Virtue of the Day: Obedience
“My God, I
choose all. I do not want to be a saint by halves. I am not afraid to suffer for you. I fear only one thing – that I should keep my
own will. So take it, for I choose all
that you will.” - St. Therese of Lisieux
Perfection
consists in the conformity of our will to the will of God. Now the surest way to know the will of God
and how to live it is obedience to our lawful superiors. As said by St. Thomas, “nothing is dearer to us than the
liberty of our will,” we can offer to God no more acceptable gift than this
very liberty.”
“Obedience
is better than sacrifices,” says the Holy Ghost (1Kings 15:22); that is to say,
God prefers obedience to all other sacrifices.
When we give to charity, bearing faults of others, fast and penitential
works, we are giving part of ourselves
to God. But when we obey, this means
offering to God our all what we have left.
By the virtue of obedience, other virtues follow.
A Great
Reward and a Source of Merit
The reward of obedience is similar to
that of martyrdom according to the Venerable Sertorius Caputo. In martyrdom, we offer to God the head of our
body; by obedience we offer Him our will, which is the head of the soul. An obedient soul escapes the punishment of
Hell. Satan was sent to hell because he
was too proud to obey. Hence, obedience
is following the examples of Jesus and Mama Mary while disobedience makes
disciples of Satan. “You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.” - John 15:14
Obedience
is our greatest freedom. It is much more
secure to be in a state of subjection than in authority. Our accountability is even lesser than when
we are the one giving the order.
It
is more meritorious to pick-up a straw from the ground, out of obedience, than
from self-will to make a long meditation or scourge ourselves to blood. St. Teresa was therefore right in saying that obedience
is the shortest way to perfection.
Qualities of
Obedience
v Must be supernatural – by
faith we must believe that in obeying the Church, our parents, our confessor,
we are actually obeying God.
v “Obey, not serving to the eye,
as it were pleasing men, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God
from the heart.” (Eph. 6:6)
Obedience to
Parents
“Children, obey your parents in the
Lord, for this is just.” (Eph. 6:1).
This is to say we must have obedience to the parents in as much as it
does not displease the Lord.
St.
Thomas
teaches that children are not obliged to obey their parents when there is a
question of the choice of a state of life.
With reference to married
life, Pinamonti with Sanchez, Konink and others, maintains that young people
are obliged to consult their parents since they are more experienced, and may
often prevent serious mistakes.
Moreover, to ignore them in a matter which they have so much at heart is
most certain to wound them keenly.
But
with regard to vocation to the religious life, a child is not in the least
bound to ask his parents’ advice, because such a choice is responding to a
higher call for obedience. Parents who
unreasonably prevent their children from following a vocation to the priesthood
or the religious life are guilty of unspeakable cruelty towards their own
offspring.
Obedience to
our Spiritual Director
Obedience
to our spiritual director is of the greatest importance if we desire to please
God and make progress in perfection.
It
is indeed a great grace that God bestowed for His people His representations or
instruments here on earth that we may not go astray or abuse our
spirituality. He tells us that by
obeying our spiritual director we are obeying Him: “He that heareth you, heareth Me.”
St. Teresa tells us that she herself, by obedience to her confessor,
learned to know and love God.
- Sources: 12 Steps to Holiness and Salvation by St.
Alphonsus Liguori, Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux, Imitation of
Christ by Thomas Kempis
