The Jesuit Guide To (Almost) Everything - James Martin [123]
Since around the 1960s, Jesuit superiors have recaptured Ignatius’s original notion that not only is God at work through a man’s desires, hopes, and talents, but also that a person will flourish more in a job he enjoys. Most Jesuits teaching in a university, for example, have spent years preparing for their work and are happy to use their academic training—and their superiors are happy to send them there. But attentiveness to a man’s desires and talents has long been part of Jesuit discernment. “If people among us [show] a zeal and aptitude for a particular work, say foreign missions,” wrote the English Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins in 1874, “they can commonly get employed on them.”
Following the will of one’s superiors is usually a joyful experience, as one feels that one’s desires and the needs of the larger community are aligned. But there are times when you are asked to go somewhere that you would not choose on your own. Or do something that you would rather not do.
Many readers who have a problem accepting this aspect of obedience may have an easier time accepting a more practical reason: someone needs to be in charge. Managing a worldwide religious order, as Ignatius did, required one person, one ultimate authority, to guide the work. So the vow of obedience is always, as are the other vows, “apostolic,” that is, it helps us to carry out our assignments more effectively.
Actually, I’m always surprised by the number of people who scoff at obedience in religious orders yet live it religiously in their own lives. Many people who work in professional settings report to a manager who gives directives that they would often not choose on their own. When I worked for General Electric, I saw many longtime employees transferred to faraway locations, yet they would never think of complaining because they were so devoted to the company. These decisions are seen as necessary to achieve the organization’s goals—as are decisions in a religious order.
And having spent six years working in corporate America, I can say that in the Jesuits you have more say in these matters than in the corporate world. Your religious superior believes that your own desires, insights, and conclusions are valuable, whereas with management in the business world this is sometimes not the case.
In addition to the standard vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience taken by members of religious orders, Ignatius asked many Jesuits to profess what is called the “fourth vow.” That special vow relates to the pope. At the close of his training, a Jesuit promises “special obedience to the sovereign pontiff regarding the missions.”
What was the thinking behind this vow? Worldwide mobility. Ignatius saw the fourth vow not so much focused on the person of the pope (though he expected his men to have profound respect for the pope), but flowing from an understanding that the pope knew where the needs were the greatest, by virtue of his overall knowledge of the universal church. “The vow assumed,” writes John O’Malley in The First Jesuits, “that the pope had the broad vision required for the most effective deployment in the ‘vineyard of the Lord.’ ”
“It’s a vow to be a missionary, to be ‘on mission,’ to ‘travel to any part of the world,’ ” said Father O’Malley in a recent letter.
The will of Ignatius was clear: a Jesuit’s obedience was a hallmark of religious life. But besides the efficient running of a religious order, what are some other benefits of obedience?
Poverty frees you to live simply and frees you from worry about material possessions. Chastity frees you to love people freely and move around more easily. Obedience is about freedom, too. It frees you from excessive self-interest, careerism, and pride and allows you to respond more readily to the larger needs of the community. Rather than wondering, What’s the best way for me to get ahead?, obedience asks you to trust that your superiors, who presumably have a better idea of larger needs, will be