Dear Reader,

 In our freedom, we face many decisions. There are several paths or theories to our praxis that seem as good as most, but few of them will make you a saint. To be a Christian in the fullest sense of the term we are called to prioritize what God wants for us instead of what we think is best. As Christians, God's existence, then His power, knowledge, and love, then this application to our lives ought to take priority in our lives. We turn from evil, then choose virtue, and then we are free to "Seek His Face". Once we are chasing after the greatest possible reality, not just avoiding the worst and not just choosing one that "will work as good as many others", we are free to discern God's will and we will seek His will over ours because He knows what is truly good from the ultimate perspective and He indeed wills it. St. Ignatius was the foremost Saint in directing the aspiring saint through this process of discernment. Begin with the video below as an introduction to this perspective and then continue for further help.

Praise God for this need and/or desire on your heart,

Vivat Agnus Dei Team 

Preparation to Free and Receptive Disposition

The 4th Part of the Catechism is especially concerned with prayer, and it is not until we develop a mature understanding of prayer that we are able to understand what discernment looks like.

It is highly encouraged that if a decision is life-altering that a point is made to spend significant time in prayer about it and a spiritual director is sought out to help make the decision. In day-to-day decisions, there still may be a choice that God encourages over the other, and some he simply leaves to us. Through cultivating a heart of prayer i.e. of constant attention to the relationship with God we can grow to be more sensitive to the movements of the Holy Spirit. Ignatian retreats are a privileged means of discernment. The exercises are linked below but for our purposes here we will also carry over some of the text to give you a brief and practical taste, but if you go further there is also the link.

The Process Itself

First Considerations and Orientation

When asking the question of what God has in mind for me and my life...

1. We first look to Scripture, Magisterium, and Tradition

   1. Our whole being is oriented toward knowing, loving, and serving God.

   2. God has laid his laws before us to protect the harmony of His creation without us and within us. 

      1. These laws are the universal direction He calls us. If there is any question that might differentiate between good and evil, by the standards of law and conscience we ought to always choose the good.

   3. Each of us, from our conception, was given a mission, a purpose only we can fulfill.

      1. Some aspects of this mission are universal, the call to love, to spread the kingdom of God, to be a light to the world, etc.

      2. Some aspects have to do with how the latter is expressed is permanence.

      3. Some aspects have to do with our state in life (being a student, an employee of a given of company, a child, a parent)

      4. Some aspects concern the transition from state to state.

      5. All of these aspects have implications in the present moment that can largely be understood through self-knowledge and reason and tuned by prayer. However, sometimes we must look beyond these considerations or perhaps more into these considerations. 

2. Next, we look to virtue

   1. If there is ever a question between two goods and one is clearly greater,

      1. God calls us to the greatest possible good i.e. usually an expression of love.

      2. We might remember that our first parents in wandering about the garden of Eden found themselves tempted to the edge of good and evil. This ought to be avoided.

   2. Very often, what keeps us from greater virtue is either ignorance of the virtues or ignorance of the self.

      1. From our corruption and ignorance, virtue can seem other and oppressively so. The reality, however, is that a healed and informed would reveal to us that it is truly what we desire i.e. inner harmony, mental health, peace, and freedom of choice. 

      2. It is not the absence of a good but rather a presence of ordered engagement with the good in harmony and toward perfection, a conformity with realities.

   3. Next, to our personal relationship with God

      1. We have moved from the general to the particular, having established order in our lives through God's grace and direction from His inspiration of Saints and Scriptural authors, we have opened ourselves up to and become more familiar with the voice of God.

      2. If we are to continue, we must dedicate a significant amount of time in silence, familiarize ourselves with Scripture, very frequently receive the sacraments.

      3. Having conformed our lives to his general intent we can begin to inquire more about His specific ordaining will for us in particular. Bearing this in mind and habit, we continue...

First Principle and Foundation of Discernment (St. Ignatius)

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for which he is created. Hence, man is to make use of them in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end, and he must rid himself of them in as far as they prove a hindrance to him. Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition. Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life. The same holds for all other things. Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.

Discernment between Two or More Equally Opportune Goods

This process depends entirely on insights given (or not given) by God and discussed with a Spiritual Director. There are only the three general possibilities here...

1. God gives unmistakable clarity.

2. God gives clarity over time

3. God does not give an clarity

Find a Spiritual Director

There is a singular verse in the Catechism of the Catholic Church on spiritual direction (its the one below). This is significant because it matters who you choose. For the Carmelite, they took this very seriously, and rightfully so when your life at large is synonymous with your prayer life. More often than not, the diocese will keep a list of spiritual directors to choose from to help you out. In general, you will want to look for someone who is capable of understanding you, allowing God to be the sole advisor, and still calling you higher where needed.

CCC 2690 The Holy Spirit gives to certain of the faithful the gifts of wisdom, faith, and discernment for the sake of this common good which is prayer (spiritual direction). Men and women so endowed are true servants of the living tradition of prayer.

According to St. John of the Cross, the person wishing to advance toward perfection should "take care into whose hands he entrusts himself, for as the master is, so will the disciple be, and as the father is so will be the son." And further: "In addition to being learned and discreet a director should be experienced. . . . If the spiritual director has no experience of the spiritual life, he will be incapable of leading into it the souls whom God is calling to it, and he will not even understand them."

It is also worth noting that you should first dicuss your sins and troubles rather than that which is working well, but don't leave it out.