Question about St. Faustina

[Casilda]

Someone here mentioned her to me so I bought her diary. It has been very hard for me to read since her life started similar to mine. My question is regarding her disobedience to her parents in seeking to become a nun. Her parents didn’t want her to be a religious, my parents didn’t even want me going to church. I obeyed my parents with that ache in my soul of conflict. Has anyone ever questioned why she disobeyed her parents?

 

[Bookcat]

A parent does not have the authority to prevent a person of the right age from following a vocation to religious life. So there is no “disobedience” in such a case.

 

[4love2God]

The Commandment : Honor thy father and mother.

This does NOT say obey. It has more to do with NOT defaming your Family.

In the United States, the age of adulthood is 18.
Up until that time, the person is not free to make most decisions in his Life.
The main people to make decisions for minors are their parents.

In the life of Sister Faustina (and saint), she was interested in becoming a Religious.
This interest alone does not allow a person to become a Nun.
In fact, the Convents she went to were NOT interested in accepting her to begin training for the Sisterhood…
Then, GOD Himself spoke to Faustina, and told her to become a Nun.
(So, no matter what her parents would have said, this Act of God certainly over-rode it.)
The sister at the Convent, wanting to obey God’s Will, opened her door to Faustina.

 

[Bookcat]

The Commandment : Honor thy father and mother.

This does NOT say obey.

For Children though – note it includes obeying…

CCC

2215 Respect for parents (filial piety) derives from gratitude toward those who, by the gift of life, their love and their work, have brought their children into the world and enabled them to grow in stature, wisdom, and grace. "With all your heart honor your father, and do not forget the birth pangs of your mother. Remember that through your parents you were born; what can you give back to them that equals their gift to you?"19

2216 Filial respect is shown by true docility and obedience. "My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. . . . When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you."20 "A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke."21

2217 As long as a child lives at home with his parents, the child should obey his parents in all that they ask of him when it is for his good or that of the family. "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord."22 Children should also obey the reasonable directions of their teachers and all to whom their parents have entrusted them. But if a child is convinced in conscience that it would be morally wrong to obey a particular order, he must not do so.

scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a4.htm#III

– again such is not say an absolute obedience - for example the parent cannot say “Go steal that…” other things contrary to God or against God…or the like.

And as I noted above:

A parent does not have the authority to prevent a person of the right age from following a vocation to religious life. So there is no “disobedience” in such a case.

 

[clem456]

Obedience is more than merely obeying a command from anyone who has authority, whether it is civil or moral authority.

144 To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to “hear or listen to”) in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself. Abraham is the model of such obedience offered us by Sacred Scripture. The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.

1899 The authority required by the moral order derives from God:

1902 Authority does not derive its moral legitimacy from itself. It must not behave in a despotic manner, but must act for **the common good **as a “moral force based on freedom and a sense of responsibility”:21

A human law has the character of law to the extent that it accords with right reason, and thus derives from the eternal law.

It should be difficult for a Christian to reject God’s vocation (calling to us), out of honor to a lower authority. Obedience ultimately is rooted in God.
And that is not an invitation to disrespect legitimate authority such as parenthood, but rather to recognize the different kinds of authority for what they are.
If we are trying to live a life in union with God he will lead us in the right path of obedience.

1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David.109 They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.

 

[Sunbreak]

She was already 18 and her parents had refused to give their consent twice. She was no longer a child at this point, but an adult. She was in domestic service and doing other works and so she was not living at home. Jesus told her to go to Warsaw and that she would enter a convent there. Even so, she wasn’t admitted right away because convents required a “dowry” and she didn’t have the money, so she had to work for awhile longer and save money before she would be accepted. She wasn’t able to join a convent until she was almost 20 years old. Again, she wasn’t a child so why would she need permission?

 

[Casilda]

The idea today that at 18 your are an adult wasnt the same idea that was floating around the turn of the century, that is why I question it. My grandmother was 30 when she married in 1920. She was still living at home up until then. I was still living at home at 24 when I married. Maybe its different since we are hispanic.