“Obedience is servility only to those who have not understood the spontaneity of love.”
Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

For Reflection:
What do I think is the relationship of love to obedience?

“I know the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible.”
St. Teresa of Avila

For Reflection:
How does obedience make things easy – even if they seem impossible?

“A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase of the choicest contemplation.”
St. Maria Maddalena De Pazzi

For Reflection:
Today, I will count my “little drops of simple obedience.” How many have I had?

“Obedience unites us so closely to God that in a way transforms us into Him, so that we have no other will but His. If obedience is lacking, even prayer cannot be pleasing to God.”
St. Thomas Aquinas

For Reflection:
Why do I think prayer is not pleasing to God without obedience? Where have I been disobedient to God in the past, or now presently? To what extent have I seen my disobedience affect my prayer?

“Analyze and foresee, organize and command, coordinate and control, these are the prudential duties of one who is charged with a mission of authority.”
Gustave Thils

For Reflection:
Do I believe these qualities are important to “one who is charged with a mission of authority?” Why or why not? What is the difference between being in control and being controlling? Do I emulate any of these qualities? Which? Is there one I need to grow in most? Which?

“It is sometimes difficult to obey; it is always difficult to command.”
Gustave Thils

For Reflection:
What is the difference between “commanding” and simply telling someone what to do? What do I think should be the characteristics of a good “commander?”
(See tomorrow’s Grace Line to discover the qualities Gustave Thils believes one in authority should have.)

“This is the definition of vice; the wrong use, in violation of the Lord’s command, of what has been given us by God for a good purpose. It is right to submit to a higher authority whenever a command of God would not be violated.”
St. Basil

For Reflection:
What are some contemporary examples of using wrongfully something God intends for a good purpose? (Consider this in light of the life issues, for example.). How does the second sentence of St. Basil’s quote help to clarify things for me?

“For those who have become lazy in fulfilling the commandments and desire to banish murky obscurity, there is no better or more efficient cure than complete obedience in everything, with faith and without argument.”
St. Gregory of Sinai

For Reflection:
How does obedience “banish murky obscurity?” To what extent do I obey the commandments of God and the teachings of the Church with faith and without argument? (Is there an area where I disagree with the Church and obstinately stand in rebellion, driven by my own understanding and arguments?) Am I willing to be “cured?”

“He who is his own master is a scholar under a fool.”
St. Bernard

For Reflection:
At first, this quote seems harsh. And yet, upon further reflection, it is filled with wisdom. How have I seen the truth of this in my own life as I have followed my way rather than God’s way?

“Obedience is the only virtue that implants the other virtues in the heart and preserves them after they have been so implanted.”
Pope St. Gregory the Great

For Reflection:
What is the relationship between obedience and the other virtues? (Consider: humility, fortitude, hope, honesty, for example.) How does obedience preserve these virtues once we have begun to live them?