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26.08.2018 00:18:24 1670x read.
INSPIRATION
DISCERNMENT.

DISCERNMENT


In daily life, we must make decision very often. In personal affairs, we make decision for moving to another profession or to accept a riskfull job etc. Very often we have to discern carefully, which decision we should take. In many cases, we have to look for the ‘pros’ and the ‘cons’ very clearly, depending on the importance of the decision. ‘Discernment’ is a very human activity: sometime it is very deep and should be done very cautiously, sometime it is done without too much rational consideration. In the spiritual life, we need to do it more carefully.

Mat 19: 24-30 can help us to learn to discern: which decision we should make, since it has very deep consequence in our life. Here we have to decide, which side do we have to take: God’s side or the side of the world, keeping our money instead of following Jesus.  Discernment is defined as “the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure; an act of perceiving something; a power to see what is not evident to the average mind.” The definition also stresses accuracy, as in “the ability to see the truth.” Spiritual discernment is the ability to tell the difference between truth and error. It is basic to having deep wisdom.

 

Our Mother Mary has shown us, how she has made a discernment, when the angel ask her, to be the Mother of the Saviour. She has looked for informations, in order that she can make the right discernment. But it was also clear, that the Holy Spirit has helped her, through pouring the grace into her.

Jesus, speaking to His disciples about the Pharisees, said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:11). God must shed light on the human mind to enable us to understand Him and make the right decision in life: through wisdom. It is impossible to attain wisdom without God.

Spiritual discernment ultimately has to do with wisdom and the ability to distinguish the Will of God from our own Will or the Will of the World. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is “wisdom from God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Therefore, wisdom, or spiritual discernment, is something that comes from our being near to Jesus Christ. The world’s way of getting wisdom is different from God’s way. The learned of the world gain knowledge and apply reason to knowledge to solve problems, construct buildings and create philosophies. But God does not make the knowledge of Himself available by those means. We learn to be spiritually discerning by knowing Him.

It is not wrong to possess knowledge or have an education, and it is not wrong to use reason and logic to solve problems. However, spiritual discernment cannot be attained that way. It must be given by the revelation of Jesus Christ to the believer, and then developed by way of training in righteousness (Hebrews 5:14) and prayer (Philippians 1:9). Hebrews 5:11-14 shows how spiritual discernment is developed. The mature Christian must be “trained by constant practice to distinguish the good from evil.” The keys, according to this passage, are becoming skilled in the Word of God (by which we define righteousness) and “constant practice” (through which we gain experience).

So, how does one increase spiritual discernment? First, recognizing that God is the only one who can increase wisdom, pray for it (James 1:5Philippians 1:9). Then, knowing the wisdom to distinguish good from evil comes by training and practice, go to the Bible to learn the truth and, by meditation on the Word, reinforce the truth.

This is what Christians must do to develop spiritual discernment. We must know the authentic so well that, when the false appears, we can recognize it. By knowing and obeying the Word of God, we will be “trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” We will know God’s character and will. This is the heart of spiritual discernment – being able to distinguish the voice of the world from the voice of God, to have a sense that “this is right” or “this is wrong.” Spiritual discernment fends off temptation and allows us to “hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9).

 

Spiritual Discernment can be used also in making decision, what profession we should embrace and which person we would like to choose. The key to choose the right person lies partly in the person of our decision, partly in the motivation, that moves our decision. The right person to be chosen: we have tried to know through the criteria that we can made. But the motivation of our decision lies in our heart and soul. To make a sound discernment, it advisable that we are accompanied by a spiritual partner or leader, in order to help us to avoid egoism or materialism or any vices, hidden in our mind and heart.

Let us ask ourselves: is it the Holy Spirit, that moves us to make this or that decision? Or is it our egotism, individual or communal, that are hidden in our reasoning ?   

By. Fr. Bernard Mardiatmadja, SJ.








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