Today’s Gospel at Mass, was the Beatitudes from the book of Mark. The priest started his homily by asking if people liked having game nights. He went on to describe how he loved to play Monopoly. Some games went on for hours. I thought about when I used to celebrate Thanksgiving with my son’s in-laws. After a delicious meal, many of us would sit down to play Monopoly. Each person seemed to have their own strategy and way of playing the game. Some people were cut-throat, excited to make others go bankrupt. Others were more forgiving and made deals with others to help keep them in the game. The priest said he realized that if you play according to the rules of the game, you win by ruining others. And, as the game goes on and more players go bankrupt, there are less and less people at the table playing with you anymore. He compared that to real life. If we live our lives according to what society holds as valuable, people will do what is necessary to obtain more and more things to supposedly make them happy, regardless of who gets used up along the way. In the process, their worlds become smaller, with less and less people who want to be around them. Back to the Beatitudes. Jesus gives us the instructions for true, long-lasting happiness. And on the top of the list is meekness – which is not weakness. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline. To be meek or humble is not to think less of yourself, but to think of yourself less. It is putting others’ needs, desires ahead of yours. This can be as simple as allowing someone else in your household to choose the show to watch, or the restaurant to eat at. Or it can be as big as donating an organ for someone who is in need. We have opportunities every day to choose to lift up others. Another good point the priest made was that you must have this first Beatitude, meekness, to have any of the others. I thought this homily was challenging, relevant, and really what I needed to hear.

I Found God today in a challenging, relevant homily about meekness.