OBEDIENCE

Tuesday in the 3rd Week in Advent
Mt 21:28-32

When I ask people which among the vows of a priest they think to be the most difficult for priests to be faithful to, they almost without any thought say, “Chastity!” Interesting presumption but, like most presumptions, it is incorrect.

Having been a priest for ten years, I can say with more certitude that the most difficult vow of a priest is obedience. While all the vows – poverty, chastity, and obedience – are all forms of dying to one’s self, obedience can be the most painful daily dying to one’s self. While all the vows are loving self-surrender to God, obedience is the total resignation of one’s freedom to the Divine Will. Priests obey their bishop or religious superior as they obey God, in view that the Divine Will is expressed in the will of His human intermediary. And that can be truly painful more than seldom!

When I was ordained to the priesthood, I had an idea of what I was getting my self into. After ten years, however, I have a tight grasp of the reality. It is through faithful obedience that I fully offer my self as an oblation to God. It is only through an immeasurable generosity of an obedient heart that I can become more and more like Jesus, who was obedient even unto death, death on the cross. But I cannot be obedient by mere willpower. Very often, willpower indeed breaks. An obedient heart is grace. To have the heart like that of Jesus’, one must ask for it. Daily the priest asks the Father to give him the heart of Jesus until he becomes like His obedient Son. When the priest becomes truly like Jesus, then the gift and the giver become truly one.

There is no other way by which we can approach God except on our knees. I do not mean simply a posture of the body or a bending of the knees. I mean a constant and consistent attitude that is defined by how much of the self is actually surrendered to God. It requires a heart strong in faith, an attitude that sees the good even in the worst of circumstances, and a will that know how to bend.

Obedience is not only for priests; it is also for each and every disciple of Jesus. It is for us all. Pray for it. Beg for it. From the Lord.

On the day of my ordination, Jaime Cardinal Sin imposed his hands on me in silence, and, by divine decree, I became a priest. After a short while, the Cardinal withdrew his hands but the Hands of Jesus remained. They still remain on me. They are the Hands that help me obey. Without them, I cannot obey.