Dear Friends,
Since the Augustinian appointments for 2023-26 were announced, several people have asked us how we are feeling about moving to another appointment. Some mentioned that we have to go where the Provincial sends us. While that is true, these days appointments are only made after a process of extensive consultation and discernment. Obedience remains one of our Solemn Vows, along with poverty and chastity. I recall a time when there was no consultation and Augustinians, including the men from Ireland, were given an envelope containing their appointment and that was it.
We can feel threatened by the idea of ‘obedience’, especially in a time so preoccupied with ‘freedom’. Of course, to obey out of love makes the world of difference in our faith and family life and relationships, not to mention other areas of our lives. This need not be subservience but a mature response to what we believe in our hearts. This was the obedience of John the Baptist and of Mary and Joseph too, the obedience that enabled God’s promise of a Saviour to be fulfilled, the faith that accepted the hopeful Scriptural messages: ’Do not be afraid’ and ‘God is with us.’
The Gospel reminds us of the obedience of Mary to God’s call but we easily forget the obedience of Joseph who faced a massive social challenge, taking home a pregnant fiancée carrying a child that was not his! Joseph was confused and uncertain about what he should do and it was difficult for him to discern what his next step should be. Though Mary carried Jesus in her womb quietly and unacknowledged by most, she found in Joseph a partner who believed in the treasure that she bore.
This child Jesus would ultimately become the model of obedience to God’s will. One way of understanding obedience is ‘going-with’ the Lord – as Mary and Joseph did, as great saints like Augustine did – coming to the realisation that the Lord lives in our hearts and is our wise guide always. Obedience is not blind or mindless, acting without thought, but it is an openness to what the Lord wants. Even when we might not get it right, the Lord still copes and seeks what is best for us. Could I be bold enough to suggest that, had Mary or Joseph said No, the Lord would have still found a way!
Faith involves obedience to the teaching of the Gospel, personified in the life and ministry of Jesus. That does not mean that all life issues and decisions are simple and straightforward; some offer massive challenges to us personally and socially. Ideally, obedience emerges from our loving relationship with the Lord and his with us, and from the loving relationships we enjoy within our family life and marriage and friendships too.
Obedience without love is boring and sterile and difficult to sustain, and hardly conducive to personal growth. Thankfully, the promise ‘to obey’ has been removed from the marriage vows but the fact is that, in marriage and family life, we do a lot of ‘obeying’ anyway as we accommodate each other and build up a loving community.
As we prepare to celebrate the great Feasts of Christmas and the Holy Family, let us be more attentive to those closest to us and recognise ‘God with us’ in one another and open to seeing the hand of God in all that happens to us. Fr Dave