Christ Jesus said: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves” (Matthew 11:29). At the Sermon on the Mount, he said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

Traditionally, this beatitude was seen as related to the gift of piety and the virtue of justice. The gift of piety helps us to live as children of God. When we acknowledge fatherhood of God, we must also acknowledge the brotherhood of men. We recognize others as being created according to the image of God, and thus treat them with respect.

The virtue of justice requires us to give to others their due. We should respect others, for all people are either already the temple of God through grace or capable of becoming the temple of God.

St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) was a saint whose meekness helped to win souls for Christ. Francis was ordained in 1593. As a young priest, he started an expedition to Thonon-les-Bains, France, to convert non-Catholic Christians back to Catholicism. After three difficult years, there was not even one convert. But Francis was an unusually patient man. He wrote leaflets, copied them by hand, and slipped them under the doors of the people who would not listen to him. These leaflets were later published in one volume called “The Catholic Controversy.” Today St. Francis de Sales is the patron saint for journalists.

Francis won the heart of the people gradually with his meekness and kindness. Parents would not come to Francis, so he came to their children and played with them. When the parents saw how kind he was as he played with their children, they started to talk to him.

Eventually more and more people came to listen to his sermons, and conversions became more frequent. By the time he left Thonon-les-Bains, Francis had brought 40,000 people back to the Catholic faith.

St. Francis de Sales said, “When you have to make arrangements, settle quarrels, or win others to your views, take care to be as mild as possible. You will accomplish more, and conquer more readily, by yielding and humbling yourself, than by harshness and disputation. Who does not know that more flies are caught with an ounce of honey than with a hundred barrels of vinegar?”

St. Francis de Sales laboured for 22 years to acquire meekness and mildness. He once said, “You see, I have made a compact with my tongue, that when anything is said against me that may excite me to anger, it will beware of uttering a word.”

The saint taught: “The remedies against anger are: 1. To forestall its movements, if possible, or at least to cast them aside quickly, by turning the thoughts to something else. 2. In imitation of the Apostles when they saw the sea raging, to have recourse to God, whose office it is to give peace to the heart. 3. During the heat of passion, not to speak, nor take any action as to the matter in question. 4. To strive to perform acts of kindness and humility towards the person against whom one is incensed, especially in reparation for any of a contrary nature.”

According to Sacred Scripture, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1) St. Vincent de Paul said, “At times a single word is sufficient to cool a person who us burning with anger; and , on the other hand, a single word may be capable of desolating a soul, and infusing into it a bitterness which may be most hurtful.”

St. Vincent de Paul would not permit his missionaries to treat penitents with austerity and harshness. With great patience and cordiality, St. Vincent de Paul also converted many non-Catholic Christians to the Catholic faith.


                                                 溫良能賺取人心

基督耶穌說:「你們背起我的軛,跟我來罷!因為我是良善心謙的:這樣你們必要找得你們靈魂的安息。」(瑪竇福音11:29)。在山中聖訓時耶穌說:「溫良的人是有福的,因為他們要承受土地。」(瑪竇福音5:5)

傳統上這端「溫良真福」與「孝愛」之恩和「公義」之德有關連。「孝愛」之恩幫助我們活出合乎天主子女的生活。當我們明認天主的父權時,也要明認我們彼此間的兄弟情誼。我們意識到衆人均是按天主肖像而受造,應該互相尊重。「公義」讓我們要給予別人所應得的,亦本著互相尊重,緊記每個人或是因聖寵成已了天主的聖殿,或是被召叫並有潛質成為天主的聖殿。

聖方濟.沙雷(1567-1622)的溫良,幫助他贏得無數的靈魂歸向基督。1593年,聖方濟晉鐸後,到法國的托農萊班傳教;作為一位年青的神父,要使非天主教的基督徒皈依聖教絕非易事。經過三年的艱辛,卻毫無進展;但聖方濟有驚人的忍耐,努力不懈,手抄傳教的單張,從門下派進每戶不肯聽道的家庭;這些單張內容,後來被合編成書,名為「天主教的爭議」,廣受重視。今日,聖方濟.沙雷被尊為記者的主保。

作父母的不與他交往,聖方濟便主動接觸他們的孩子,和他們一起玩耍;見到聖方濟對孩子們如此仁愛温良,父母漸漸前來和他交談;這樣,願意聽他講道的人越來越多、歸依聖教的事越來越頻密。當聖方濟.沙雷離開時,托農萊班約有四萬人皈化天主教。

聖方濟.沙雷說過:「如果要作出某些安排、或平息爭執、或要說服別人,必定要盡量溫和。謙遜比強硬及爭論,能使你征服得更多、獲得更多。誰都知道,一盎士的蜂蜜,比一百桶的醋,能捕獲更多的蒼蠅。」

二十二年來,聖方濟.沙雷努力嘗習溫良和善。他曾道:「你看,我與我的舌頭約定:每當我遇到反對我的說話而可能令我忿怒時,舌頭要謹防說出一個字。」聖人教道:「對抗忿怒救藥是:1.如果可以,要防止忿怒的移動,或至少盡快把忿怒旁落,去將思想轉向其他的事。2. 向宗徒們學習吧。他們面對怒海,轉向尋求天主,祂會賜予內心的平安。3. 意氣衝動時,對有關事誼不發一言、不蠕一動。4. 對令自己忿怒的人,努力去為他作仁愛與謙遜的行為,以特別賠補任何達反這些德行的行為。」

聖經中的箴言(15:1)寫著:「溫和的回答,平息忿怒;激昂的言語,使人動怒。」聖文生說:「有時,只需一個字便能平息怒火;相反,只需一個字,便能使一個靈魂悲涼,立注入最傷人的苦味。」聖文生不准許他的傳教士們對悔罪的人嚴苛。而是要忍耐、和藹。 他自己藉著耐心和友善,也曾幫助眾多非天主教的基督徒皈依聖教。