--- title: Mother Teresa, Obedience, and Questions for the Family description: Blessed Mother Teresa offers advice to her religious sisters on obedience and the peace that flows from it. How are we as lay people called to live obedience in the family life so that we might experi --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2014/10/06/mother-teresa-obedience-and-questions-for-the-family#) # Mother Teresa, Obedience, and Questions for the Family Oct 6, 2014 9:30:48 AM  |  by [Guest](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/guest) When the spiritual life seems too confusing to me, returning to Mother Teresa’s writings is such a balm. She is so simple and practical. What should you do, she’d return my question. Go find and care for Jesus: in your home and your community, even in your own heart, she’d reply. And then smile. And then she’d tell me to smile. In returning to her book *[Where There is Love, There is God](http://www.amazon.com/Where-There-Is-Love-God/dp/038553180X),* I came upon a quote on obedience in a talk Mother Teresa was giving her sisters. She points out that God will not talk to us directly but through those in our lives to whom we are to be obedient. She says: > I’m always surprised that God nowhere spoke to Our Lady directly. He spoke through the prophets, He spoke to Moses, He spoke to everybody possible in the Bible, but we don’t see anywhere [that] God spoke to Our Lady directly. It was through the angel, it was through St. Joseph, and so on…and this is obedience. That surrender. I belong to Him, He can use me, He can do what He wants with me and to us sisters, God is not going to speak to us. So beautiful, so clear! Classic Mother Teresa. And yet I wonder, the issue of obedience is a little more complicated for lay people. To whom are we to be obedient? What does it mean to be truly obedient in a lay vocation? What does obedience look like in the family? Earlier in the book Mother Teresa expresses her suspicion that children today have such a problem with obedience because their parents aren’t yielding to each other out of love. With the Church’s eyes turned toward the family in a special way as the synod on marriage and family begins, we can take a few moments to assess the kind of obedience we see in our own homes and marriages and if it’s disposing us to the peace of Christ in our souls. Mother Teresa notes, “If I really understand that I belong to Christ, that nothing and nobody can separate me from the love of Christ, obedience is natural, completely natural, because if I belong to somebody, then that person has the right to use me” (p.265-266). *Blessed Mother Teresa, pray for our us, our families, and the synod.* *Copyright 2014 Meg Matenaer* ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2014%2F10%2F06%2Fmother-teresa-obedience-and-questions-for-the-family%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2014%2F10%2F06%2Fmother-teresa-obedience-and-questions-for-the-family%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2014%2F10%2F06%2Fmother-teresa-obedience-and-questions-for-the-family%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Mother%20Teresa%2C%20Obedience%2C%20and%20Questions%20for%20the%20Family) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2014%2F10%2F06%2Fmother-teresa-obedience-and-questions-for-the-family%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2014%2F10%2F06%2Fmother-teresa-obedience-and-questions-for-the-family%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Guest](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Profile%203.jpg) ### [Guest](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/guest) We welcome guest contributors who graciously volunteer their writing for our readers. Please support our guest writers by visiting their sites, purchasing their work, and leaving comments to thank them for sharing their gifts here on CatholicMom.com. To inquire about serving as a guest contributor, contact editor@CatholicMom.com. ## Related Blog Articles [ The Fourth Joyful Mystery: The Presentation of the Lord Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2014/07/03/the-fourth-joyful-mystery-the-presentation-of-the-lord) [ Obedience Revisited by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2010/01/18/obedience-revisited-by-patrice-fagnant-macarthur) [ Praised Be Jesus for Obedient Children Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2019/12/02/praised-be-jesus-for-obedient-children/) ## Comments ## Donate now [![Support Catholic Mom](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545) [![CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) ##### Subscribe to Catholic Momcast on iTunes or Spotify [![itunes-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/itunes-logo-black.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-momcast/id1362352357)[![spotify-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/spotify-logo-black.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/15CoipHL7z61IDcYErV0b8?si=hqaQJSxDQgq7S1hxCwsoxQ) ##### CatholicMom on Social Networks [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) ##### About Catholic Mom [Who We Are](https://www.catholicmom.com/about-us) [Contact Us](https://www.catholicmom.com/contact) [Support CatholicMom.com](https://www.catholicmom.com/support-us)   ##### Associated Links [Holy Cross Family Ministries](https://www.hcfm.org/) [Family Rosary](https://www.familyrosary.org/) [Family Theater Productions](https://www.familytheater.org/) [Congregation of the Holy Cross](https://www.holycrossusa.org/) [Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.](https://www.fatherpeyton.org/) [The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life](https://www.peytonfamilyinstitute.org/) ### **Stay connected!** Don’t miss a thing! Sign up to receive our free daily digest email. Copyright © 2026 CatholicMom.com. All Rights Reserved.