WHAT MEEKNESS MEANS
“Meekness”: the Greek text uses here the word “praütes”, the same word that appears in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Mt 5:5). And in the Book of Numbers, the fourth Book of Moses, we find the affirmation that Moses was the meekest man in the world (cf. Num 12:3) and in this sense he was a prefiguration of Christ, of Jesus, who said of himself: “I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Mt 11:29). So this word “meek”, or “gentle”, is also a Christological word and once again implies imitating Christ in this manner. For in Baptism we are configured to Christ so we must configure ourselves to Christ, we must discover this spirit of being meek, without violence, of convincing with love and kindness.
--Benedict XVI, Address to Seminarians of Rome, 2011
It is necessary to be firm but not harsh in ruling and to avoid an insipid gentleness which achieves nothing. We learn from our Lord how our rule should always be accompanied by humility and grace so as to lead hearts to Him and not to put anyone off. [p. 106]
(St Vincent de Paul. From Jacques Delarue, The Holiness of Vincent de Paul, Geoffrey Chapman Ltd, London 1960, 132 pp)
God's business is done little by little and his spirit is neither violent nor tempestuous. We must abandon ourselves to God's Providence and take great care not to run on ahead of it. The works of God achieve themselves and those that are not His soon perish. Rest assured of the truth of a saying that seems paradoxical, that he who is in a hurry delays the things of God. [p. 42]
(St Vincent de Paul. From Jacques Delarue, The Holiness of Vincent de Paul, Geoffrey Chapman Ltd, London 1960, 132 pp)