Obedience: SJ’s and OP’s
January 22, 2008
Posted by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak
Two of the best known, not to say notorious (undeniable) , statements about obedience come from the authoritative texts of the Society of Jesus. The thirteenth rule for thinking with the Church reads: “To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it, believing that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, there is the same Spirit which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls. Because by the same Spirit and our Lord Who gave the ten Commandments, our holy Mother the Church is directed and governed.” (I sometimes wonder whether this statement did not in its own way contribute to what Yves Congar called “the incredible inflation” of the magisterium especially that of the Pope, in the modern era.)
In his letter to the present General Congregation, Pope Benedict, speaking of Jesuit obedience, evoked the phrase "perinde ac si cadaver essent" . Here is the paragraph of the Jesuit Constitutions in which the phrase appears: “Let holy obedience, in execution, in the will, and in the intellect, be always utterly perfect in us; let us obey with great promptness, spiritual joy, and perseverance whatever may be commanded of us, persuading ourselves that all things are just, and by a blind obedience giving up our own contrary opinion or judgment; this applies to whatever things are commanded by the Superior, unless it can be shown that some kind of sin is involved. Let everyone persuade himself that those who live under obedience must let themselves be led and ruled by divine providence through their superiors, as if they were a corpse which allows itself to be carried here and there and treated in any way, or like an old man’s cane which permits itself to be used anywhere and in any way that the man who holds it wishes.”
January 22, 2008
Posted by Fr. Joseph A. Komonchak
Two of the best known, not to say notorious (undeniable) , statements about obedience come from the authoritative texts of the Society of Jesus. The thirteenth rule for thinking with the Church reads: “To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it, believing that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, there is the same Spirit which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls. Because by the same Spirit and our Lord Who gave the ten Commandments, our holy Mother the Church is directed and governed.” (I sometimes wonder whether this statement did not in its own way contribute to what Yves Congar called “the incredible inflation” of the magisterium especially that of the Pope, in the modern era.)
In his letter to the present General Congregation, Pope Benedict, speaking of Jesuit obedience, evoked the phrase "perinde ac si cadaver essent" . Here is the paragraph of the Jesuit Constitutions in which the phrase appears: “Let holy obedience, in execution, in the will, and in the intellect, be always utterly perfect in us; let us obey with great promptness, spiritual joy, and perseverance whatever may be commanded of us, persuading ourselves that all things are just, and by a blind obedience giving up our own contrary opinion or judgment; this applies to whatever things are commanded by the Superior, unless it can be shown that some kind of sin is involved. Let everyone persuade himself that those who live under obedience must let themselves be led and ruled by divine providence through their superiors, as if they were a corpse which allows itself to be carried here and there and treated in any way, or like an old man’s cane which permits itself to be used anywhere and in any way that the man who holds it wishes.”
Read Fathers full article in Commonwheel (here)
No comments:
Post a Comment