The third degree of humility
Jan. 1 June. 1 Oct.
The third degree of humility is, that a man for the love of God submit himself to his superior in all obedience; imitating the Lord, of Whom the apostle saith: “He was made obedient even unto death.”
There are three words in today’s third degree of humility that illuminate the whole text: pro Dei amore, “for the love of God”. A son of Saint Benedict submits himself to his superior not because obedience makes for an efficient operation, not because obedience maintains order in the ranks, not because obedience is a form of control, but because obedience is the expression of the love of God. In obeying out of love for God, the monk imitates Jesus, on the night before He suffered, said:
Sed ut cognoscat mundus quia diligo Patrem, et sicut mandatum dedit mihi Pater, sic facio.
But that the world may know, that I love the Father: and as the Father hath given me commandment, so do I. (John 14:31)
and again,
If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father’s commandments, and do abide in his love. (John 15:10)
The third degree of humility can only be understood in the light of the Fourth Gospel and of Saint Paul. The Fourth Gospel reveals that love cannot be separated from obedience, nor obedience from love. Saint Paul makes it clear that obedience, in imitation of Christ, is a costly thing; that there is no cheap obedience; that obedience cannot be reduced to a mere legalistic conformity to strictures imposed from without.
Precisely because the monastic life is a question of love, it requires obedience. Every act of obedience, however small, and though it be apparently insignificant, brings with it an increase of love, that is, of the love by which we are united to God in Christ. All the littlest souls—Saint Thérèse being their chief representative—understood this and practised it. The man who loves God will want to obey because he understands that obedience is the currency of love.
