Admonition III: Perfect obedience
A single remark can be misleading. On one occasion Francis said that obedience meant being like was a skeleton that can be put wherever one wishes. So an obedient person is one who accepts without question the circumstances of life. To take this remark as Francis's whole advice on obedience would be most misleading. Francs showed a broader attitude towards obedience when he wrote a short letter to his companion, Brother Leo. Leo and Francis had been walking from one town to another. As they walked Leo told Francis of a difficulty he had. After the journey Francis wrote a letter to Leo. In the letter, Francis speaks to Leo as a mother speaks to her children, that is, he speaks kindly not looking for faults but anxious to help Leo. Francis' advice to Leo then is kindly and considerate. He encourages Leo to come back and talk to him if he ever feels the need for this and this would have encouraged Leo. Francis then gives the surprising advice that Leo is to decide on what to do by listening to his conscience. Francis wrote: 'In whatever way it seems better to you to please the Lord God and to follow His footprint and poverty, do it with the blessing of the Lord God and my obedience'. This advice should not surprise us because Francis himself found his obedience by following his conscience. Many people advised Francis to adopt one of the tried and approved rules for religious life. In his conscience Francis was not free to do this and by following his conscience he gave us the Franciscan way of life.
