they found were not the one, they would either get them and they would be completely uncontrollable, unable to even be ridden, or they would become so, well, what we would say ‘meek’ using today’s common understanding of the word, that they weren't fit for war, these would become work horses. But those who had praus, those who had been, in their eyes, meeked, they were the ones who became war horses. We are talking about animals who were able, with a slight bend of the riders foot, a slight tap of the heel, to stop in mid motion and do any number of maneuvers. This is all with battle raging all around them, with horrifying sights and sounds, with terror all around them, they would be able to sense their rider’s needs and be able to respond appropriately. We must also keep in mind that this was all without reins - the soldier would be holding their weapon, and I don’t believe they had stirrups either, the part for the riders foot, they would have held onto the horse with just their legs tightly around the animal. This ability to respond to the slightest command of the rider, that is what it meant to be meek. It had nothing to do with letting go of one's strength. It was not becoming childish, weak or timid. It was about becoming a weapon, a weapon in the hands of a skilled warrior! These horses were worth - everything. Their riders would want to protect them, with everything that they had. They would not have just used them, they would love them, they depended on them for their own safety, and the ability to defend their homeland and their people. These were meek horses.
We are called to be meek, to be weapons in the hands of an Almighty GOD, weapons for the kingdom of peace, for a kingdom of justice, to be that which GOD uses to promote GOD's kingdom. That is what true strength is. It is not denying what you are capable of. To be meek is to know exactly what you are capable of. You are warhorses, you are called on to know that you are a Strong Woman of Great Faith but to also be able to respond to the slightest hint of GOD's call in your life. To be able to sense GOD's need for you today and everyday. In our Gospel today at Mass we hear of the calling of Andrew, James, John, and Simon Peter. They said yes to the LORD when he called them. They said yes and they went. They abandoned everything. You, as Strong Women of Great Faith, are called to that same meekness. Called to respond to the LORD's calling in your life because GOD has a plan for each and every one of you. A call to better the lives of others, to be strong and not weak, to be a marvelous weapon in the hands of our great GOD. It occurs to me that this is exactly the same kind of qualities that you all need to be successful in your sport. To be able to respond to your teammates, to be able to respond to conditions, to be able to respond to the cues of those who have been there before, who know what they're doing. It amazes me, what you all do. The little ways that you're able to communicate with one another. Learn from that. Learn from your ability to listen to your coaches, to your captains, to your teammates, and apply that knowledge to your spiritual life as well. I believe GOD is talking to you, talking to you just as much as your teammates are. All we have to do is listen, listen with meekness, meekness of heart.
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