It wasn’t until Timmerie had kids that dealing with anger became a real challenge. Suddenly, the little daily frustrations had a way of showing her what was in her heart, and how quickly “rushing” can spread to the whole family.
As the new year began, someone asked her, “What are you leaving behind in 2025?” Her answer: rushing, and the anger that comes with wanting everything perfectly ordered. A recent homily helped her name the root: when we’re angry, love is present, but it can be “a disordered self love” that puts our comfort first.
So she went looking for help in the Bible and the saints, remembering that both Moses and St. Joseph are called meek. Meekness, she explained, is the virtue that “mitigates anger”, “a mildness of temper” that keeps boundaries and expectations, but holds them with charity. It’s why Jesus promised, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Timmerie connected that Beatitude to the world we’re living in: a culture quick to outrage and quick to throw insults. If anger creates discord and disunity, meekness can “win others over,” drawing people in rather than pushing them away. She also shared a line from the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, calling meekness “the strength to restrain anger and discouragement” in adversity.
Jesus doesn’t treat anger as a quirky personality trait. “Anyone who is angry with his brother is liable to judgment,” Timmerie reminded listeners, warning us not to define ourselves by our defects. St. Thomas Aquinas even says meekness “above all makes a man self-possessed.” Her question for every season of life is simple: “Do you want that harmony with yourself and others out of love for God?”
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