Ruth's Book I

Obedience

     Secular Franciscans do not take vows of poverty, chastity or obedience, but we do definitely commit ourselves to the practice of these virtues.

     The very essence of a Secular Franciscan vocation is obedience.  There is no way we can follow the Gospel Way without being obedient to HIS way, HIS truth and HIS life.

     In St. Matthew’s Gospel we have the Sermon on the Mount. In this, and in other teachings of Christ, Jesus actually seems to throw out the old law; for instance, the curing of people on the Sabbath or the disciples not washing their hands before eating the grain in the field. This is not God’s basic law.

    There is the very detailed Mosaic Law in which God says, do this and don’t do that. He spells it out in great detail. Why? Because He was dealing with an immature, illiterate, follow-the-leader class of spiritually undeveloped people. “Do this and it is a sin.” “Don’t do that and it is a sin.”  They were like “dumb driven cattle.” When Jesus appeared on the scene, He was saying, we are going to do an about-face — we are going to become mature spiritual people; we are not going to destroy the old law, we are going to fulfill it.

     The Ten Commandments are still a major factor in determining what a sin is and what it is not. Now, instead of ruling by fear, we are going to motivate by love. We are going to base the whole thing on two basic Commandments: First, love God (accept His love and give it back to Him). Second, extend this love of His that is now in us by giving it out to our brothers and sisters in the world where we live. You and everyone else should do this out of your own individual intellect, heart, free will and conscience, which God gave you.

     He does not leave us orphans altogether in this responsibility. To help us He gives us His Church —  His Vicar on earth, our beloved Roman Pontiff; His bishops; His pastors; His Secular Franciscan Order, etc., etc. And the only way these “gifts” and “aids” of His are going to help us is through our obedience. We listen to them and we follow them; not in a childish way, but in a mature, common sense way as maturing, eager-to-learn adults.

    So, what is obedience for a Secular Franciscan? It is our conscience in action; it is loyalty to the Church, the Pope, our Bishop and our pastor; it is adhering to Canon Law; it is obeying the Commandments of God — all of them, including the Commandments of the Church. It is obeying the Rule and Constitutions of the Secular Franciscan Order which embraces attendance at the regular monthly meetings; holding office when it is required of us; contributing to the spiritual and material welfare of the fraternity; cooperating in apostolic projects and practicing Franciscan virtues — self-denial, self-control, self-discipline and selflessness.

    For parents, particularly with young children, obedience also embraces remembering who is the adult and who is the child. In the family, this means teaching their children the basics of the Catholic religion at home, including their prayers, and commanding their obedience, etc.

    Have you ever thought, now that you are an adult, what it means to be obedient — I mean, obedient in a broad sense? Is it nodding our heads this way and that way? Is it saying, “yes sir” or “no sir?” Is it following blindly? Is it stumble-bumbling along and thinking, “father so-and-so says this certain thing is a sin so I  must  not  do it” or, “Father so-and-so says this isn't a sin, so I can do it?” Listen to what St. Francis says about blind obedience:

   “If anyone of the ministers commands any brother to do anything against our way of life or against his conscience, the brother should not be held to obey him, for that is not obedience if a fault or sin is committed by it.”

    We have to remember, in all these instructions designed to point us in the direction of spiritual perfection, that we must not say to ourselves, “why, this particular thing applies exactly to her or to him.” We must say instead, “does it apply to me, and if so, how?” We must say, “I am responsible for my actions, not for hers or his, except insofar as my bad example or good example may possibly affect her or him.” Not one of us can say, “I’m not guilty, but she or he is.”

     Each one of us, to be serious about this and really honest with ourselves and with Christ. We must look hard, accusingly, and truthfully into own motives, emotions, and actions. Only then can we really start moving ourselves in the direction of spiritual perfection. Believe me it isn’t easy! We are, I am afraid, only too willing to hold ourselves blameless while giving the other guy a big black mark. Such is contrary to the truth and we are only kidding and lying to ourselves. We do not gain spiritual perfection by lying to ourselves about ourselves.

     Obedience, like humility, is a deliberate attempt on our part to rein in the ever present vice of pride.

     We can think of obedience as being desirable for a number of reasons. First, and the best one of all is, Christ practiced it. St. Paul said, “He became obedient unto death, even death on the cross.” “He came,” He said, “to do His Father’s work.” “Father,” He cried out in the Garden of Gethsemani, “if it be possible let this chalice pass from me. But not my will but yours be done.”

     Again, another reason for obedience, is to curb the vice of pride which is a part of every human nature. Obedience helps to put us in a proper relationship with everyone, whether they be above us or below us. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Christ said, “I came to serve, not to be served,” so we should all do and say the same thing.

     To be obedient we need not be subservient. We need only to be decently humble and cooperative and respectful of the rights and opinions of others and be willing to lend a hand where we can properly do so.

     An obedient person is a responsible person. He is, to borrow an expression, “childlike” but not “childish.” He is a spiritual child — a child of God.

     We of the Secular Order of St. Francis must keep in mind, always, that before we were Franciscans we were Catholics and the better Franciscans we become the better Catholics we will grow to be. Following the way of St. Francis makes us better Catholics.

     Franciscans, as are all Catholics, are subject to the authority of the Pope, the bishops and the priests of their parishes. The spirit of obedience should prompt us to have a spirit of wholehearted cooperation toward each member of the fraternity, and toward the Franciscan Community as a whole.

     This includes willingly abiding by the rules and regulations insofar as they promote the good of all members; and lending, what we might call, an “obedient” ear to the suggestions and thoughts of others. Everyone’s opinion and suggestion should be welcome at all times.

     The spirit of obedience in a fraternity is a self-denial and a self-giving by each individual member for the good of all the other members in the fraternity.

     It is a willingness to abide by the wishes and decisions of the majority, as befits any democratic organization.

     Finally, the spirit of obedience is remembering Christ as He stooped to wash the feet of the Apostles. It is an opening of our ears and minds to take in His words, “I have given you an example that as I have done, you do also.”

     St. Francis founded his Orders on a rock — the rock of obedience to Christ’s Church. Why was St. Francis so insistent on obedience to the authority of the Church? First, by following the true teachings of the Church his followers would not run the risk of falling into heresy. Second, in addition to poverty and chastity he wanted to provide them with a third means of purification, a liberating self-denial and the subjection of their wills to the doctrines and dogmas of the Church.

    Secular Franciscans do not take a vow of obedience as do the religious of the First, Second and Third Order Regulars; but, if they are to aim at spiritual perfection, they would do well to cultivate a desirable measure of the spirit of obedience.

    Following the way of St. Francis is taking ourselves by the scruff of the neck and telling ourselves, “look here! You see what Christ did. You hear what He said. You have His example to go by, now let’s do it.”