SO 'BLIND OBEDIENCE' IS A THING OF THE PAST?

When we hear it said in homilies that ‘blind obedience’ is a thing of the past, we hear the reason for much of the malaise afflicting the Church today. The term is seriously misunderstood.

Here's how Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen OCD explains it:

Blind obedience is obedience which goes beyond all personal judgment or opinion and adheres to the superior’s (not necessarily a religious superior’s) orders, solely because in them is recognised the divine will (“He who hears you, hears Me”).

This obedience is blind because the intellect is deprived of its own light when it is not permitted to consider its personal judgment, to inquire into the superior’s reasons, or to discuss his/her orders; it is blind because it is based only on a motive of faith, for by faith we know God’s will is manifested through our superior.

Even as faith is an ‘obscure’ knowledge, we can say that the obedience it inspires is ‘deprived of natural light’ and is therefore blind.

In other words, blind obedience is not based on reasoning that involves human motives, but it is based on the unique motive of faith which knows that one who hears the superior hears God (“He who hears you, hears Me”).

There may be cases where there is good reason to think an order has been imposed without taking into consideration facts which, if overlooked, might be prejudicial to the superior himself; then it is well and sometimes even necessary to bring it to his attention.

Neither is there any implication in asking for explanations when an order does not seem clear or when it places us in a very embarrassing position. However this must be done with humility, without insistence and with readiness to submit oneself to the decision of the superior.

- Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, Divine Intimacy.