The Weapons of Obedience

From the very beginning, Benedict points to the importance of obedience in the life of a disciple. He contrasts the eagerness of obedience with the sloth of disobedience which has caused the person to drift away from God, however slightly. Benedict calls the new monastic to return to God through the labor of obedience and by picking up the weapons of obedience to do battle for Christ.

I am reminded in this passage of a scene from my family. My parents and grandmother are amazing workers and have had to work hard most of their lives. Yet, they had a difficult time passing this work ethic to the children in our family. My parents were used to doing what needed to be done at home without needing a reminder or having things pointed out to them. My siblings and I, however, were quite happy to jump over the full laundry basket, let the water boil dry on the stove or let the dishes pile up on the counters--as long as these things did not directly infringe on whatever we were doing. My parents tired of asking us to do various tasks and having us answer, "In a minute." My parents usually ended up doing the task themselves. It wasn't that we were trying to be disobedient on purpose; we just did not understand why the tasks were so important right then.

As I have grown, I have awakened to many of those lessons that my parents tried to teach me in vain. I actually was listening on some level; just never quite got around to putting obedience into practice.

Today, I am called to practice obedience with my whole heart daily.

Sr. Catherine, OSB