Parable and Conscience Meditation September 25

Obedience  September 25

Thus our obedience implies that each brother retains an adult personal freedom and at the same time assumes an adult personal responsibility in the community (Const. 14.2).

Crosier obedience is active.  Taking of the vow of obedience does not reduce the confrere to an automaton who is, from that time on, obliged to void his judgment and immobilize his liberty.  On the contrary, the vow calls for a coresponsibility in the community that demands a forthright exercise of the judgment and liberty of everyone.  The greatest challenge for each confrere is to voluntarily submit his judgment and freedom to the consensus of the community.  All are asked to actively participate in the work of discernment, that is, to observe, judge and act in favor of the Kingdom of God.  The first act of obedience in the community is to observe the situation of the community, the Church and society.  Each, from his personal point of view, clarifies the facts of the reality, the causes of the problems and the effects which result from them.  Then obedience asks for judgment of the situation.  Each confrere contributes to the evaluation of the facts discovered under the light of human and divine wisdom.  Finally, everyone is called to accept the consensus reached in the Spirit and to act to execute it in one’s own life and in his sphere of influence.  Is this the work of a blind obedience? 

The person who detests the cries of the small black ants starts to look for what makes them cry.  (Burundi)

Parable and Conscience Meditation September 24

Obedience  September 24

Our response to the call of God, as made real in our fellowship, is embodied in a personal commitment to integrate our initiative into the rhythm of life and responsibility of the entire community (Const. 14.2).

Each member of the community is a center of potential for the realization or hindering of the community’s aspirations.  So everyone must know himself in community projects.  The confrere gives himself, offering his strengths and minimizing the effects of his limitations.  Self-knowledge recognizes physical, intellectual, emotional, moral, interpersonal and spiritual abilities.  This is a task to be done continually, given the development of personality through formation and life-experience.  Hearing the compliments and criticisms of others increases self-awareness.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation as well as spiritual and psychological counseling are helpful for deeper self-knowledge.  Keeping a journal and making a daily examination of conscience are effective practices for self-reflection.  And certainly, being present before God regularly in humble and transparent prayer can only increase self-awareness.  Community life is well served when the Crosier brings to it his real person and not an illusory self.

When the hyena becomes blind, it dies.  (Mossi)

Parable and Conscience Meditation September 23

Obedience  September 23

And though both (discipline and fear) are necessary, he should strive to be loved by you rather than feared, ever mindful that he must give an account of you to God (Rule of St. Augustine, 46).

To be loved or to be feared as a superior is all about the kind of  “distance” there should be between him and the members of the community.  Certainly the idea of “distance” doesn’t refer to physical distance here.  Rather, it has a psychological meaning.  To do his task well, the superior needs to be able to think objectively.  As superior, he should maintain a relationship with the confreres that leaves him free from partiality and prejudice.  That is the “distance” in question.  The superior is close to the confreres in the sense of knowing them of being a true friend to all of them.  From time to time that can demand of him courage to confront them.  If his emotional attachments to the confreres do not allow him to see clearly enough to do this, he can be said to lack “distance.”   His effectiveness in their regard will be limited and his responsibility before God compromised.  “Distance” does not imply a lack of love.  It does not imply a coldness that makes him unacceptable and frightening.  Like Christ, he is always understanding and, when necessary, capable of firmness without losing his peace of heart.

When one is too familiar, one ends up being despised.  (Mashona)

Parable and Conscience Meditation September 22

Obedience  September 22

Nothing is more in conflict with the spirit of these chapters than striving to be proved right at all costs or self-seeking which has not been purified by the desire to be led by the Spirit of God (Const. 9.1).

Would he say yes or no?  It all depended on his inner freedom.  Under the pressure of the decision, Jesus sweat blood.  To hear the call of the cross means to be detached from persons and things in life.  But he had already transformed his family attachments into relationships based on the Kingdom.  As for his possessions, he had no place to lay his head.  No, he was free to listen.  To accept to go to the cross would mean to be indifferent to the evolution of his life.  But he had already embraced his fundamental choice:  whatever the desire of his Father was, it would be his.  Yes, he was free to respond.  Obedience to the cross would mean letting go of what was secure, the rhythm of his prayer, the schedule of his preaching, the daily sharing with his friends.  Never a slave to what he was accustomed to, Jesus had left the crowd when necessary, fled from threats in foreign places, let his ministerial priority for Israel be displaced in favor of the unbelievers.  He had always been open to the truth, whatever its source, always ready to enter into serious conflicts.  He had always been tolerant, even indulgent toward the enemies of his project.  No, in this garden dialogue, he exercised very well his inner freedom to understand the call of his Father and to obey it. 

Slippery ground doesn’t make the hen stumble.  (Poulho)

Parable and Conscience Meditation September 21

Obedience  September 21

Accordingly, while the day-to-day direction of the community does rest in his hands, his principal charge is to stimulate and to coordinate responsible initiative and brotherly collaboration in the community (Const. 9.3).

There are three styles of leadership inspired by the Spirit.  Every superior, in accord with his personality, prefers one or other of the styles or a combination of them.  A leader can use the strengths of each style in a Christian way, while trying to avoid its weaknesses.

            The first style:  Accomplishing the task with success.  The energies and gifts of the leader are dedicated to a task, whose successful accomplishment is promising.  With this confidence, he is ready to delegate, collaborate and listen.  The weakness of this style that could discourage the leader is the fear of failure.

            The second style:  Accomplishing the task as a team.  Harmony among the people engaged in accomplishing the task is primary.  The leader looks, above all, to build good relationships among the team members.  What could hold back the leader in this style is lack of cooperation on the part of others.

            The third style:  Accomplishing the task by personal influence.  The leader exercises personal charisma to accomplish the task.  His principle objective is to influence the course of events.  The danger for the leader in this style is the tendency to impose.

It is easier to move an ant hill than to exercise authority in the village.  (Mongo)

Parable and Conscience Meditation September 20

Obedience  September 20

In your eyes he shall hold the first place among you by the dignity of his office, but in fear before God he shall be as the least among you (Rule of St. Augustine, 46).

It is a given of Gospel faith that the choice of a leader in the Church is made by the Spirit, even if the process of discernment follows human dynamics (consultation, vote, etc.)  Concerning the replacement of Judas Iscariot, we read “Then they prayed, ‘You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen . . . Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.’” (Ac 1:24, 26).  This conviction of the intervention of God justifies the respect that the members of the Church give to their pastors.  Because the superiors in religious communities are authorized by these pastors, the communities revere their superiors in the same way.  But there is another given in Gospel faith that proposes the place of the Christian leader as that of the servant, otherwise said, the last social place.  “Jesus summoned them and said to them, ^‘You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them . . . But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.’” (Mk 10:4-44).  This is the Gospel correction for the exercise of authority in the Christian community.  The leader is chosen by God to assume the status of a servant.  The choice of honor assigns to a place of self-abasement.  And the final judgement of the one honored will be in terms of his service.

The person who has no chief is chief of nothing.  (Rwanda)