the docile will inherit the earth (see mt 5:5)
"The Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My name will instruct you in everything." —John 14:26
As Jesus is a Paraclete and Teacher (see Jn 20:16), so the Holy Spirit is "another Paraclete" (Jn 14:16) and another Teacher (Jn 14:26). The right attitude to have towards a teacher is to be teachable, that is, docile. Pope John Paul II has taught that the Holy Spirit is "received by the humble and docile heart of the believer" (Splendor of the Truth, 108). The Pope prophesied that we would have a "new springtime of Christian life," if we "are docile to the action of the Holy Spirit" (Toward the Third Millennium, 18, emphasis added).
In this same letter, Pope John Paul II has described Mary as "the woman who was docile to the voice of the Spirit" (48). She was docile because she was a woman of silence, attentiveness, and hope (48). To be docile, we must be quiet, minimize distractions, and hope that what the Spirit is teaching us will effect the Great Jubilee and renew the face of the earth (Ps 104:30).
In this month of Mary, ask your mother's intercession so that you will "let it be done" to you "according to God's word" (Lk 1:38, our transl). Be docile; know the truth; change the world.
Prayer: Father, as my pride gives way to docility, so may this culture of death give way to a civilization of love and life.
Promise: "There was a man who was lame from birth; he used to sit crippled, never having walked in his life. On one occasion he was listening to Paul preaching, and Paul looked directly at him and saw that he had the faith to be saved. He called out to him in a loud voice, 'Stand up! On your feet!' The man jumped up and began to walk around." —Acts 14:8-10
Praise: When tempted to smoke, Jeff reads the Bible for fifteen minutes and waits for God to save him.
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Edward J. Gratsch, October 4, 1999
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 12, 1999