Tag: God

Some Thoughts on Discernment

Published on by Jennifer LindnerLeave a comment

For a long while, I used the word “discernment” incorrectly. Does this resonate with you? I used to think it refers to the ability to make thoughtful decisions—to judge well or gain a better understanding of a situation. Now, however, I see that it points to something much deeper. Discernment in fact infuses every aspect of our relationship with God. 

Discernment is not only our ability to hear God’s voice, but also to listen to Him. The Lord invites us to be obedient to His call so that we may answer Him and ultimately enter into an ever deeper love with Him. As early Church Father Origen tells us, “God doesn’t not want to impose the good, but wants free beings….No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even ourselves” (CCC 2847). Indeed, in order to discern God’s will for us, we must be able, have the liberty to, love Him. “We can only love in freedom, which is why the Lord created us free, free even to say no to Him” (Pope Francis, December 7, 2022). One may think, “I would never say no to God.” But is that so? Do we always accept our struggles as invitations to grow in friendship with God? And “between [our] trials,” so that we may grow and mature in our faith, do we surrender to the Holy Spirit who calls us to “discern” how to reorder ourselves to Him (CCC 2847)? Only if we are able to actually deny God can we whole-heartedly assent to His love for us, which is ever-present and always precedes our denial.  

Discernment is greater than our ability to merely understand God. It is the awareness that in our relationship with Him, the Lord asks everything of us. How we listen and respond will ultimately determine the degree to which we discern well and love Him completely.

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-12/pope-francis-general-audience-discernment-confirmation.html

Friar Wisdom, Fifth Sunday of Lent

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Rembrandt, Christ Preaching, c. 1652

On Sunday, March 17, 2024, on their Godsplaining podcast, Fathers Gregory Pine, O.P., Patrick Briscoe, O.P., and Joseph-Anthony Kress, O.P., discussed in Lectio format the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. The following is a transcript of Father Kress’s comments regarding the Gospel reading from John 12:20-33. (The full episode appears below.) Here Father inspiringly discusses how God not only reveals the Paschal Mystery to us in the life and Passion of Jesus, but how we are called to participate in this Mystery as well. By uniting ourselves with Christ’s suffering, we enter into an ever-deepening relationship with Jesus and the Father–one that is continually nourished and renewed by the outpouring and receiving of love that can only come from God.

The Lord’s gives Himself totally in His willingness to enter into this mystery—[the Paschal Mystery]. Our lives need to have elements of [this], if not totally imitate [this] full union of sacrifice with the Lord. Using the image of the seed falling to the ground in order to die to bring forth that new life, the Lord is [saying] destruction isn’t the final answer. It [death] doesn’t have the final word. Destruction and death aren’t terminal. There is going to be new life from this. It seems poetic and romanticized, but He says, “No, no. Look around you in nature. This has always been my plan. Always. New life comes from death. It doesn’t have the final word.” 

I go back to the words, “Then a voice came from heaven” (Jn 12:28). “The crowd heard it and said it was thunder” (Jn 12:29), then others called it an angel. It was the voice of the Father, who said, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again” (Jn 12:28). I’ve done it. And I’ll do it again. That phrase, “I will glorify it again.” How is the Father’s name repeatedly glorified? It’s by each and every one of us uniting in our sufferings and our deaths in this life to the death of His son. He has glorified His name by revealing His Son to us and allowing His Son to redeem us. That did happen. He did that. He has glorified His name in His Son, Jesus Christ. And He will do it again and continues to be glorified with each and every one of us, uniting us—our lives, our sufferings—to the Cross of Jesus Christ. [God] ultimately unites our deaths to [Jesus’s] death in order to bring forth resurrection. So that promise, that is a promise from the voice of the Father that [He] will glorify again. It’s our repeated glorification of the Father in His name by our union with Jesus in His life, death, and resurrection into the Paschal Mysteries. 

Living in Right Order as a Family

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“Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has had grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged” (2 Col 3:12-21).

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. We are called to look to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, each holy and perfected, as the example of how to lead our lives in community devoted to God. In addition to the Holy Family, today’s Second Reading presents instructions for how to live with others in right order. With Christ at the center of all we do, we are to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient, and forgiving. We are to be thankful and lovingly correct one another. We are to honor the natural hierarchical order of the family. Rather than an arena of power struggles and contentiousness, this order, based on mutual respect and love, promotes encouragement, freedom, and the love of God.

At a time when the family is under attack; when chaos undermines the very foundation of male and female; and when the culture actively seeks to destroy life, taint childhood, and turn parents and children against one another, we are called to turn to the Holy Family for guidance and reassurance. Before Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the three children of Fatima, died, she declared that the final battle between Christ and Satan would be over marriage and family. “The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan,” she wrote, “will be about marriage and the family.” She added, however, that “Our Lady has already crushed Satan’s head.”

As individuals as well as members of families and communities, let us look to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Regardless of what the culture tells us, let us remain faithful to their example of communal holiness, connected through faith and devotion to God and who he calls us to be.

What Kind of Culture?

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What kind of culture are we creating? Pay attention to language. Many are using words like “compassion,” “kindness,” “fairness,” and even “freedom” to describe and explain the social actions and laws they are promoting.

But do not be deceived. These words are meant to confuse. They are meant to lull us into an ignorant sleep where we believe we are doing good. We are not. Affirming these movements is to contribute to lies.

We cannot obtain freedom through victimization. We cannot affirm kindness through killing. We cannot uphold liberty and life through death. It is not possible, because God in His goodness and seeking of truth only promotes life.

These are indeed dark times. But we can be grateful that we see them for what they are so that we might look for the light and share it with others.

Go out and proclaim life.