The Admonitions III – PERFECT OBEDIENCE

ADMONITIONS III – PERFECT OBEDIENCE
St. Francis of Assisi

The Lord says in the Gospel: Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple (Lk 14:33); and: Whoever wished to save his life must lose it (Lk 9:24).

That person who offers himself totally to obedience in the hands of his prelate leaves all that he possesses and loses his body. And whatever he does and says which he knows is not contrary to his will is true obedience, provided that what he does is good.

And should a subject see that some things might be better and more useful for his soul than what a prelate commands, let him willingly offer such things to God as a sacrifice; and, instead let him earnestly strive to fulfill the prelate’s wishes. For this is loving obedience because it pleases God and neighbor. (1Pt 1:22)

If the prelate, however, commands something contrary to his conscience, even though he may not obey him, let him not, however, abandon him. And if he then suffers persecution from others, let him love them all the more for the sake of God. For whoever chooses to suffer persecution rather than wish to be separated from his brothers truly remains in perfect obedience because he lays down his life for his brothers. In fact, there are many religious who, under the pretext of seeing things better than those which the prelate commands, look back, and return to the vomit of their own will. These are murderers and, because of their bad example, cause many to lose their souls. (1 Jn 3:15-16; Jn 15:13; Lk 9:62; Prv 26:11; 2 Pt 2:22)

Source: St. Francis of Assisi, The Saint, Early Documents