March 5, 2023 - Pastor Message
04/19/2024THE YEAR OF MISSION
THE MISSION TO DISCERN (cont.)
“Thus says the Lord: Stand by the earliest roads, ask the pathways of old, ‘Which is the way to good?’ and walk it; thus you will find rest for yourselves” (Jeremiah 6:16).
We conclude our month-long reflection on discernment this week with a look at some practical techniques, drawn from the writings of St. Ignatius of Loyola, for discerning the call of God’s Spirit in our lives when facing major decisions, both personally and within our various ministry groups, organizations, and parish.
The first technique is to start the discernment process by bringing to mind what exactly we need to decide. There may be many other issues surrounding this decision, but what is the basic issue we need to decide?
Next, we need to approach that issue impartially, doing our best to suspend judgment and look at all options evenly, with our top priority of doing God’s will being our overriding goal, which we then pray for the enlightenment of God’s Spirit to discern and achieve.
Ignatius also suggests a mental exercise: imagine a person we’ve never met approaching us for advice on how to decide that issue for themselves. It is sometimes easier advising others than deciding things for ourselves, and helping this imaginary person may help clarify our thought.
Another mental exercise Ignatius suggests is imagining ourselves before the judgment seat of God at the end of our lives. How would we feel about the choices we are considering in this situation then? How would we justify our choice to God in light of our top priority of loving and serving him? In other words, we should make the choice that will lead us to our ultimate goal, true and lasting joy with God in eternal life, rather than choices that merely provide more immediate but ultimately fleeting pleasure or satisfaction now.
If after these steps we find that we still cannot decide the matter, having employed our imagination and feelings, Igantius suggests employing cold, hard reason. Keeping in mind our ultimate goal of serving God’s will, we make a list of the pro’s and con’s of each choice before us; which choice gets us closer to our goal? Pay special attention to any pro’s or con’s that really stand out and make your decision based on the weightier factors.
Finally, having come to a decision, thank God for guiding us and ask him for signs confirming that we have made the best decision. While we may experience external signs, such as things coming together in just the right way to accomplish our purpose, the usual signs God provides tend to be deep, interior feelings of blessing, lightness, peace, and joy - even if it isn’t easy, it just feels right. On the other hand, feelings of anxiety, heaviness, sadness, or distance from God may indicate the opposite and may mean we need to do further discernment.
That’s it for now on discernment. Again, if you would like to read further, St. Ignatius of Loyola is a great resource. The ideas I have presented come from the article, “Some Ignatian Principles for Making Prayerful Decisions” by Father Warren Sazama, SJ, found online at Marquette.edu. As we journey deeper into the Lenten season during our Year of Mission we will next begin looking at the third leg of how we serve our mission, putting what we’ve heard through listening and decided through discernment into action.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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