Obedience

In July 1976, Israeli commandos made a daring raid at an airport in Entebbe, Uganda, in which 103 Jewish hostages were freed. In less than fifteen minutes, the soldiers had killed all seven of the kidnappers and set the captives free.
As successful as the rescue was, however, three of the hostages were killed during the raid. As the commandos entered the terminal, they shouted in Hebrew, "Get down! Crawl!" The Jewish hostages understood and lay down on the floor, while the guerrillas, who did not speak Hebrew, were left standing. Quickly the rescuers shot the upright kidnappers.
But two of the hostages hesitated - perhaps to see what was happening - and were also cut down. One young man was lying down and actually stood up when the commandos entered the airport. He, too, was shot with the bullets meant for the enemy. Had these three heeded the soldiers' command they would have been freed with the rest of the captives.
Morale of the story: Salvation is open to all, but we must heed and respect Christ's command to repent and make him Lord. Otherwise, we will perish with the judgment meant for the Enemy. (www.nathan.co.za)

The numbers from the Rule read tonight focus on obedience and respect. On the part of the subjects, brothers in the community are bound to obey their superiors. However, on the part of superiors leading their subjects, they ought to be “Christian” in exercising the power given them.
Obedience entails respect. In the story, had the two hostages not hesitated and respected and obeyed what the commandos told them to do, they could have been set freed. For us vowed persons what is demanded, first of all, is respect in relating with our superiors and fellow brothers. As we respect one another, obeying will not be a hard thing to do. It is something that will flow so easily because of love and out of love.
St. Augustine in the Rule encourages us to see our superiors “as our fathers with respect due them so as not to offend God” (Rule VII, 44). Respect deserves a special mentioning here as our holy father thought so too. It is clear that in his mind respecting our superiors would mean respecting God who work in them. We believe that through them God directs us. Through them God speaks to us and is with us at least physically by their gestures and manner of dealing with us. This is what they must keep in mind. Thus, respect is to be given and obedience will not be impossible.
In obedience we turn to our ultimate Model, Christ. Soretiology will tell us that Jesus saved humanity not just simply because of His death on the cross, but because of his loving obedience to the Father’s will. His will to offer the greatest act of sacrificial worship to the Father redeemed the sinful humanity. The Christ submitted His whole Self and withhold nothing for Himself when He entrusted everything up to the Father, in humble submission of His divine and human will to undergo such process to His glorification. This is the obedience demanded from us, that we submit ourselves to God. And in the religious life, obeying our superiors is such a good way to start. By it we submit ourselves to God. In turn they too have the responsibility to be Christ-like. This is what is expected of them.
Religious life finds a special place for this two intertwining values, respect and obedience in Love. Among fellow brothers too, these two are essential to live in a pleasant and harmonious community. This we pray for always so that our community may be of one mind and heart towards God.