Thank you for taking time to review the recap of Session 8- Discerning God's Call in your life: Profile of a Discerning Life: The Moment of Mission. If this is your first time viewing the blog- Welcome- we're so glad you're here. Please take note of previous sessions as they lay the foundation for the topics discussed in the recap of Session 10. Note also the updates on certain sections of the blog- specifically the "Culminating Service Project" and "Join the Celebration". We're down to the home-stretch here, so please be sure to pick up your travel-sized donations for our hygiene kits and join us on March 29th to pack the kits up.
To augment your Lenten season, please visit our Good Shepherd Prayer Blog. This is a place to post your prayers and know that a community of faith is lifting them up to God. Visit the blog to get all the particulars on joining us for prayer at Good Shepherd on Sunday evenings as well as our 48 hour vigil during Holy Week. "Thank you" to Chuck Bristol for following your heart in leading this ministry.
To augment your Lenten season, please visit our Good Shepherd Prayer Blog. This is a place to post your prayers and know that a community of faith is lifting them up to God. Visit the blog to get all the particulars on joining us for prayer at Good Shepherd on Sunday evenings as well as our 48 hour vigil during Holy Week. "Thank you" to Chuck Bristol for following your heart in leading this ministry.
If you are seeking a community of faith- you are most welcome to join us! We would love the opportunity know you. For more information about who we are- please see our website-www.goodshepherdvancouver.org. Whether you're in the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington area or far away, please continue to grow in faith with us by checking our blog as we discover more about developing a discerning heart through the lessons of St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Holy Scriptures.
Just a reminder, for the remainder of Lent we will be examining the Practice of Discernment as it applies to our daily lives. This session focusing on the Moment of Mission ( and the previous session of Communion and Commitment), will help you to develop your own "profile" of a discerning life. While there is no one way of living a discerning life, there are people whose life stories reveal what might be called a 'profile of a discerning life'. For Christians, Jesus Christ's life is the ideal example of discernment. Using discernment as a lens through which to view the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus will always add to one's understanding of response to the Spirit's presence and action (Smith and Merz, 2006). As Ignatius has taught us- "Your personal relationship with God must be lived in the world and derived through a process of continual prayer, reflection, and action." The relationships that God has placed in our lives are the experiential context through which we see God. By examining other peoples "stories", listening and observing where they have encountered Christ, we can be more alert to the action of God in our own lives.
Your growing sense of consciousness of discernment can guide you as you more through the Moments of Communion, Commitment, and Mission. Congruence with the qualities found in those moments confirm the authenticity of your discerning ways and refine your appreciation of discernment. Discovering and choosing God's will occasions within you the gifts of compassion, charity, freedom, generosity, peace, joy, hope, decisiveness, and faith. The ways and values of Jesus will become apparent as you lead a life of discernment. (Smith and Merz, 2006).
As we grow in our ability to discern God's call in our lives, it is important to reflect upon how God might ask us to act on His behalf. If we are truly striving to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to do His will and follow Him such that we will experience His presence in our lives and in turn, be "Christ" to those around us. When we finally cooperate with God's will, we discover that we have become persons who have been radically changed and have turned from living according to our own will and wisdom. God's will and wisdom is manifested now by the Spirit at work in the minds and hearts of believers. Faith and trust in God's loving will for the world grounds our confidence as we discern the actions for justice to which the Spirit leads us (Smith and Merz, 2006).
Let's examine more closely the Moment of Mission~
Faith
Discernment builds upon the belief that a provident God guides our lives. Discernment provides a faith-based way of making decisions that are in harmony with God's desires for the world and for ourselves. Having discerned a decision, we must implement it in faith (Smith and Merz, 2006).
Ignatian Insight
"The First Time is an occasion when God our Lord moves and attracts the will in such a way that a devout person, without doubting or being able to doubt, carries out what was proposed." (Spiritual Exercises, 175).
Scriptural Insight
"Then Jesus answered her, 'Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish'. And her daughter was healed instantly" (Matthew 15:28).
"I have prayed for you that your won faith may not fail; and you once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:23).
"For by grace you have been saved by faith, and this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God'" (Ephesians 2:8).
Reflection Questions
- Has my understanding of faith moved from being only an acceptance of truths to a trusting relationship with God as a person?
- What have the major decisions of my life said about my faith?
- Am I aware of a shift to making assessments about life not only from a human perspective but also from a faith perspective?
- In what area of my life is my faith being challenged? What am I doing with the doubts that I have?
- Who are my friends in faith?
- Who has modeled a faith-filled life for me?
- What role did faith play in bringing you to Good Shepherd?
- Do we find opportunities to share faith in a prayerful setting with each other?
- Does our shared experience nourish and challenge our faith?
- How much effort am I making to integrate my faith into my decisions and actions regarding family, church, national, and world justice issues?
Discernment of spirits is a process guided by the Spirit. Jesus Christ, present now through the action and gifts of his Spirit, shows us how to be attentive to, but not burdened by, seeking God's will in daily life. The grace and gift of discernment also helps us to recognize influences which are not of God (Smith and Merz, 2006).
Ignatian Insight
"Once he (Ignatius) was going out of devotion to a church situated a little more than a mile from Manresa...and the road goes by the river. As he went along occupied with his devotions, he sat down for a little while with his face toward the river which ran down below. While he was seated there, the eyes of his understanding began to be opened; not that he saw any vision, but understood and learned many things, both spiritual matters and matters of faith and of scholarship and this with so great an enlightenment that everything seemed new to him. The details that he understood then, though there were many, cannot be stated, but only that he experienced a great clarity in his understanding. This was such that in the whole course of his life, after completing sixty-two years, even if he gathered up all the various helps he may have had from God and all the various things he has known, even adding them all together, he does not think he had got as much as at that one time" (Autobiography, 30).
Scriptural Insight
"The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:2).
"This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you'" (John 14:17).
"This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you'" (John 14:17).
"By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit" (1 John 4:13)
Reflection Questions
- What does it mean to me to be filled with or to experience the Spirit?
- How are the gifts of the Holy Spirit operative in my life?
- What is my usual reaction to feeling "blank, or dry, or confused, or without understanding? Is trust in the Spirit a part of that reaction?
- What patterns and thoughts indicate to me that I am open to the Spirit? Led by the Spirit?
- What environmental conditions seem necessary for me to be attentive to the Spirit in myself and in others?
- What is my reaction when I am in the presence of someone who clearly is attentive to the Spirit?
- In what ways do I reverence the Spirit in another person?
- Do we as a church, ask the Spirit to guide our conversations and deliberations?
- What qualities characterize our interactions when the Spirit is active and heeded?
- Am I growing in a consciousness that the Spirit is always creating and re-creating the world?
- What global issues seem to be ones in which the Spirit is always creating and re-creating?
In a world crying out for just women and men who do the just thing, discernment must play a critical role. Discernment helps us to be attentive to the movements of consolation and desolation so that we can choose the option for justice that will give glory to God and also keep us grounded in our personal Christian identity (Smith and Merz, 2006).
Ignatian Insight
"To ask for interior knowledge of all the great good I have received, in order that, stirred to profound gratitude, I may become able to love and serve the Divine Majesty in all things" (Spiritual Exercises, 233).
"There is not sufficient time to do everything" (Spiritual Exercises, 233).
Scriptural Insight
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.' I said, 'Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, I am only a boy.' The Lord said to me, 'Do not say, "I am only a boy"; you shall go to all to whom I sen you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you...Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you....to pluck up and to pull down , to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant" (Jeremiah 1:4-10).
"Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute" (Psalm 82:3).
"If you amend your ways...act justly one with another, do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood...then I will dwell with you forever and ever" (Jeremiah 7:5-7).
"Do you love me?" And [Peter]said to [Jesus], "Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep" (John 21:17).
Reflection Questions
- Has my justice grown to include mercy and compassion?
- In my conern for justice, how do I move from sentiments and words to faithful action?
- What is my motivation for joining others in actions for justice?
- How Do my family adn work circumstances call me to act for justice?
- What have been the implications for justice in the decisions we have made as a parish in the last six months?
- Are we as a church becoming more just in our actions?
- What local injustices bother us enough to move us to some action?
- What openness do I need in order to understand how injustice can inhabit the systmes of which I am a part?
- Is justice the lens I use to view other races, classes, and world events?
Effective discernment is often dependent upon the quality and adequacy of the information that is gathered and reflected upon for the sake of making connections and seeing relationships among facts. With a full understanding of adequate data, the discerning person can make judgments that are appropriate, timely and just (Smith and Merz, 2006).
Ignatian Insight
"As the pilgrim was about to set out (for his native air), he learned that he had been accused before the inquisitor, with a case brought against him. Knowing this but seeing that they did not summon him, he went to the inquisitor and told him what he had heard...Would he please pass sentence. The inquisitor said it was true there was an accusation, but that he did not find anything of importance in it...nevertheless, Ignatius again insisted that the case be carried through to the sentence. As the inquisitor excused himself, he (Ignatius) brought a public notary and witnesses to his house, and obtained a testimonial on this whole affair" (Autobiography, 86).
"It should be presupposed that every good Christian ought to be more eager to put a good interpretation on a neighbor's statement than to condemn it. Further, if one cannot interpret it favorable, one should as how the other means it. If that meaning is wrong should correct the person with love; and if this is not enough, one should search out every appropriate means through which, by understanding the statement in a good way, it may be saved" (Spiritual Exercises, 22).
Scriptural Insight
"It should be presupposed that every good Christian ought to be more eager to put a good interpretation on a neighbor's statement than to condemn it. Further, if one cannot interpret it favorable, one should as how the other means it. If that meaning is wrong should correct the person with love; and if this is not enough, one should search out every appropriate means through which, by understanding the statement in a good way, it may be saved" (Spiritual Exercises, 22).
Scriptural Insight
"Solomon loved the Lord...At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, 'Ask what I should give you.' Solomon said, 'You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you' and you have kept for me this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne. And now...you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child' I do not know how to go out or come in/ Your servant cannot be numbered or counted/ give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern you people, able to discern....'" (1 Kings 3:3, 5-10).
"I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans....to give you a future with hope. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord." (Jeremiah 29:11, 13-14).
"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings...Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own...forgetting what lies behind and staining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal...in Christ Jesus...if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you...let us hold fast to what we have attained" (Philippians 3:10-16).
Reflection Questions"I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans....to give you a future with hope. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord." (Jeremiah 29:11, 13-14).
"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings...Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own...forgetting what lies behind and staining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal...in Christ Jesus...if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you...let us hold fast to what we have attained" (Philippians 3:10-16).
- What are the resources for reliable information which I have learned to use?
- Are there some people whom I often turn to reliable information? Why do I do so?
- Am I faithful to attending to the thoughts and feeling which occur as I consider new information? Do I notice an increase in interior freedom as I do so?
- What do I do when information challenges my prior opinions or convictions?
- Consider a relationship- Have we learned to share information freely with each other while also respecting the confidentiality required by other relationships?
- Do we make our decisions based upon full information even when further information may slow our decision making process?
- Are we free enough to ask someone we don't know well for the information we may need?
- Are we open to relevant information that may at first seem foreign to the matter we are discerning?
- In light of our varied gifts, what distinct role does each of us play in gathering, reviewing, and assessing the significance of the information?
- How does my use of the media and electronic resources aid or hinder a careful discernment process?
- Am I ready for a discerned decision that may place me in a counter-cultural stance?
The Moment of Mission we finally cooperate with God's will and discover that we have become persons who have been radically changed and have turned from living according to our own will and wisdom. God's will and wisdom is manifested now by the Spirit at work in the minds and hearts of believers. Faith and trust in God's loving will for the world grounds our confidence as we discern the actions for justice to which the Spirit leads us (Smith and Merz, 2006).
Let us Pray
Lord, grant that in the Moment of Mission we continue to place our faith in God who has created, redeemed, adn sanctified me through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. May we deepen our faith in the Spirit acting within us at the present time and space.. May we be alert for the opportunity to act for jsutice within the circle of my relationships and influence. And finally, grant that we might be open to gathering and reflecting upon all informaiton taht is relevant and available for a decision- so that we might do Your will. All this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
