Novena to the Holy Spirit, Day 8
What ornament, O Holy Spirit, is a humble soul; a soul in which Your fruit, dwells! In her, the disorderly desire is restrained and has come to rest. It does not think for herself constantly and is easily satisfied with everything. She does not want to be the centre of attention, but wants to take the place that You have intended for her! Therefore the precious gift of gratitude and also the fruit of humility is effective in her! Such a soul radiates contentment, makes no fuss about itself and is free from any presumption! But in terms of love this soul wants to be great, in the love for you and for people, and with a little faith she is not satisfied!
What mild splendour we can perceive in such a soul, and how easy she makes it for you and also for us to give her a present! She realizes the word of St. Paul:
“Give the same consideration to all others alike. Pay no regard to social standing, but meet humble people on their own terms. Do not congratulate yourself on your own wisdom.” (Rom 12,16)
Nor is such a soul complicated, but simple; nor is it consumed by all kinds of desires and ideas!
But how can we become humble, Holy Spirit, so that this, Your mild splendour, may work in us and we may obtain this satisfaction?
One key, O Holy Spirit, is to understand that we receive everything as a gift, that we are gifted human beings and receive from the wisdom of God what He has planned for us in material and spiritual gifts! We are still so often busy worrying about our right to possess everything somehow, to have to have it and to want to protect ourselves! How easily a hidden greed can still show itself – with regard to material goods, but also to testimonies of honour, to the desire for recognition, praise and attention of other people!
But if we learn to understand everything as a gift and also to accept and appreciate it to the extent that we receive it, then, O Lord, we see Your love at work everywhere! We may be sensitive to the rights of others, but we can also sometimes renounce our own for higher reasons!
To each one, O Holy Spirit, the Lord has given gifts! We must not bury them! That would not be modesty, but a lack of understanding! We can and should even strive for the gifts of the Spirit:
“Make love your aim; but be eager, too, for spiritual gifts, and especially for prophesying.” (1 Cor 14,1)
We see, then, that modesty does not mean renouncing things that are important for our inner progress and service in the Kingdom of God; rather, through modesty we attain an inner peace, abandon our exaggerated demands and are grateful for the way God puts things together!