Our virtue for the month of April was Docility. First we talked about what docility is and how we can be more docile in our everyday lives. Then we tackeld the different tasks that come with the virtue.
Instead of hosting a potluck and tasting new/different foods there we decided to get some "weird looking" foods for the girls to try. They tried olives, honey mustard, vegetable stew (out of a glass), chia seed pudding and (to make up for all the weird stuff) milk duds. The younger girls were more docile (and adventurous) than the older ones. They would often wait for the younger girls to taste test first before they would try the different foods. But in the end all of them had a great time and some of them were even surprised at how good something tasted.
After all that excitement we talked about the Mission of Comfort, a local organization that donates stuffed animals to hospitals and other organizations in the USA and abroad to support the healing process by giving comfort and letting the patients know that God is with them. They're always in need of stuffed animals and scarves for the animals. So for our craft we decided to have the girls braid scarves that we will donate to the Mission of Comfort.
Here are the notes for the virtue:
What is docility?
- the virtue of listening to and learning from others
- it comes from the Latin word "docere" which means "to teach"
* does anyone know another word that starts with "doc"?
~ doctor > teacher
~ doctrine > that which is taught
~ that gives us the sentence "the doctor teaches the doctrine to the docile"
- docility means to be willing to learn from a teacher
- it's not about sitting at a desk and studying with your books or doing your homework
> that is studiousness (it's still good if you read and do your homework but it's not docility)
- so when you're docile in school, for example, you listen to what your teacher is saying, you pay attention, you ask questions when you don't understand something and take notes so that you can remember it later
* does anyone know what listening attentively means?
~ example no slouching, no doodling in your book and talking to your neighbor but really concentrating on what the teacher says and shows you
- but docility is not just for kids in school, grown ups have to be docile as well.
- even the smartest person needs to be docile
- no matter how smart you are and how much knowledge you have there is always someone who knows more than you do about something
- sometimes it is really hard to ask someone for help
- because if you ask someone for help you're telling them that they know more about something than you do
- so you have to be very humble and accept that you don't know everything in order to be docile and also in order to learn new things
- when you are docile and learn new things from others you are asked to share your new wisdom with other people
- for example, you started a new topic in math
- you were very docile in class, you listened attentively to your teacher and you know exactly what you have to do for your homework
- but your friend who sits next to you wasn't paying attention
- she was doodling in her book and chatting with another kid whenever the teacher wasn't looking
- so she has no idea what she is supposed to do for homework
- because you are such a docile student you can help her out and explain to her what she is supposed to do
- you can share your knowledge with her
- but being docile doesn't mean that you have to listen to and believe in just anyone around you
- you have to pick the right people to listen to, people you trust
* who in your life can you trust to be docile to?
~ parents
~ church
~ teachers
- but even if a person you trust like a teacher tells you to do something that you know your parents wouldn't want you to do
you don't have to do it
- for example, you know that it's wrong to steal something
- so if your friend (a person you trust) tells you to steal something (maybe an eraser from another girl in class) you don't do it because you know that it's wrong
- what does that mean for us as Catholics?
* who should we be docile to regarding our faith?
~ the church
~ Jesus
- the Catholic Church was instituted by Jesus Christ
- when it comes to faith and morals that's the only teacher we need
- the church will teach us everything we need to know in order for us to become saints
How can we be more docile?
- we listen to what God wants for us in our life
* how do we know what God wants for us?
~ we pray
- about big decisions (what job we want when we grow up)
- but also about smaller things (was it okay for me to be mean to my sister even if she did something mean to me)
- the more we talk to God the better we know what He wants for us in our lives
- and even though sometimes we might have the feeling that God didn't hear our prayer
- we must always remember that God answers every prayer
- he may not answer it right away or how we want Him to answer it but he will answer it
- that's what Jesus promised us when he said
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
Mt 6:7-8
Our passports for the month:
