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Planning God into your life - that is part of the discernment process
We are offering a one week Online Discernment Retreat process that gives you an experience what discernment is like. You can plug in at any time. Please contact Sr. Andrea |
What Is Discernment? The
process of making a decision about your life with the help of the Holy Spirit
is called "discernment." It is a process of discovering God’s will for you. In
this process you deal with two persons: you and God. During the process, you
will get to know both better. As you begin, remember that both, you and God
ultimately desire the same thing: your happiness. Therefore, you and God are
not working at cross-purposes, but for the same goal. The process of
discernment, though often a struggle, is not complicated. It consists of four
steps. 1. Be in touch with yourself Know your
likes and dislikes, your fears and dreams, your hopes and interests, your
abilities and limitations. Get to know how you work under stress, what kind of
leadership you respond to, how much structure you need in your life.
See how others view you in work
situations, under stress, and at leisure. Reflect how you view others. Are you
able to accept others, to work with them? One way to look at a call from
God is to see Him acting all through your life. He created you with a unique
personality and allowed you to experience a personal history. Your personality
and personal history are part of your call.
As you get to know yourself,
accept what you find. You might want to change some aspects of yourself in the
future, but begin by accepting yourself as you are right now. You might keep a
journal to record your feelings over a period of time. Going back over this
journal and reflecting on changes in your feelings and ideas will give a
picture of the person you are. Another road to self-discovery
is to develop a relationship with a spiritual director or someone else whom
you trust and who can be objective with you. If you are open and honest with
this person, self-knowledge will increase.
2. Be in touch with God Develop a life of prayer, not
just in times of crisis, but regularly. No relationship develops between
persons unless they listen to each other. You must learn to listen to God in
prayer and not merely ask God to listen to you. You have to spend time with
God, listen to God, be honest with God, and occasionally be willing to wait on
God. Prayer is a highly personal
response to a personal life that God has for you individually. Because you are
unique, your prayer response is going to be unique. Don’t hesitate to
experiment with various forms of prayer until you find those which best
express your relationship with the Lord. Look for traces of God in
nature, in circumstances of your life, in other people. God is active in all.
The better you get to know God, the more you will be able to perceive God’s
activity and presence in your life. Try to find out what kind of
prayer or worship is drawing you the most. How is God speaking to you through
scripture? 3. The decision-making process As you become more in touch with
yourself and with God, prayerfully gather the facts about your decision.
Consider alternatives. Write out the pros and cons of each alternative. Try to
project what effect each alternative will have on you five and ten years from
now. In considering religious life,
search out information about various religious communities, their works, their
lifestyles. Consider other careers which might fit you. What are the
advantages and disadvantages of each? Talk to priests, deacons, sisters,
brothers, and to people in other careers. Visit religious houses as well as
the work situation of other careers, if possible. Try to see yourself as a
priest, deacon, brother, or sister ten years from now, and as a married person
with a family ten years from now. Which seems to best fit you?
As you gather the facts about
the alternative life choices open for you, be particularly attentive to your
feelings. If you have been open and honest with yourself in Step 1 and with
God in Step 2, you can trust your feelings. Choose what appears to be best for
you and what appears to be God’s will. 4. Confirm your decision. After you have made your decision, spend time in prayer for an extended period to see if the decision still seems right. If it is, there should be a continuation of inner peace and satisfaction. This period of confirmation should go on for an extended interval, several weeks or more, to be sure that the peace you feel is true tranquility and not simply the relief that follows a difficult decision. You can also be confirmed in your decision by sharing it with your spiritual director or someone else with whom you have worked throughout the process.
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