In my last two posts I’ve reflected on the vows of poverty and chastity, so today I’m tackling the last of the three: obedience. On the surface, this one seems straightforward. Certainly, a monk or a friar or a nun living in a structured community would need to agree to obey the rules of the order and the directions of the community’s leaders (although for Franciscans “structured” is a somewhat malleable concept). But the vow of obedience goes far beyond the immediate practical sense of following orders.
The text of my vow is as follows:
I vow obedience, promising to listen deeply so as to act with love and compassion towards myself and others: To listen as God speaks in my heart, to listen as God speaks through the Christian Community, and to listen as God speaks through the Franciscan Community of Compassion.
“Obedience” is a word with a murky etymology. It derives from medieval Latin oboedientia, and was used in legal texts to mean “sphere of jurisdiction.” So, for example, if you were under the obedience of the king, that meant you were within the king’s sphere of jurisdiction in legal terms. Go further back into the word’s Latin roots, however, and things get more speculative. The generally accepted (but as yet unproven) theory is that “obey” comes from a portmanteau of ob- (toward, in the direction of) and oedire, a variant of audire (to hear, to listen).
To “listen towards” something is thus at the heart of obedience. I am called to listen to God speaking to me in three ways: from within my heart, from the Church, and from my community of brothers and sisters. The order of those three is important—the Franciscan charism places God’s voice in our hearts first, because that is the most intimate and direct form of listening. The authority of the FCC and even the authority of the Church must give way to God speaking in my heart.
Heady stuff, and prone to error, because discerning God’s voice in our hearts is a challenge at best. I can only approach that with due regard for humility, with the understanding that God is far above my understanding in most things, perhaps all things. The other two obediences I “listen towards”—the teachings of the Church and the guidance of my community—are there to help me refine what God is saying in my heart. None of the three are sufficient alone for true obedience.
May we all listen towards God with open ears and open hearts.
