RB Reflection: 1 June 2008

The third step of humility is that a man/woman submits to his superior in all obedience for the love of God, imitating the Lord of whom the Apostle says: He became obedient even to death. (Phil. 2:8)

This has got to be the shortest daily section of the rule -- one complete sentence. What it tells us is completely out of proportion to its shortness. Build a skyscraper with a shovel, is also a short sentence with an huge implication.

Have you got such obedience in you? Hard as I try, I know that I do not. Sometimes we are brought face to face with the fact that we are only human beings, and as such, we will fail from time to time. Clearly Benedict knew this as well, because much of this chapter has been consistently pounding the lessons into us, don't grumble, do what you're told cheerfully, etc., but people do grumble, and they do not do what they are told cheerfully. At least, not all the time.

This simple step of obedience is probably the hardest thing we will ever have to face in our spiritual life. It makes us ask, to whom are we obedient? As if we could escape such an uncompromising demand. And the answer is, to God, and as Fr. Michael put it in his formation paper, obedient to the need of the moment.

While the Lay Encounter is going on in Spain, we need to prepared to be obedient to whatever comes out of those meetings. We need to prepared to be obedient to the Order from which comes our Charism to Cistercian spirituality. We need to be obedient to our rule of prayer, the rule of life, the laws of the nation, and the law of Love.

So we might say that our obedience comes from being ready to respond to the needs of the moment, and the law of Love. Love will keep us obedient, if we let it. Love triumphs over law. (James 2:13)