Discernment: Faith, Trust, Humility

In today’s first reading, Daniel 3: 14-20, 91-92, 95, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stand firm in their faith. They do not succumb to King Nebuchadnezzar, who has threatened them with death if they did not bow down and worship his god.  “There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue that you set up.”

As we are faced with discerning the will of God, we may want God to act in a miraculous way: just show me God; make your way crystal clear to me so that others and I can be ecstatic about what you are asking of me!  But what if God leaves us in the dark and we have no way to answer those who say to us: That is not a right choice for you? Would we, similar to the humility of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, say to those who taunt us about our vocation or the choice we are about to make:  “If my God, whom I serve, can make it crystal clear to me what His will is and also turn your opposition to acceptance of the choice I am about to make,  may God do so.  But even if he will not, know that I will follow what I believe is God’s will for me and not give in to your doubts and outright statement that what I am choosing is not for me.”  God will give me the strength to remain firm without miracles.

 As we discern God’s will, there will be times when we are not able to defend our position but need to remain silent and wait upon God. God will defend us in God’s time.  We may look stupid or feel humiliated by not getting others to understand our position. However, we are not alone! Jesus did not defend Himself in face of Pilate’s questioning. Nor did He defend Himself upon the cross. It was God’s will that He was carrying out even to His death on the cross. And His Father’s will did not need His defense. Neither does it in your life. 

Discernment: Stop and Listen

Discernment:  Today’s first reading, 1 Samuel 15: 16-23, is a continuation of what happened when Samuel went back to sleep and when hearing his name called a fourth time answered: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” God had a message that He wanted Samuel to deliver to Saul.  To get Saul’s attention, he said to him the next morning: “Stop! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

To discern God’s will, we need to “Stop!”  Plunging full steam ahead is one way to shut out God’s voice.  Telling ourselves, “I don’t have time right now” might be our way to walk away from the source of God’s enlightenment.  Rejecting a message because of the messenger is also one of the ways in which we may shield ourselves from truth, the Truth.  We may also assume that we have the answers, or all of the answers, and no one tells us what to do or what to consider. Those attitudes are a hindrance to hearing the voice of God. Humility is key. Praying for the courage and the strength to listen to others is a crucial part of discernment

Discernment: Paying Attention

In the Gospel of today’s liturgy,  John 21: 1-14, Peter and his friends go fishing and catch nothing.  Jesus is on the shore watching them. He says: “Children, have you caught anything?” To which, they say “no.” “Cast your nets on the right side of the boat.” They do so and bring in 153 large fish.

An essential apart of discernment is paying attention. God is the Director of our lives. He is always standing on the shore watching us and sending us directions, giving suggestions, challenging us.  Many times we do not experience any fruit to our labors. “We have fished all night and caught nothing.” Jesus, concerned, asked: “Did you catch anything?”  Are we humble enough to acknowledge the truth? Moreover, are we humble enough to switch directions, to try something  that was not part of our plan? Religious life? “You got to be kidding, Lord!” “That marriage partner? Really, Lord, we’d we good together? He’s not a wealthy man? He’s not cute. I want someone who makes lots of money. I want someone who is dashingly handsome!”  “That career?  This other career path promises lots of money, Lord. I want to be rich.” “No, my child! I have other plans for you.”

Are we willing to follow God’s plans or will we stubbornly and proudly stick to our own?

Religious Life: A Journey of Love

Religious life: Today we will bury one of our Sisters, Sister M. Flora Scheurer, age 98. One of the employers here at our assisted living facility described her as “a pure soul.”  She was lauded in ao many ways, one of which was that she was  one of the best primary grade (first and second graders) teachers ever known in my religious community. She was a woman who loved beauty and created it in so many different ways: poetry,  art, song, loving people and animals, enjoying gardening and producing all kinds of plants, engaging in mischievous behaviors and playing tricks on people,  serving the poor and needy or being engaged in creating things to sell in our gift shop to raise money to support our ministries to the needy.

She left us the following poem to be read at her wake:

I’m Free

Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free

I’m following the path God has laid you see.

I took His hand when I heard His call

I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day

To laugh, to love, to work or play

Tasks left undone must stay that way

I found the peace at the close of the day.

If my parting has left a void

Then fill it with remembered joys—

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss

Oh yes, these things I too will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow.

I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.

My life’s been full, I savored much,

Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief—

Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.

Lift up your hearts, and peace to thee—

God wanted me now; He set me free.

She began her journey to become a woman religious as a teenager.  She would fall in love with Jesus many times and pass that love on to others over and over again.  She personified childlikeness that Jesus speaks about in the Scriptures when He says to us, his disciples: “Unless you change and become like little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 18:3). Sister Flora heeded those words and, without a doubt, I believe the gates of heaven flew open when Jesus came to earth, took her by the hand, and said: Sister Flora, come. It is time!”

Being a Franciscan Sister of the Sorrowful Mother: What does it mean?

        

What does religious life mean to me?  Sister Jeanine Retzer, a Sister of the Sorrowful Mother writes:

“I have been deeply affected by my Franciscan roots. I love being part of something larger than myself--the spiritual teachers and example of both St. Francis and Clare and of our foundress Mother Frances Streitel. Over the years I have studied and grown in my practice and appreciation of our congregation’s Franciscan heritage. The last several years I am daily reminded of the Franciscan virtues as prayed in the Franciscan Morning and Evening Praise: conversion of heart, poverty, contemplation, and minority or humility. Through the Franciscan Federation I am in touch with Franciscans throughout the U.SA. and Caribbean, as part of my efforts to bring what I believe into action. My Franciscan roots have greatly enriched my life and daily living.”

VITA CONSECRATA--CONSECRATED LIFE

VITA CONSECRATA—CONSECRATED LIFE

Religious life is about serving the Church in a variety of ways.  The chapter on “Apostolic Service” in the Constitution of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother opens with a quote from Micah 6: 8: “…and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  That statement applies to so many of my senior sisters, women religious who did great things for the Lord without recognition of their efforts. Nor did they ever toot their own horns, so to speak.  These were and are humble women, women who gave their lives for the poor and oppressed, who did whatever was asked of them by their superiors.  One such woman was Sister Kiliana Jakubowski, a woman from Germany, an orphan, in  fact.  She was principal of the convent high school and president of the junior college in Milwaukee, WI,  when I entered the community back in the 50’s.  In the 60’s she was asked to lay the groundwork for our missions in the Caribbean and in Brazil, traveling to those countries and, for Brazil, learning Portuguese in her advanced years.  She was passionate about preserving the history of our community. That passion led her to writing the first community history book as well as translating five volumes of meditations given by the first spiritual director of our community, Msgr. George Jacquemin.  As an aspirant, postulant, novice and three years into temporary vows I was the one who typed and mimeographed those five books: the one history book and the four volumes of meditations.  Her motto that she passed on to me was: All for the glory and honor of God. Truly, that was the passion that drove her to say “yes” to all God asked of her. It is that motto that underlies the humility of so many of the Sisters that have gone before me. It is also the motivation that prompted their obedience to their superiors and ultimately to their God.

Discernment: Can I live an active religious life well?

You might be wondering whether or not you are capable of living as a consecrated person, as a woman/man religious. Here are some questions that might help you in this discernment process, created from the “9 signs of a capacity to live active religious life well” by Brother John D. Hamilton, CFX, “The built-in tensions in apostolic vocations,” Horizon,  Volume 39, Number 1, Winter 2014, p. 11.  

1.    In what ways do you have the capacity for “relaxed-aloneness”—for healthy celibacy and healthy intimacy: “into-self-you see”?  Do you enjoy being alone with yourself? Do you spend time alone in meaningful ways?

2.    In what ways do you have the capacity of solitude, meditation and prayer? Do you take time to meditate on the Scriptures? Do you devote time to spiritual reading that nourishes yhour prayer life and fills your alone time with the gift of solitude, a stillness that opens to God?

3.    Do you have the capacity for relaxation and practices that diminish compulsion?  Or, is your times alone filled with compulsive activity: hours of playing computer games, for instance?

4.    Are you growing in self-knowledge, adequate ego development and self-acceptance that manifest in humility (honesty with self and others and the recognition that your point of view is not the only point of view, is limited without openness to the point of view of others, especially those views that differ from your own)? Are you willing to learn and grow?

 

REMEMBER, that if you are being called to consecrate your life to the Lord, the Lord gives you the strength to continue to develop all of these qualities.

 

 

 

Discernment: The Human Cycle of Dependence, Independence and Interdependence

 We begin life totally dependent upon others and then move toward developing independence, a necessary prerequisite to being interdependent. Interdependence is a sign of a healthy sense of self, high self-esteem and a level of maturity that speaks of wisdom, prudence, and courage.   This latter sense of well-being is achieved only by those who have learned to take responsibility for themselves first and know when they need help. Those who are interdependent have built their “houses on solid rock,” as Jesus tells us in the Scriptures.

Discernment, as adults, means 1) that we know when others are legitimately dependent upon us and that we have a responsibility toward them, 2) that we know when it is essential that we depend upon ourselves, our abilities, our talent, acknowledge our dependence upon God working through us and guiding us and, finally, 3) that we know when  and how to work interdependently, acknowledging that we need the help and guidance of others:  Knowing  when and where to seek counsel; knowing when and in what circumstances we are powerlessness; knowing the importance of being open to and having the wisdom to  seek feedback;  in short, having the courage and the wisdom to enter into dialogue and mutual discernment in order to do that to which God is calling us as People of God, as Church, as God’s Kingdom People here on earth, members of one flock, one Shepherd, united in love as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one.

Discernment: Role of Scripture, of others, of openness and humility

Discernment: The first reading of today’s liturgy, Acts 8: 26-40, teaches us a lot about discernment. Out of the blue, Philip hears the following message: “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.”  He does so, just like that.  Some times that is how we need to respond to God’s messages. Those messages could come out of the blue  and be heard only within the depths of our beings, as in the case of Philip. They also could come from acquaintances, friends, spouses, pastors, ministers, teachers, counselors, physicians, lawyers, fellow workers, and so on. The source is not the issue. The message is as we hear it coming from God through a human instrument, as did the eunuch in this same Scripture passage. He listens to Philip explain the Scriptures to him and how all is about Jesus, our Savior and King, the One sent from God to save the world from Satan’s power. The eunuch is also open to the Spirit speaking through the circumstances and, as they pass a some water, says to Philip: “What is to prevent my being baptized?”  Seizing the moment, the eunuch becomes a member of the Body of Christ.

 Both Philip and the eunuch are open to the Spirit speaking in the present moment, speaking in the depth of their hearts, directing them toward action and to do that which will be a life-changing event for themselves or another.  Philip leaves his comfort zones—an important part of following the Spirit. As a result, Philip makes a difference in the eunuch’s life. The eunuch is humble enough to allow Philip to open the Scriptures for him.  His life is transformed because of his humility and openness to instruction—elements essential in discerning God’s will.

Another part of discernment is taking time to read/reflect upon the Scriptures. That openness on the part of the eunuch led him to fulfilling God’s will for him.

Discerning God's Will: Seeking the Grace of Enlightenment

Step 4 of the Ignatian method of discerning God’s will is to pray from the bottom of your heart for the grace of enlightenment. In this step you are asking the Holy Spirit to turn the light on within your mind—“let me see, Lord, what it is that you are asking of me. Move me out of darkness into the light of knowing what your will is for me.” In the same token you are asking for the strength to do that which God is asking of you. Source: Discernment of Spirits by Warren Sazama, SJ, National Religious Vocation Conference, Chicago, IL 60615.

 The very fact that we seek enlightenment means that we realize that our minds have been darkened by the Fall of Adam and Eve. We have all inherited a dullness that clouds our thinking. The removal of these spiritual “cataracts” is not possible if we do not even recognize the fact that “cataracts” are clouding our vision.  That recognition requires humility modeled by Mary, Joseph, Peter, Mary of Magdala and all of those who were recipients of Jesus’ healing ministry in the NT Scriptures.  We do not seek “enlightenment,” “openness,” “light,” or help in any way if we do not recognize our need for an intervention. If, in truth, we are going to discern God’s holy will, we need the Holy Spirit to break into our minds with the light of Christ.  What blocks me from seeking the Wisdom of the Spirit, the Enlightenment of God?