Discernment: Psalm 23--Reflection II

DISCERNMENT: PSALM 23—REFLECTION II

Ps. 23 tells us that, with God as our Shepherd, we need not fear anything, not even the “dark valley.”  Following God’s call to priesthood or religious life may seem like encountering a “dark valley.” You might be asking yourself such questions as:  What will it be like to enter the seminary, to leave my parents, my siblings, my friends, my dream of having an ideal family, finding the love of my life, abandoning a successful career as_______________________.  Will the things that light up my life now still be a part of my life as a seminarian, a postulant, a novice, a professed member of a religious community?  Will I be able to give up those things? Will I be able to live without them and still be happy?

Imagine yourself meeting the man/woman of your dreams.  All that matters to you now is building a life together with that person.   Fear of the “dark valley” does not enter your mind. You have each other, love each other, trust each other, believe in each other. Those of you called to become women/men religious, priests of God, the One persistently calling you to the priesthood or to religious life is the Lord Himself. He believes in you, loves you, trusts you, wants, above all, that you be His partner for life.

Those of us who have answered the call did so because the Person to whom we committed our lives and who chose us is the Lord, the one who called Mary’s name at the empty tomb, the one who, through the angel Gabriel called Mary to be His Mother and said to her “Be not afraid. You have found favor with God.” The One persistently calling you is saying the same thing to you. As the psalmist says in Psalm 23, He is “at your side…With…[His]rod and…[His] staff that give …[you] courage.”

What is blocking that courage? Who is challenging your resolve? Talk to the Lord about the answer to both of those questions and seek His advice!

 

 

 

Discernment--Psalm 23

DISCERNMENT: PSALM 23

In Psalm 23, the Lord is my Shepherd, we are reminded that, because God shepherds us, “we shall not want.”  In walking away from God’s will for us personally—whether that be the call to marriage, to religious life, to priesthood, to the diaconate or the single life, or any choice of lesser significance—is it that we fear being wanting, that we will lack essential needs, that we will be malnourished in the essence of what it means to be human, to live a full life?

I suggest that we take some time to reflect upon our fears and get in touch with answers to the following question: What do you think you will lack if:

1.      You enter religious life

2.      You enter the seminary

3.      You begin the diaconate program

4.      You say “yes” to this one woman/man whom you believe God is calling you to commit  your life in faith, hope and love

5.      You commit to the single life, giving all of your time, talent, and energy to a professional career and/or a ministry in the church that builds a better world and one that lives according to God’s decrees

 

 

Discernment: Six Ways to Discover My Vocation

Discernment: Jonah's Way

Discernment:  In today’s first reading, Jonah 1: 1-2: 2, 11, we read about Jonah running away from the Lord, who had commissioned him to go to Nineveh, to “preach against it” because “their wickedness has come up before me.”  Jonah connects with a ship going to Tarshish in an effort to escape the Lord’s will.  A violent storm erupts and the ship is about to sink.  The crew is frantic. Jonah is sound asleep in “the hold of the ship.”  He knows why the storm has erupted and admits to running from the Lord.  To save everyone, the crew tosses Jonah off the ship. Everything calms down. Jonah is swallowed up by a whale for three days and three nights.  At God’s commands, the whale coughs him up on the shore of Nineveh!  God’s will prevails! We really do not escape carrying out God’s commands, though we may certainly attempt to do so. 

Part of discerning the will of God in our lives is learning to listen to the turbulence, the discomfort, the tempests that rise up.  There is a reason!  When we are running away from the Lord like Jonah had been, we do know why we run into stormy weather, so to speak.  And, if we do not know, those around us do, as did the crew.  It simply calls for honesty on our part and on the part of those involved in our lives at the time.  Sometimes, however, a turbulence is simply a turbulence and it is not connected to us being off course with our God any more than Jesus was off course when he clashed with the Pharisees, the Sadducees and teachers of His day. How did Jesus know? He knew because He and the Father were of one heart, one mind, one soul and every day He conversed with His Father.  We, too, will know as Jesus knew as we grow in intimacy with the Lord, taking time daily to commune with God our Father.

Discernment of God's Will

Discernment:  Discernment involves knowing when we are in sync or out of sync  with God’s will.   In  Ezra 6: 7-8, 12, 14-20, we read about how the Jews, having returned to Jerusalem following their exile in Babylon, rebuilt the Temple at God’s command and through the cooperation of the pagan king Cyrus and Darius, the encouragement of the prophets and financial help of the Persian empire.   All worked together to bring about the will of God for the good of the Chosen People, the People of God.  The Jews needed to recognize that God used even their pagan neighbors and those who imposed exile upon them , those whom they perceived as their enemies, to communicate His will and bring about His plans for their salvation.   In our day, we, too, need to be open to everyone and everything as an instrument in God’s hand to reveal what He is asking of us. This was drove home to me this morning. Five minutes into my hour of prayer, the fire alarm blared through the building. All were escorted to one “safe” place.  Ten minutes later, thinking all was clear, I returned to chapel, only to be called back to the “safe” place for another 30 minutes.  My hour of prayer was, to say the least, disrupted and basically close to its conclusion. I am boiling inside when, all of a sudden, the Lord says to me in the quiet of my heart:  “My will for you this morning is to be respectful of procedures put in place to keep the residents of this facility safe and to let go of idolatrizing your scheduled routine.” 

Be attentive today to how God communicates His will to you, through whom and through what circumstances of your life.  We may be clinging to our will and not seeking God’s will.  A clue might be how strongly you react to something or someone. Behind that reaction, if you probe deeply enough, you might find that which you, too, need to let go of in submission to God’s holy will!

Discernment: Is my life conformed to God's will for me?

 Discernment:  One of the most potent sources of knowing whether or not I am living a life that is in sync with God’s will is presented by St. Paul in Colossians 3: 1-11.  St. Paul clearly spells out what it means to live as a Christian, that is, as a person who has died and rose with Christ, as a person living life according to the will of God.  What criteria, so to speak, does Paul give us?  Put in a question form, Paul  is asking whether I am living a morally impeccable life.  Am I living a life of purity, honesty, serenity and peace; or, on the contrary, are my choices impure, immoral, dishonest and driven by feelings of annoyance, frustration, anger, or outrageous fury?  Am I building others up or tearing them down? Am I lying to myself and thus to others? Does obscene language dominate my thoughts and spill out into my speech?  Honestly answering those questions will give me the answer to the question: Am I in the process of bringing my life into sync with God’s will for me?

Discernment: Four Essential Practices

In his video made for World Youth Day, Fr. James Martin, S.J. breaks down four essential practices to discover your vocation, and I quote:

1.      Don’t wait for a flashing neon sign. While slogging through the daily routine of discovering one’s vocation, there may exist the misconception of waiting for a call. While some of our great saints have received direction in the form of visions and voices, waiting for a supernatural calling is neither the typical nor expected way to discern.

2.     You already have a vocation! We are made to be holy, happy, and to serve God. This may or may not mean a vocation to religious life, but we all have a vocation to become the best, holiest version of ourselves. This means we can banish the fear or trepidation that “I may have a vocation!” and instead realize that only by discovering our vocation will we be at peace.

3.     Don’t be hasty to disregard desire. Often, desire is confused with our selfish and shallow wants, but it’s much more than that – it is the key to who we are and what we are meant to become. In Fr. Martin’s own life, it was attraction towards service and the sacraments, which helped him understand his religious vocation. Through the deep desires of the heart, God calls us to a life which glorifies Him. To follow the desires of our heart, one must first set aside the shallow wants which lay on the surface to distract.

4.     Interpretation is needed — so pray for understanding. The path to Christ’s fulfillment is rarely clear-cut. St. Ignatius of Loyola said, “pray to understand your desires.” God speaks through peace and joy, but it can take time for emotions and distractions to settle, so to speak. Ask yourself what really gives you joy. Do not be discouraged if it takes time to recognize what holy desires God has placed on your heart. Learn from St. Augustine who said, “Our hearts are restless O Lord, until they rest in you.”