February 19, 2023 - Pastor Message
December 21, 2024THE YEAR OF MISSION THE MISSION TO DISCERN (cont.)
THE YEAR OF MISSION
THE MISSION TO DISCERN (cont.)
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I am giving you today, loving the Lord, your God, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes, and ordinances, you will live and grow numerous, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. If, however, your heart turns away and you do not obey, but are led astray and bow down to other gods and serve them, I tell you today that you will certainly perish…Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live by loving the Lord, your God, obeying his voice, and holding fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).
Continuing our reflection on discernment, remember that, last week, we considered that spiritual discernment is first of all spiritual, that is, it is about distinguishing the movement of God’s Spirit in our minds and hearts from other thoughts and feelings, which, while they may be good, are not necessarily from God. This week, we will look at some preliminary observations that build on that foundation.
First, Christian discernment takes place within the context of a loving, personal relationship with God. If we love God and want a close, personal relationship with him, then we will want to please him by serving him and doing his will. So the first step in discernment is always cultivating that loving relationship through prayer, study, and Christian life, not to decide anything, but simply to draw closer to God and enable his grace to become more active in our hearts.
Second, Christian discernment takes place within the context of spiritual warfare. God’s Spirit is always at work in the world, calling us to deeper communion with him and to greater service of his will, but his Spirit is not the only one at work in the world. Other spirits, that are not holy, are also out there, seeking to seduce us away from God to our ruin and that of others. The battle takes place in our hearts and minds, with impulses toward vices like pride, greed, selfishness, anger, lust, laziness, and abuse of God’s gifts warring against impulses toward virtues like humility, self-sacrifice, charity, mercy, chastity, hard work, and stewardship of God’s gifts. The most basic level of discernment distinguishes between these opposing spirits and directs us to choose good rather than evil.
Third, the highest level of discernment, and its ultimate goal, is not to choose between good and evil, which, let’s face it, is usually obvious (we simply need to do it), but to choose between opposing goods. Once we have resolved to love and serve God, the choice between good and evil becomes easy. But how do we distinguish among the various good choices in front of us which is the best to love and serve God? How do we know which of the good choices in front of us is the one that God wants us to choose? Figuring that out is the art of spiritual discernment, which we will continue to explore next week by looking at seven important attitudes for authentic Christian discernment.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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