Practicing Zeal with Gentleness

In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul says, “Do not grow slack in zeal.” St. Benedict also counsels us to foster good zeal with fervent love (Rule of St. Benedict, 72:3). So how do we go about fostering good zeal, and what is it exactly we are to be zealous about?

Psalm 112 gives us a clue, for it begins, “Blessed the one who fears [is in awe of] the Lord.” When we begin to grasp the awesome nature of God, whose creativity and capacity for love and mercy is beyond our comprehension, we are energized and want to share this good news with others. Being in relationship with God becomes a priority in our life, and as Fr. Meinrad Miller pointed out at mass today, when we prioritize God, we will in turn adopt God’s priorities. According to Psalm 112, those priorities are to be gracious, merciful, and just and give lavishly to the poor.

St. Benedict defines good zeal as the following:

• Being the first to show respect to the other

• Supporting with the greatest patience one another’s weaknesses of body or behavior

• Earnestly competing in obedience to one another (i.e., service)

• Placing the needs of others ahead of one’s own desires

• Loving God, whom we hold in awe; loving our directors/guides with humility; loving our companions without seeking anything in return

• Preferring nothing whatever to Christ

We may not immediately equate good zeal with mercy, justice, generosity, respect, patience, service, reverence, love, and devotion. They seem like such gentle qualities. Yet consider these words from Chapter 78 of the Tao te Ching: 

Nothing in the world

Is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
Nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard;
The gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true,
But few can put it into practice.

May we not grow slack in zeal—or in gentleness.