Discernment: How do I know I am on the right path? In today's first reading, Acts 5:
34-42, Gamaliel asks the Sanhedrin to step back and think through what
they are about to do to the Apostles for preaching in Jesus' name. He reminds
the Sanhedrin of two other persons who
rose up and attracted a large following. One was killed and all of his
followers disbanded. The other simply perished and all of his followers
scattered. If what we are doing or
thinking of doing persists, that is, opposition or encountering difficulties
does not lead us to abandon the work or the idea that we are contemplating
making a reality, is it possible that we are more likely, than not, to be on a
path mapped out for us by God? We know
that the apostles, even though being flogged and imprisoned for their apostolic
activities, did not abandon what they were doing. They knew that their mission
was of divine origin, not of human origin. Nothing deterred them from talking
about Jesus and making Him known.
In the Gospel of today’s liturgy, Jesus also teaches us an
important aspect of discernment, namely, separating ourselves, from time to
time, to go apart to converse with God.
He knew, after the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes that the
people wanted to “carry him off and make him king” (John 6: 1-5). So, he escapes into the mountains! When others are overwhelmingly
applauding us, or making too much of us, or when we find ourselves seeking to be "forever" applauded, or, perhaps, wanting to be elevated to high places, it
is time to go apart to refocus in light of God’s ways, as Jesus did. There is
no other way to clarify our motivations or to discern what is driving us in a
certain direction. Is it my desire to please the Lord or am I seeking self-aggrandizement?
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