To really get to know somebody, it’s necessary to observe different aspects of their character. We Catholics reveal our moral worth in diverse circumstances: for example, during times of physical and spiritual suffering, when we need to pardon our neighbor, when we detach ourselves from material goods – it is in these and so many other trials, that charity is really proven.
For religious men and women, this may be noted in a specific aspect: the virtue of obedience. Their sincerity in giving their lives to the Church is proved by the capacity they have of renouncing themselves and fulfilling the will of those who represent the Lord to them. We know that an obedient religious is loved by the Lord, while one who does his own will, strays from virtue.
This is the surest teaching of the Church, followed by numerous generations of consecrated people until our days. To accept rebellion as a characteristic of religious life is to consent to the transgression of the most sacred principles, above all when this is done, supposedly, to better serve God. Read on…
