“By professing with a vow the evangelical counsel of obedience, religious imitate Christ Who came into the world in order to do the will of the Father and Who made Himself obedient unto death on a cross. Following His example, they offer to God the full dedication of their will as a self-sacrifice. They thereby unite themselves more intently to the salvific will of the Father.” (Const. #40)
- “The foundation of the consecrated life is obedience, the sure way for clinging to the will of God and reaching perfection. The Sisters should regard the superiors as God’s representatives, and place all their resources of mind and will and all their gifts of nature and grace under the superiors’ guidance and at the service of others. In that way they will do their part in building up together the Body of Christ according to God’s designs.
- Our response, as Carmelites to the distorted notions of freedom so prevalent today, is in our vow of evangelical obedience which, based on Christ’s obedience to the Father, “testifies that there is no contradiction between obedience and freedom.” “Obedience, practiced in imitation of Christ, Whose food was to do the Father’s will, shows the liberating beauty of a dependence which is not servile but filial, marked by a deep sense of responsibility and animated by mutual trust, which is a reflection in history of the loving harmony between the three Divine Persons.” (VC)
In virtue of the call that places us in the heart of the Church, it is our joy to profess humble and unconditional obedience to Our Holy Father, the Pope, and all in Church leadership. Without obedience to such authority, we know that we, Discalced Carmelite Nuns, cannot fulfill our vocation in the Church in the way that Our Holy Mother St. Teresa wanted.
Photo CC-BY-SA Edgar Jimenez