“Yes, Ignatius said that. But it should not be taken
literally. Didn’t he want the Jesuits, whose society he founded, to be
intelligent, honest, critical and creative?
A balanced definition of
obedience should do justice to our autonomy as thinking and free individuals.
Here are better
definitions:
- ‘Obedience is listening to the call of God in our own
hearts: it is following the inner authority of ourselves as experienced,
expressed, and revealed in community … To obey Christ, to obey my bishop,
to obey God — all are rooted in being true to who I am in the image of
God.’
Barbara Schmitz
- ‘Real obedience stands ready to serve at all times, but
independent and critical of every structure that makes uncritical claim upon
it’.
Joan Chittister
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