Are there times when you do not feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life? Perhaps it could be that your internal disposition is not as welcoming to the Holy Spirit as it should be. There are three important dispositions that welcome the Holy Spirit: humility, docility and obedience. It has been said that the Holy Spirit rushes to a humble heart: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)
Some people think that being docile, like being obedient, are signs of weakness. But docility and obedience are virtues. Docility makes a person willing to be taught or guided, while obedience makes a person comply with the requests or directives of someone in authority.
Docility requires a humble openness to learn from others, and a willingness to make use of the knowledge, wisdom and experience of others. St. Thomas Aquinas points out that even the most learned people need to be docile, since every man has a great need to learn from others.
It is easy for people to be docile when they find themselves in desperate situations. For example, if one is lost in a foreign city, it becomes easy for that person to be docile to people who live there, willing to take whatever direction he can get. The great problem with docility, however, is that people are often unaware of their own desperation; i.e., they do not realize that they are lost. A person who is lost and at the same time indocile, remains lost.
Two of the most common obstacles to the virtue of docility are laziness and pride. A lazy person simply will not make the effort to learn and to seek guidance. On the other hand, a proud person often has contempt for those who know things that he does not know, he also refuses to allow others to “impose” their ideas on him.
Another not too obvious obstacle to docility is having what is called “an eternally open mind.” The problem with having “an eternally open mind” is that the mind becomes a space where information simply passes through – what comes in goes out, nothing is retained. G. K. Chesterton once said, “Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.” On the other hand, scrupulosity becomes a great obstacle when nothing other people say seem to be good enough. It is like a person who waits for the perfect husband or wife, never meeting anyone good enough. Therefore, in addition to having a humble heart, docility also requires a person to be realistic.
To whom should Christians be docile to? Christians should be docile to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and to the teachings of Christ and the teaching authority of the Catholic Church. You and I may have knowledge about Christ; we love and appreciate Him for His love for us, but without the guidance and inspirations of the Holy Spirit, it becomes impossible to consistently live out our faith.
In the Gospels, St. Peter has been portrayed as bold, passionate, stubborn and occasionally rash. However, although Peter had just met Jesus at the time, Peter showed docility and obedience as he lowered down his nets again at Jesus’ command. What followed next was a miracle which began his incredible journey in faith. According to St. Paul, those who are docile to the Holy Spirit bear the fruits of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal. 5:22–23)