On line and on twitter in the recent past, there has been much discussion on obedience of the laity and to the laity with regard to the hierarchy.
Now, I am not going to refer to members of religious orders, who take vows of obedience, or secular priests, who are to obey their bishops as their direct pastors. I want to discuss our relationship to our bishops and other members of the hierarchcy, and their relationship with us.
To begin with, please read this excellent piece by Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke on obedience. Then, I shall post more.
http://www.mariancatechist.com/burke/obedience_responsibility.html
Part of it is here:
18. Obedience to the Magisterium is a virtue and is attained through the practice of such obedience. Living in Christ alone, doing, with Christ, the will of the Father teaches every member of the faithful the fundamental requirement of obedience for salvation. In this regard, the pastors of the faithful, and those who are students and teachers of the Word of God, provide an invaluable help to the faithful, so that they may daily turn to Christ, overcoming the rebelliousness of our fallen nature and drawing strength from the Holy Spirit Who dwells within (CCC, no. 2038).
19. When the shepherds of the flock are obedient to the Magisterium, entrusted to their exercise, then the members of the flock grow in obedience and proceed, with Christ, along the way of salvation. If the shepherd is not obedient, the flock easily gives way to confusion and errors. The shepherd must be especially attentive to the assaults of Satan who knows that, if he can strike the shepherd, the work of scattering the flock will be made easy (cf. Zechariah 13:7).
20. In his Encyclical Letter Fides et ratio, “On the Relationship between Faith and Reason,” our late and most beloved Holy Father Pope John Paul II reminded us that the Magisterium is bound strictly to Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, while, at the same time, Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are handed on from one generation to the next through the obedience of the Magisterium. Pope John Paul II declared:
The “supreme rule of her faith” derives from the unity which the Spirit has created between Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church in a reciprocity which means that none of the three can survive without the others (n. 55c).
The faith is living. The faith is received through the action of the Holy Spirit dwelling within the soul, and it is expressed by the purifying and strengthening action of the Holy Spirit Who inspires man to put the faith into practice.