It has been pointed out to me once or twice in my life that I have a strong personality. I’ll admit it. In terms of character building, my interior landscape looks like the Manhattan skyline.
This has helped me bounce back from many challenges. But it’s also why I struggle with virtues like meekness, humility, and docility. These are all robust Christian virtues. It takes a huge amount of strength to practise them properly. But for whatever reason (and I suspect our adversary’s PR people are busy here), we associate them with being a wimp.
Recently I wrote in praise of St Peter’s docility to the Holy Spirit over the course of his life and papacy. So what is docility in the spiritual sense? And is it strictly for wimps? The word “docility” comes from the Latin docilis, meaning “responsive” and “teachable”. So being docile means that you are responsive to God, and that he can get a word in edgewise with you so that you can learn from him.
Every teacher has met a few students who are unteachable. I certainly have. Jesus certainly had as well. And it’s not because they’re stupid. It’s because they think they already know everything.
So docility means “being able to learn” about matters of faith. But your learning shouldn’t end in high school or your RCIA class. You should have a lifelong willingness to keep being responsive and keep being taught – and corrected – about faith and love and God.
This can come from other competent people, or it can come directly from the Holy Spirit in prayer. It can come when you have life experiences that stretch or challenge your faith.
It can also come when you have interior promptings to do or say certain things or undertake certain actions. Of course, docility goes hand in hand with other virtues like prudence and justice and fortitude. So if, for example, your interior prompting is to hurt the pope, that’s neither prudent, just, nor brave.
The whole church is a lifelong learner, because she is also docile to the Holy Spirit. This takes time and discernment. This is why she thinks in centuries and tries not to do things in a rush. Everything has to be tested carefully.
Sometimes it has to be adjusted later when we’ve drifted a bit or forgotten some important things we learned long ago. This process of gentle, continuous reform is always going on in the universal church, and it always has gone on.
Teaching people involves correction, because human beings make mistakes. But some people can’t handle being corrected at all. These can be young people who’ve always been told that they’re right. Or they can be older people who have gotten used to being right about everything.
When students are afraid of making mistakes, it paralyses them in class because they won’t even have a go at solving a problem. This kind of paralysis isn’t what God wants of us in our spiritual life. He has broad enough shoulders to tolerate many, many mistakes on our part. And he’d also like to teach us how to stop making mistakes all the time. So docility involves us learning to take correction from him.
Again, this can come through other people, or directly in prayer. But you have to be listening in order to hear it. You also have to be willing to receive it, because everyone hates being corrected. So is docility for wimps? Clearly not. And there are other advantages.
Being willing to learn more about your faith can make you a happier Catholic, especially if you have suffered from strange ideas about God up till now.
Many problems in the church today come from poor catechesis. People don’t really know their faith, and it’s never occurred to them that they might be wrong about certain aspects about it. Or they choose private revelations and spiritual junk food on YouTube to keep them excited and angry instead.
Docility is the answer to both problems. St Peter needed a lot of it, because he had to learn his faith from the ground up, and also lead the church. He had to keep learning how to respond appropriately as the new church threw things at him all the time.
So are you as teachable as St Peter? And am I? You be the judge. I look forward to your emails.
