"Riding the metro this summer, I saw some young men with t-shirts that proclaim: ‘Obey.’ Presumably (and here I speculate), it’s a sarcastic jab at supposedly traditional and conservative values, a statement just as likely to come from someone who would proclaim, ‘question authority!’
“This leads me to wonder: what do these young men think when they pass someone - like myself - in garb which symbolizes a very traditional kind of obedience? As all the world knows, we practice a very particular kind of authority to a very crusty, old institution. ‘I, Brother John, make profession and promise obedience…’
“Georgetown’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) recently inquired about women’s attitudes on joining religious life. One of the personal comments exemplifies an attitude which, I think, sums up this negative view of obedience. When a woman was asked why she was not interested in being a sister, she replied, ‘I’m not willing to be totally submissive to the rules and obligations of the order’s leader.’ Now, there’s an objection! Perhaps this could be the heart of their possible objection. Obedience, described as a repression of individuality and abandonment of responsibility, hardly seems virtuous.”
In a recent commentary, Brother John Sica, O.P. reflected on the virtue of obedience as taking the pattern of Christ’s obedience - bearing fruit only in death and leading to true freedom in eternal life.
To access Br. John’s complete post, please visit:
Dominicana: Obey (10 SEP 14)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment