Discernment: In Dt.
4: 1, 5-9, the first reading of today’s liturgy, Moses speaks to us of obeying
God’s laws and decrees. In the Gospel of today, Mt.5: 17-19, Jesus tells us that
He is the fulfillment of the Law and that He has not come to destroy it. In discernment, we are faced with laws and
decrees that God places before us, including a decree that has to do with which
vocation in life will I choose, what specific decision will I make. Moses encourage us to keep the decrees of God
so that “you may live” and so that “you will give evidence of your wisdom and
intelligence.” So, we will know that we
have discerned properly if the choice that we make is life giving to us, first
of all, and life-giving to others. We will also know that we have rightly
discerned God’s will if the choice we make for ourselves gives witness to our
intelligence and wisdom! And the first one to know will be ourselves. Each of
us knows when we make “stupid” choices. We say to ourselves: “What did I do
that for?” “I knew that was a wrong choice for me.” Or we even verbally abuse ourselves, saying: “How
stupid of me,” rather than gently recognizing that, as a human being, I am
prone to error and that any mistake I make is an opportunity for growth. So,
what I need to say to myself is: “What
do I need to learn from the mistake I made? What does God want to teach me from
this mistake” and thus personally grow in grace (humility) and wisdom. Both of
which are elements of discernment!
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