Obedience releases us from ourselves so we can live in the freedom of the providence of the Spirit.

Listening to the Voice of God
The Church has always seen the evangelical counsel of obedience as well founded in the life of Christ.  That is why listening to the Father through Christ’s Spirit is the first step.  Religious obedience requires that the whole community commit itself to listen to the voice of God, to discern the divine will, and to fulfill it.  We dedicate our own wills to the service of God and our brothers and sisters so that the unity for which Christ offered Himself may be realized in our community.

Holocaust of Self in Union with Christ
As faithful servants of Christ the High Priest, we imitate him who “humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8).  By our vow of obedience, we lovingly give our will to God that we might offer a holocaust of our entire self and share in the work of Christ’s redemption.  We thus become one with God and offer our life for the salvation of souls. 

Following the Example of Mary
By our vow, we also seek to follow the example of Mary, who listened attentively to the Holy Spirit and was docile to God’s loving plan, even as she stood beneath the Cross of her Son.  Like Mary, we acknowledge our total dependence on God, renouncing a spirit of independence, and take her words upon our lips: Fiat!

Why obedience?
The purpose of religious obedience is not to make things run smoothly.  Rather, it is intimately linked with the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s redemptive obedience.  Love is the motivation for embracing obedience.  Out of love we yield the exercise of our inherent right to choose according to our own desires in order to accept the will of God as it comes to us through the authority of the Church and the Order.

Stability in the Order
As members of the canonical life, our vow of obedience binds us in stability to our particular canonry. There we live out our life in our religious family and carry out our part of the apostolate.