Gentleness Is Abandonment   

We may experience the lack of Gentleness more than anything else in daily life. We blame ourselves—and others—for impatience, speaking harshly, pushing instead of persuading, ordering instead of asking. For using fear of consequences more than conversion. 

We forget our relationship, our yoke of partnership with Jesus who said: “Learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). 

People rejected Jesus as Messiah because he would not use power to deliver them—or himself—from suffering. In the measure we reject Gentleness in favor of power and violence, we reject the way of Jesus. And Jesus himself.  

Pope Francis said: “For Christians, nonviolence is not merely tactical behavior but a person’s way of being, the attitude of one who is so convinced of God’s love and power that he or she is not afraid to tackle evil with the weapons of love and truth alone. Love of one’s enemy constitutes the nucleus of the ‘Christian revolution’” (World Day of Peace Message, January 1, 2017).  

Because Gentleness is the total relinquishment of all power to God, it is the Fruit of the Spirit that most explicitly reveals total abandonment of self to the will of the Father, to the love of Jesus acting with us and in us and through us; to the guidance of the Spirit. It lets us say, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). 

By Gentleness we will know it. 

To live Gentleness, abandon yourself to God.  

— Fr. David M. Knight

View today’s Mass readings on the USCCB website here

Easter season is the time to focus on the Holy Spirit. Starting on Easter Sunday, we will look carefully at how the Spirit is proclaimed, invoked, and presented to us in the Mass. Lex orandi, lex credendi: “As the Church prays, so she believes.”

After that, we will reflect on the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2; Galatians 5:22), and at how the Spirit enters the life of those who believe.

As you read these reflections, ask for the gift of Understanding. Ask to really understand what you believe, what you see and hear at Mass. Go deeper into understanding the Mass than you ever have before. We experience the Faith when we become aware of its mystery. We hope you reflect deeply on the Mass and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and find yourself more and more drawn into the mysteries of our Lord in the Mass and in His Gifts.