INTRODUCTION

                What I am proposing you in this document is the result of a work of reflection, of search, of personal prayer on the subject of spiritual discernment.

You will wonder the reason why I propose this theme to the Congregation.

The answer comes easily to me: no Christian formation, either initial or on-going, can exist without a previous deep knowledge of

·   "who am I?"

·   "what do I want?"

·   "what does God want of me?"

·   "what do I want of Him?"

                It is a capital work, the basis of the path of faith to which each of us opened himself and on which each of us wants to build his life as Man, Christian, Religious.

                One’s human and religious identity is a value to be rediscovered every day. All cultures, in the today we are living, are obsessed by the question “who am I?”. This incertitude is visible on the faces of the young and it is hunger for secure identity. An identity which requires to be chosen and protected. Life reveals us that this identity is not something we possess, something we can decide about. It is an answer to an invitation, to an appeal, to a vocation.

When Abraham received his name, he also received the call to leave for a journey. And we discover who we are by following the path of Christ.

I) SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT AS  A JOURNEY OF FAITH

Human existence is full of ambiguities. The challenge of the spiritual discernment is to go through it remaining true to the Gospel. By discerning, a single person or a group intends exactly to seek, in the intricate dynamics of the existence, the traces of the Gospel, the signs of God's presence and the expressions of his will in order to be able to take a decision in accordance with His plan. It is a question asked to God, to know which his plan is, where his glory is; and it's also a question from God, because he is the one who invites us to share in his work of salvation of the world.

GOD MAKES HIM KNOWN BY MANKIND

Is it possible to meet God and to recognise his will? God himself set out his work of creation and of redemption in a way to make him known by the man who is seeking him. Through the greatness and beauty of the things created, he permanently manifests himself to mankind (cf Sap 13,1-15; Rom 1,20); to his Chosen People, whom he himself moulded, he spoke many times and in many ways through the prophets and, in the end, in our times, he sent his Son to make him live among men and explain them his project (cf Heb 1,1-2; Jn 1,1-18).

Christians are called to discern just because God decided to manifest himself in a certain way, that is to say through the incarnation of his Son. This process doesn't make the man passive, but rather gives him the responsibility to seek God in the features of men and to look for the revelation which becomes history: first in the person of Jesus, later in the Church surviving through the ages. Through his Son, God revealed himself, manifested and fully fulfilled the mystery of his will: to make men become, through Christ in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children.

God's plan is ontologically accomplished by means of the faith and of the baptism. Each man shares in the divine nature. The Holy Spirit lives in him like in a temple and accompanies him with an immediate, incessant, vivifying and sanctifying action. The Holy Spirit, therefore, becomes the Law of God written in our heart and becomes the inner master who raises the man to interlocutor of God in a filial relationship, allowing him to know deep in his heart the will of the Father, manifested in Jesus Christ and in his Gospel, to fulfil it and to increasingly grow in his theological life, to reach the full stature of Christ.

Christians, through all their lives, are therefore accompanied by the Holy Spirit who becomes dynamic principle and rule of their acting (cf. Rom 8). The divine Spirit initiates a mysterious dialogue with the human spirit, pledging man to a continuous confrontation and to a constant dynamism of inner transformation which enables to recognise the path traced by God and to follow it. In the process of discernment, a progressive shift from the infancy of faith to the faith of the perfect, mature man is fulfilled.

GOD DISCERNS THE HEART OF MAN

When a man becomes aware of his desire to discern God, God is already at work. He is the one who started the path, who supports the man in search, who keeps on being the fundamental and the root of every spiritual discernment.

Discernment does not consist primarily of man's ascetic effort to achieve God. It is, above all, a gift from God, the manifestation of God's interest towards men. It is not a matter of human longing for God, rather God's love towards men. "Before we choose, we are chosen. Before we reply to love, we are loved and called. Every discernment of God's will recall, first of all, the love that creates, saves and transfigures the world. To discern means to choose the will of him who chooses us. Discernment requires that we let us be discerned by the history of the salvation of the world in Jesus Christ, a history which is much more far-reaching than ours". (N. Hausman scm, Pour discerner spirituellement, en Vie consacrée - ­To spiritually discern, in consecrated Life - 1979, nr. 3, p. 168).

It is God, above all, who discerns the man, his heart: "he tests his kidneys and heart" (cf. Jer 11,20; Ps 7,10) and knows his concealed thoughts, his inner conscience. God is the 'dokimazete tas kardias  hemon', "God who discerns our hearts" ( 1 Thess 2,4) . This is true - as in the Pauline quotation - for the evangelic preacher, but the matter can be extended. God is the one who scans and acts in the person he calls and sends, he is the one who "tests and approves the missionary, inspires and moulds his activity and vouches for the truth of his word" (G. Therrien). The person chosen by God feels himself always tested and acts to please no one but God.

God's attitude of attention and benevolence places itself on the eschatological horizon. God says of himself: "I, the Lord, search the minds and test the hearts of men. I treat each one according to the way he lives, according to what he does" (Jer 17,9-10). The Christian existence is placed between the acceptance of the faith and the imminence of judgement. The life of the single and of the community undergoes God's test, which one must stand. The final judgement is the summary of this test (cf. 1 Cor 3, 13; Jas 1, 12).

If God discerns the human heart, the man himself acts by his discernment to meet God and to be round worthy.

In this way, the human project meets God's project or, to better say, the human project fulfils God's project. "God's dream" becomes true, that is to say to make us 'become God's children", "generated by God" (cf. Jn 1,13), "sharing the divine nature" (cf. 2 Pet 1,4)., "holy and pure in front of him in charity... in his glorious grace... to complete in Christ everything in heaven and on earth" (cf. Eph 1,5-10; C. M. Martini, Dio educa il suo popolo, - God educates his people - Milan 1987, p. 40).

Discernment is linked to the dynamics proper to the act of faith. It is not a mere attitude of prudence, tactics or common sense. It is founded above all on a Christological dimension: to recognise the promised and expected Messiah in the Son of the Creator, the Son of God in the Crucified, to welcome the word as Word or God. It is the capacity to take for wisdom a message which sounds completely fool (cf. 1 Cor 2,14).

To reach such a confession of faith the action of the Holy Spirit is indispensable: "No one can confess 'Jesus is Lord' unless he is guided by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12,3). The confession of faith in Jesus Christ Lord is the point of spread and of convergence of all the accomplishments of discernment. Each reality is evaluated in the light of and according to the judgement of the resurrection of Christ. The whole People of God - the Gaudium et Spes (11) affirms - moved by the faith, discerns the signs of God's presence and plan among the events, the requests and aspirations of men. To discern means therefore to live thoroughly the Christian existence, which indissolubly is faith, hope, charity. Faith as discernment is trusting abandonment in God; hope, as it is search for the Expected; charity, as it is always the rule of the truth to be practised.

PILGRIMS OF GOD

By God's help, discernment becomes a pilgrimage towards God, a passionate search for his will, a path including various manifestations and several stages: it is always history in continuous motion, never peaceful possession. It has no goal to be finally reached: it is always in progress. Each act of discernment leading to a conclusion opens up to a new stage, to a further search.

St Ignatius of Loyola, who considers the spiritual Exercises as a journey of discernment for a choice, says that they are comparable to physical exercises, such as "walking, running"; "all the ways to prepare the spirit to leave all its confused links, and after that, to seek and find God's will, are called spiritual Exercises" (nr. l) The reason of this intense search is that of "choosing what is mostly suitable for the glory of His divine Majesty and for the salvation of my soul" (nr. 152). It is the same tension towards the good which, according to Paul, should characterise Christian life: "I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgement, so that you will be able to choose what is best..." (Phil 1,9-10).

Discernment as pilgrimage is a constant invitation to look at the future, to aim to what has a permanent value in comparison to what has a secondary, transitory nature. It is a "going towards" the final goal, towards God who wants to fully give himself up; it is an incessant widening of one's horizon towards God's horizon, a look at the future according to God's will.

In this pilgrimage God becomes pilgrim with the man. God always accompanies his people: "The Lord alone led his people without the help of a foreign god" (Deut 32,12); "God is the great educator of his people" (C. M. Martini). By trusting him, every hindrance, even the biggest, can be overcome because God is stronger than any difficulty. In this sense, our path of faith has a logical connection with that of Abraham, who "thought that God was able to raise from death" (Heb 11,19).

The image of the pilgrimage recalls that of the spiritual fight (cf. Eph 6,12). It is not possible to go on a pilgrimage towards God unless we enter the mystery of salvation, the fight and the victory of Jesus. The fight of the Crucified, the victory at the cost of his blood, is, for us, source of life. Our flights, our difficulties have already been overcome by Christ Resurrected.

Our task is to discern, in the fatigue of the path, the glory of the peak.

A GRADUAL DISCERNMENT

Spiritual discernment is a constitutive element of the Christian life and of the path towards holiness. In this sense, discernment does not come out of nothing, nor suddenly reaches the summits of perfection. It is rather a journey that increasingly leads us closer to God, that gives us a keener sensitivity in perceiving God's action. It involves the progressive shift from a childlike behaviour to a mature one.

St. Paul, in fact, opposes nèpios to tèleios (cf. 1 Cor 13,11; 14,20).

Nèpios is the child, in the beginnings of his Christian life, in his first shaky steps, in his first confused babbling. Tèleios is the perfect, adult Christian, in whom the germs of baptism developed and reached their fullness. A complex path of growth winds between these two stages.

If discernment in its full form is proper to the 'spirituals', that is to say to the Christians mature in their faith, it represents a goal to reach and it pledges to a growth starting from the 'little and possible'.

The formation of discernment is a permanent formation. The person (and the group) keeps on growing, open to new stages of maturity, to new experiences, to new events. Growth stops only when there is nothing new to acquire, to understand, to test, to decide. But this is not for earthly life.

There is a time when we are called to make a more intense exercise of discernment; it is when we must take on our responsibilities in front of God, of the Church, of the society; it is when a certain choice gives a new direction to our life. But also later, through all our existence, we will have to cope with messages and questions requiring us to take a position in order to decide in an evangelic way. To welcome faith and to follow Christ means to accept to get involved in a permanent dynamics of spiritual discernment, doesn't it?

'Permanent' also means that discernment is not limited to extraordinary situations requiring a special commitment, but is extended to the daily events oriented towards Christ. We could distinguish between a discernment as 'urgency', when the Christian mobilises all his spiritual resources facing a decisive choice, and a 'diffuse' discernment, as lifestyle, as spontaneous theological attitude and moral commitment.

Therefore, to form to discernment means, above all, to start from the person's stage of evangelic growth, from his own experience. We might need to recall the non-thematic discernment already experienced. How did we behave in front of certain motions, wishes, messages, decisions? To what extent did we rely on the word of God? Which was the confrontation with the evangelic requests? Which reading of faith did we adopt for our life? Which fruits did we reap in a certain option?

To become aware of the already made non-thematic experiences enables us to better behave for the future and to open our minds to a deeper discernment. Then, the gradual formation to discernment must plan the further step, a step which has to be practically feasible. We are not required to do too much or too little, but to try our best through our spiritual energies, always animated by magis and by self-overcoming.

Such a path involves all the aspects of the Christian personality and creates the conditions necessary for a true discernment: spiritual freedom, renunciation of egoism as choice standard, love for Christ, life of prayer, gift of the self, missionary élan.

Gradually, we go towards a maturity in Christ, and Christ himself is welcome as principle of inner unity and as inspiring motif of every guidance.

II) SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT BETWEEN GOSPEL AND HISTORY

To discern is an evangelic requirement. And the focal object of discernment is the person of Jesus. To this regard, Jesus admonished severely: "When you see a cloud coming up in the west, at once you say that it is going to rain - and it does. And when you feel the south wind blowing, you say that it is going to get hot - and it does. Hypocrites! You can look at the earth and the sky and predict the weather, why, then, don't you know the meaning of this present time? (Lk 12,54-56; cf. Mt 16,2-3).

In correspondence with the capacity of predicting the weather, Jesus sets a new capacity: that of discerning the time (kairos) or the signs of the times (semeia ton kairon). It's the time-event, the eschatological era as time of God anticipated in the present, and therefore is the time to decide to accept the offer of reconciliation with God, in Jesus Christ, manifested by the Messiah in the Gospel.

DISCERNMENT OF THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

By offering the image of a Church that moves among mankind, meets the joys and pains of the men, Vatican II insisted on the need for discernment. The People of God is above all called to perceive God's plan in the events: "The People of God, moved by the faith and sure to be guided by the Holy Spirit who fills the Universe, tries to discern the true signs of God's presence and plan among the events, the needs and aspirations to which it takes part together with the other men of our times. The faith, actually, brings a new light and reveals God's intentions about the integral vocation of men and therefore leads intelligence towards fully human solutions" (GS 11).

Spiritual discernment means openness to the times, in order to be able to look at it by the eyes of God: "It is a must for the whole people of God, first of all for the pastors and for the theologians, helped by the Spirit, to carefully listen to, to discern and to interpret the various ways of speaking of our times, and to be able to judge them in the light of the Word of God, so that the revealed truth can be better understood and presented in a more suitable form" (GS 44).

To discern the signs of the times gives the Church and all the Christians the possibility to mark history by vivifying it with faith and charity: "The Church must permanently inquire the signs of the times and interpret them in the light of the Gospel so that, in a way proper to each generation, she can answer to the everlasting questions of mankind on the sense of the present and future life and on their mutual relation. It is actually necessary to know and comprehend the world around us, its expectations, its aspirations and its often dramatic nature" (GS 4).

ATTENTION TO THE NEWNESS OF GOD

Spiritual discernment is, at the same time, attention to God and attention to mankind, to its events in history, to the newness that God arouses in history. It has to face two challenges: do not restrain the Holy Spirit; do not believe all those who claim to have the Spirit.

This is what the New Testament teaches by the words of Paul: "Do not restrain the Spirit; do not despise inspired messages. Put all things to the test (panta de dokimazete), keep what is good" (1 Thess 5,19-21) and by the words of John: "My dear friends, do not believe all who claim to have the Spirit, but test them (dokimazete ta pneumata) to find out if the spirit they have comes from God" (1 Jn 4,1).

The first requirements are respect for God, attention to his Word, docility to his will, and then respect for the events, for history, for the developments of the facts concerning persons, groups, populations.

In this sense, we can say that discernment is placed in that 'contemplative dimension of life' which is the soul of each believer and, in particular, of those who profess to live for God, beloved above all.

It is a matter of contemplating God not only in himself, but in all the things and events he arouses and supports by his providence.

Discernment is therefore the sign of that sapiental maturity that is capacity to see the human reality from God's point of view. Deep-rooted in God, it is possible to see and listen to every single reality with evangelical, critical attitude and to discern the various voices which try to overwhelm. Thus, one is able to grasp the newness the Spirit arouses in our hearts and in our lives: "Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already - you can see it now!" (Is 43,19).

RELIGIOUS LIFE.  ITINERARY OF DISCERNMENT

Religious life is characterised especially by attention to God and fidelity to history. It is a path and a service of holiness. But this path, and this service, pass through mankind's history and though ever new emergencies which require new answers and new spiritual decisions.

"To follow Jesus" means to follow an itinerary beginning with a call and gradually coming true in the shift from idolatry to faith, from possession to entrusting, in an incessant rediscovery of the image by which Christ, today, manifests himself in the Church and in the men of our times. He is the same 'old' Christ, but he is also the eternally present: "Christus heri, hodie et in saecula", as the Church gets it written on the Paschal candle in the holy night.

He is the same Christ, but he is, but he is talking today, is calling today and must be recognised today.

Vatican II stressed that the charism of the religious Institutes is kept alive by the grace of the Holy Spirit and by the commitment of an endless renewal. This renewal, according to Perfectae Caritatis (nr 2), is based on three principles: Gospel, Charism, Times: "The renewal of religious life involves an incessant going-back to the sources of each form of Christian life, to the original spirit of the Institutes and to the changed conditions of the times".

Only discernment can operate the integration of these three principles, a dynamic synthesis eternally open to new developments. Only discernment enables to consider each of these three principles in the light of the other two, avoiding unbalance and unilateralism.

Discernment marks a common path. It is not the exclusive of someone. It's a gift given by the Spirit to the believers as individuals and as Church. Therefore, it must be incessantly invoked, practised and newly rediscovered in order to read everything by the eye of the faith and to answer in the present of God.

Concretely, as far as our Family is concerned, we all must discern personally and as community what the Rule of Life and the General Chapter request.

                I am proposing you some topics which I consider most urgent and necessary in our daily life.

 * We must re-learn to live faithfully to the Gospel, with the help of the Rule of Life which provides us concretely with the means necessary to live the Gospel in our mission and in our community life, in order to find our identity as religious Institute and Church. (see Acts of the General Chapter 1993: reflections on charism)

* We must re-find this profound motivation, in order be able to live, within our religious family, a fraternal life of union, respectful towards persons and works, and to experience, with the Spirit’s gift, the joy of a human, christian, religious life. (Acts of the General Chapter 1993: reflections on consecrated life)

* For this reason, all together, each of us every day must engage himself to discern what I want of me and what the Lord wants of me. This question must necessarily pass through a collective dimension, as well as a personal dimension, because there is no community unless all its members are united to form it. Basically, this truth comes from the personal, original appeal received by Christ and from the personal, original reply given to Christ.

* Eucharist must become, both in personal and community life, the “Centre” which generates our reality as christians and religious, as we are committed to give our lives for the Mission. (Rule of Life 71-72)

* “The Church is launching in the New Evangelisation, as unitary program of apostolic and missionary engagement; this requires personal and community renewal, deep fidelity to the charism and apostolic creativeness, new élan in the works and renewed spirit of service, in order to be authentic evangelisers of the Mystery of Christ for the world of today, through what we are and what we do” (Acts of the General Chapter 1993: F. Radaelli, Report on the Italian Province)

                These are the profound motivations we must seek and discern every day and which will make us faithful, united, fraternal disciples.

WHAT IS GOOD AND IS PLEASING GOD AND IS PERFECT

According to the New Testament, discernment is the virtue of the time of the Church, historically placed between the events of Christ's death and resurrection and the parousia. It characterises the Church of 'the end is about to come' (1 Cor 10-11), the times when the "present evil age" (Gal 1,4) must be faced. The Christian cannot conform to the world, he must go beyond it, even if this means trials and suffering. He doesn't submit to the trials of life, he rather discerns them in order to find out "the will of God, what is good and is pleasing him and is perfect" (Rom 12,2).

The need for "distinguishing", in order to make the right choice, is well expressed in the New Testament by the word dokimazein. In the ancient Greek world, in the field of trade and law, by this term it was designated the task of assaying golden and silver coins to 'test' whether they were authentic, suitable as means of payment. It also meant the 'test' that magistrates and other forensic officers had to undergo in order to verify if they had the qualities required for the desired positions.

The New Testament welcomes the thought of the Old Testament, but it even goes beyond it.

'Dokimazein' defines the evaluation of the situations in order to discover in them the will of God or his signs and to make a consequent choice. It is a "religious attitude founding a moral behaviour" (G. Therrien, Le discernement dans les écrits pauliniens, Paris 1973, p. 26). So, attention to God and attention to the choices, or better, evaluation of the choices by the eyes of God.

St Paul uses it to designate the act by which the Christian, among daily ambiguities and risks, tests everything to understand and fulfil the will of God. In this sense - says Therrien - it means "capacity to take, in a given situation, a moral decision in line with the Gospel and to do it in the knowledge of the history of salvation which has the Spirit as focal element" (p.1). It is therefore an attitude of openness and availability to God who calls through his Word, in the presence of the Spirit, and it is the wish to give a reply in accordance with the will he manifests.

The Holy Spirit is the leading agent of such a process; men must syntonise with him. Discernment is called 'spiritual' because it is accomplished "in Spirit" by acting in the sphere of influence and judgement proper to Christ who sent into our hearts the Spirit who delves into the deepness of God and can suggest what is in line with his will.

That who concretely makes a discernment is the 'spiritual man' who almost has an instinctive sensitivity to perceive what is better for the Christian vocation, a sort of connaturality with the things of the Spirit. He is the opposite to the 'carnal man' quoted by Paul (cf. Rom 8), to the man close on himself who seeks only the way to keep his life under control; he is the opposite to the 'worldly man' who is satisfied just with the immediate present which he considers as Absolute.

Sometimes also the expression 'discernment of Spirits' is used. It's just a matter of different emphasis. While by saying 'spiritual discernment' the discernment operated under the guidance and the light of the Spirit is stressed, by saying 'discernment of Spirits' it is meant to find out which 'spirit' is acting in a man in a given moment: it might be the divine spirit, the evil spirit or, simply, the human spirit. The latter one is good if derives from the right reason; bad if derives from a corrupt mind.

The process of discernment is never abstract. It enters the concrete present with the aim, on one hand, to spot the evangelic traces and make them progress and, on the other hand, to reveal and contrast those processes contrary to the Gospel. We could therefore describe the spiritual discernment as the dynamism of the human spirit that, moved by the Holy Spirit, while facing emergency situations tries to find out what is coming from God in order to choose according to his will.

There is however an interconnection between personal discernment and common discernment: none of them can be totally fulfilled without the other. The person has above all his own identity in front of God and towards him he is responsible for his choices, but his choices involve also the ecclesiastic community and society.

The group is based on and constituted by single persons. The group cannot make a spiritual discernment if the single members are not trained to discern. The individual, on the other hand, can deeply discern and reach a decisive choice only if his discernment becomes ecclesial, that is to say, provided it passes somehow through the mediation of the Church. In fact, nobody can spiritually cut oneself off the community; one must live in an incessant exchange with the others, in fraternity, to bring to fruition the gifts given by the Spirit.

Sometimes this ecclesial mediation is necessarily reduced to the simplest terms, such as in the comparison with one's own confessor or spiritual guide; sometimes it is practised in an open dialogue with the group which is sharing the same experiences of faith.

The spiritual tradition agrees to recognise the need for comparison and dialogue to objectify feelings, intuitions, emotions, in order to reach a clear decision: "The suggestions of the devil - says Cassiano - have power on us as long as they remain concealed in our hearts".

The Spirit is one, and he cannot contradict himself while speaking to the single person, to the group gathered in the name of the Lord, to the whole Church.

III) DISCERNING TOGETHER

                Spiritual discernment is an experience of faith, lived both individually and in common. The Christian experience of God has always an ecclesiastic dimension. Faith becomes experience in the moment when we meet God and we hear him speaking in the today of our history and of the history of men.

"Called to co-operate with the Son of God who has become one of us to save us all, we wish to share in the joys and the hopes, the sadness and the anguish of men. In this way, we remain sensitive to the needs of our contemporaries being in close and humble contact with their lives. We are conscious of the cultural, social and religious values in the different human spheres, and seek patiently to recognise in them the signs of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ" (Rule of Life 16).

Jesus Christ presents himself as the Way to be looked for, the Truth to be understood, the Life to be loved... This path of discernment generates a deeper and deeper familiarity with the Lord who wraps us up with his love, "for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us" (Rom 5,5). God's intention is always that of creating a new creature in a new people. And the experience of faith is lived among the people - or part of it.

The Holy Spirit arouses, in the Church of today, a new need: to feel a people on the move among mankind, to be a group, privileged meeting-point with God and with the discernment of his plan of salvation.

"God alone is the Saviour through His Son Jesus Christ and by the gift of the Holy Spirit. In the depths of our hearts where he fosters a ceaseless fermentation, God seeks to reveal His name and His face. Our mission is to reveal this face of God by the witness of our lives and the proclamation of the Gospel" (Rule of Life 14).

Under the influence of the Spirit, deep in his heart, the man has a pressing need for spiritual times, in order to find again his human, spiritual, ecclesiastic identity, to face the One and to look at every event through his eyes to transform it in a favourable time of salvation.

Discernment leads to the "capital questions" (cf. GS 10) of the single and of mankind. Every discernment - both individual and common - has its own experience itinerary. Let's have a look at some stages.

AN EXPERIENCE ITINERARY

Listening to the Word. Discernment starts from the listening to the Spirit of God, but the mission of the Spirit consists in re-transmitting the divine Word, who is Jesus, to every man.

"Jesus Christ, he is our model, the example we must never lose of sight; his life, his actions, his internal and external behaviour... We must incessantly compare ourselves with Him: Is your heart like his? How would he behave in this case? Yes, he, he alone is my life" (Acts Gen. Chap. 1993, N.E.F. 410, p. 121, French issue).

Therefore, the written word of God is, in our time, the indispensable horizon of the spiritual discernment. The Spirit is listened to whenever and wherever he is speaking, and he speaks and acts specifically in the place where God's written word (i.e. Moses, the prophets and the psalms) is read and deciphered by means of the Gospel, who is Jesus (cf. Act 8,26-40; Lk 24,13-35.36-49). It's the listening to the Word that leads to an attitude of faith and enables to cover an itinerary, under his guidance, which directs the path and supports the fight. By his word, Christ keeps on talking today in our history.

Going back to the roots. The spiritual discernment sets free from ephemerality and places us in front of God. This creates in our hearts an openness to freedom and availability. We must get rid of all prejudices and predeterminations which hinder the process of knowledge and search of God's will.

So, addressed to the man's goal, which is to praise, to revere, to serve God our Lord, we must live in "indifference", which doesn't mean apathy, lack of interest, of participation, of sensitivity towards the creatures, but consists in a vital and constant tension towards a measured use of the created things and towards the detachment of the heart from them in order to use them in total freedom and always for a good purpose. This availability is love to the Lord, wish for the best, attention to only what leads us to the aim we were created for. It is a complete availability and therefore the person sets out on the itinerary of discernment with open heart and with generosity towards his Creator and Lord, offering him all his will and freedom, so that His divine Majesty dispose both of him and of his goods, according to his holy will. (cfr. Betharramite Consecrated Life - Acts Gen. Chap. 1993, N.E.F. 410, B,b p. 122, French issue).

Reading the signs. God's word meets concrete situations and enlightens all aspects in the light of the Gospel. The Word is not a manual of cures for the spiritual discernment. It doesn't propose true judgements good for every situation, with no mediation. The interest for the events is necessary to spot the newness of God.

The spiritual discernment is precisely aimed at grasping the newness that the Lord of history wants to accomplish in the individuals and in the community; at grasping the events through the eye of the faith, according to Jesus' admonition: "You have eyes - can't you see...?" (Mk 8,18); "Hypocrites! You can look at the earth and the sky and predict the weather, why, then, don't you know the meaning of this present time?" (Lk 12,56). The Gospel, by penetrating history, evidences the work of God and the man's new aspirations as far as justice, freedom, peace, witness to the Gospel, gift of the self to the brothers, radicalism of love are concerned. The reading of the signs of God does not simply involve knowledge; it also pledges to action: God educates not only to see, but also to act, to implement freedom as a gift to be accomplished. (cfr. The Betharramite Mission - Acts Gen. Chap. 1993, N.E.F. 410, B 1, p. 131, French issue).

Experience of spiritual emotions. The Word of God, when meeting the events, arouses inner reactions. To discern these emotions we must learn the language of God, that is to say the way he makes us understand the path to be followed: spiritual

1) 'consolation'

2) 'desolation'.

Consolation is inner peace, joy, fervour of the soul, tears on the suffering of Christ and on his own and the others' sins, patience, mildness, inner clarity. Desolation, on the contrary, is a feeling of detachment from God and of loss of confidence, a feeling of darkness, of anxiety.

This doesn't mean, however, that consolation always derives from the good spirit, while desolation from the bad one. The state of the spirit and its path of faith must be taken into account. In those who are seeking God and progressing in their spiritual life, consolation derives from the good spirit, while desolation from the bad one; but in those who are regressing the opposite is true.

Therefore, the spiritual feeling must be evaluated by taking the spiritual orientation of the soul into account. God's purpose is to comfort the soul in its spiritual progress. 

When we are animated by the word of God and we are facing an important choice, these inner emotions, tested in prayer for a quite long span of time, may teach us how to recognise God's plan... In addition to these emotions, the reasons for the pros and cons of this choice must be rationally examined. This choice, then, needs be specified and confirmed through the spiritual dialogue within the Church.

The decision. Discernment reaches its climax in the decision. It's the moment when, in the light of the faith and through a sufficient clarity and knowledge on the experience of consolations and desolations and on the experience of discernment, one is able to make a choice. Sometimes these decisions are radical and definitive, such as priesthood or special consecration, sometimes they are temporary, stages of a path of decisions lasting though one's whole life.

Discernment must not leave in our hearts a permanent anxiety, it rather must lead us to take a position as far as Christ, the Gospel, the Church are concerned. God's progressive action in the history of one's life, of society, of the Church will indicate new searches and openness for new choices.

Verification and confirmation.

"Conscious of our poverty and our sinfulness: We review each day our life before the Lord by an examination of conscience. We find that frequent sacramental confession greatly fosters the necessary turning of hearts towards the love of the Father of mercies in view of a renewal communion with God and with the Church. Austerity, a condition for true prayer, consists chiefly for us in being faithful to the Rule, to work and to study" (Rule of Life 70).

There is also an inner confirmation constituted by the "fruit of the Spirit",  produced by the Lord in our heart, which helps evidencing the truth of the decision. And there is an external confirmation, result of the practice of the choice, which generates new energies, spiritual élan and apostolic fruits.

DISCERNMENT IN COMMON

One of the focal needs of the Church of today is to join together in search of indications and signs on how to respond to the Gospel both in the spiritual life, in the life of human relationships, and in the apostolic ministry. The need for an interpersonal exchange is even greater in the religious life as it is submitted, by the present conditions, to a process of incessant adaptation.

The discernment in common, besides being a style of daily evangelical life, is accomplished when a group of persons, united by a link of faith, such as a religious community for example, a group of prayer, of apostolic commitment, of Christian presence in the social field and so on, makes choices concerning the practical way of living the faith and of committing in the Church and in the society. In this case, the subject of discernment is neither the single person nor the sum of the single discernments, but the group itself in its unity.

This presupposes the existence or the constitution of a group of persons willing to question themselves in front of God in order to understand whether the decision to be taken is in accordance with the evangelic project and whether it meets the expectations of the Church and the needs of the contemporaries. It's a "being together", under God's glance, in front of the questions of history. It's a dynamic unity to be built day by day, on a demanding path, full of the difficulties, the difficulties we have to face both on theoretical and practical level:

- relation with the charism of obedience;

- incessant self-questioning which may hinder;

- poor knowledge on the meaning and way of proceeding about the discernment in common;

- limitations of the individuals and of the communities; lack of personal discernment experience, little inner freedom and availability, search for the 'best', little mutual confidence, difficulty in sharing and communicating, presence within the community of peculiar or aggressive persons, risk of mistaking emotions for divine motions;

- tendency to individualism, to a certain form of privacy and discretion;

- difficulty to overcome actual disagreements;

- tendency to intolerance;

- overwork, wasting time to discernment;

- fear for changes;

- anxiety to see immediate results...

In front of such difficulties, once again the need for a formation including the whole discernment in common becomes fundamental.

Three aspects seem to be determining: the fundamentals of the discernment in common, the psychological-spiritual conditions, the process of discernment.

The spiritual fundamentals of the search. The discernment in common is based on the same principles of the personal one and, moreover, on certain elements proper to a group in search. Above all, to become subject of discernment for a group, it is necessary that all its members have made personal discernment experience. The more they practised it, the greater will be their contribution to the common one. This presupposes, of course, deep inner life and sensitivity towards God's will.

The discernment in common is a strong experience of faith in common, that is to say the experience of a faith coming from the Church, growing in the Church. The group lovingly trusts God's plan. The love that makes us choose must come from God's love, so that the one who is choosing does it just for his Creator and Lord.

"With Christ, in Christ, through Christ, we wish to live in the Father that is to say: to seek his presence, to listen to his Word, to welcome his Love. Our spiritual life will therefore be:

- filial, because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father"

- communitarian, because so in Christ we who are many form one body

- apostolic, because a life hidden with Christ in God gives rise and urgency to the love of one's neighbour for the world's salvation and the upbuilding of the Church

With the Church and following the example of our founder we shall draw our spiritual life from the sources of Scripture and the Liturgy, above all from the mystery of the Eucharist: The Body of Christ and the Word of God: there we have the two tables on which is served that heavenly food which feeds and fortifies our souls" (Rule of Life 65).

-- Capacity to 'talk in the faith', that is to say to practise the sensus fidei and the gratia verbi (cfr. LG 12 and 35), in other words, to be able to talk, starting from the faith, in a climate of prayer.

-- The discerning group is a portion of the Church, included in a larger community (diocese, parish, religious institute, province, community...). Therefore, it must be verified whether the decision may be taken by the group itself or by the authority on which it depends. As far as its decisions are concerned, a Christian community dynamically moves between two principles: synodality and centrality, that is to say the agreement of everybody and the decision of one single person. If the decision must be 'taken' by a superior responsible, the group plays an important role in 'preparing' this decision.

-- The prayer in common forms the atmosphere of discernment, so that everything begins from God and everything is fulfilled in God. In such a climate we feel children of the same Father and can say: "Abba, Father" (Gal 4,6; Rom 8,15).

Psychological-spiritual conditions. The aim of a specific discernment in common aggregates the various persons, joint in a group for the common search of a solution to a problem. But to meet this aim, certain psychological-spiritual conditions are necessary to a certain extent. I will specify some of them while leaving to the experts in human sciences a more precise exposition.

"Through Saint Michael Garicoïts the Holy Spirit has raised up in the Church a religious family whose particular mission is to reproduce and to manifest the impulse of the Incarnate Word saying to His Father: Ecce Venio, and surrendering Himself to all His wishes for the redemption of mankind" (Rule of Life 2).

- The common initial intention of a group is to seek and to find God's will, that is to say to start from the faith point of view and not from that of some human interests. Therefore, it is not a matter of either imposing one's opinion or creating a 'lobby', but of looking together for the solution mostly in accordance with the Gospel.

-- For this reason, willingness to learn from the experience of the others, avoiding to consider only one's own experience, is required. This willingness is a sign of maturity, that is to say of openness to the possible, to the different, to the new. It involves a certain capacity of comprehension of the inner nature, of the needs and of the dynamics of the others.

-- This implies, as far as possible, a process of release from those passions preventing a real interpersonal relationship: lack of communicability, feelings of envy, jalousie, fear, lack of participation to the joys and to the troubles of the others.

- To overcome the fear from 'being questioned' by the others or by God through the others. It's an attitude revealing the real way we are and the truth we are looking for. It exposes our false securities and our projects.

- To renounce to self-sufficiency, to the pretension to know, with no help, God's will. This is also mediated by the experience and witness of the others, of the Church, of the society.

-- Capacity to listen to the others independently on the personal interest we may have. If the decision concerns the whole group, everybody must take part in its formation.

-- A basic condition for unity is that the group does not get isolated, but feels part of wider communities, of the whole Church.

Process of discernment in common. For information, I will list some of the stages of the itinerary of the discernment in common.

- Comprehension of the matter. The object of discernment must be precisely specified.

- References of faith. Listening to the Word, personal and group prayer to better perceive the co-ordinates of the faith concerning the matter in question. The glance addressed to the Lord leads to availability and "indifference".

- Meeting for listening. Everybody communicates what has experienced during prayer. The others listen to with participation, but without discussing. The cons can be listed before the pros. A period of prayer follows to meditate on the exposed reasons.

- Deliberation phase. If agreement on the decision has not been reached, agreement on the acceptance of the decision is required. This is taken by the responsible superior.

- Internal and external confirmation of the decision.

However, neither a rigid process of discernment nor a technique with mechanical due dates exist. Discernment takes place under the motion of the Spirit and in the total individual freedom.

DISCERNMENT oF SAINT MICHAEL GARICoITS

INTRoDUCTIoN

                I will base the subject of the spiritual discernment of Saint Michael Garicoits on his letters. This subject matter comes from the Ignatian tradition and St Michael reformulates it in a simple way for pastoral practice. His letters deal with the discernment of PERSONS, WORKS, OPTIONS, refewing to the Betharramite religious as well as work and mission. It could he said that the discernment of the spirit is an indispensaBle element for anyone who has as his motto "to do God 's will".

                This discernment of the spirit is revealed in the context of the spiritual theolo­gy which is always "light" in his letters. In the first chapter I will briefly sketch the Betharramite theology.

                This discernment REQUIRES METHOD. St Michael himself presented it on a printed piece of paper and distributed it to those who approached him in search of help to know God's will. It is a method which appears in detail in a large number of letters. I will limit the analyse to simply three letters in order to discover the "essence" of such method and to analyse its development. This will be done in chapter two.

                Beginning with a method to know God s will, A PASToRAL THEoLoGY CAN BE STRUCTURED AND DEVELoPED. Each step of the method to know His Will

will be enriched with paragraphs remarkable for their expressiveness and insight: EACH OF THEM WILL STRESS A PARTICULAR ASPECT within the particular section under examination.

                In chapter four, I will try to communicate more deeply the meaning of each stage of the method of discernment. I will elaborate the material provided by the previous chapter and INTEGRATE IT INTo oUR PRESENT SITUATIoN; that is to say, I will use an hermeneutic procedure in order to APPLY SAINT MICHAEL'S METHoD To THE PASToRAL PRACTISE oF oUR TIMES.

                Therefore, the order will be as follows:

1) Theological fundamentals of the method of discernment contained in St Michael Garicoit's letters;

2) The method of discernment on God's will;

3) Selection of texts from the letters clarifying and developing the vari­ous stages of the method of discernment;

4) Hermeneutic development of the method of knowing God's will in a preview of a more complete and up-to-date accomplishment in the present of "today".

Notes:

a) Numbers in brackets refer to the numbers of the Letters, according to the classification given by Fr. Pierre Mieyaa, s.c.j. in his three-volumes: "Letters of Saint Michael Garicoits".

b) From time to time I will underline the Ignatian references from the Exer­cises. Quotations will be referred to by the abbreviation "EE".

I° - THEoLoGICAL FUNDAMENTALS oF METHoD oF DISCERN­MENT IN SAINT MICHAEL GARICoITS' LETTER

                Reading St Michael's letters as a whole, we discover recrring topics, dealt in different ways and in different circumstances. Starting from these topics, a theological outline can be defined, useful as basis for the method of discernment contained in the letters. I will split this theological outline, in turn, into three different perspectives.

1) Dogmatic perspective

                God loves people with a tender fatherly love (31; 348). He shows this clearly in his Son, Jesus Christ, who became one of us in every way but sin; giving of himself totally as far as dying for us on the cross for our salvation (4; 13; 346). He is our friend, who has revealed to us the love of God; in his human heart we discover the heart of God open to the world and to people in their search and troubles in life.

                Because of the above God can only desire that people will be saved (118; 177; 187; 293; 529; 356) and be fulfilled. In each event of life it is for us to discover the providence of God who searches above all else by means of the cross for people to live fully.

                That we live fully is the ultimate desire of God the Father; to this end the Son of God is totally committed in the Holy Spirit. People live to the extent that, sharing in the love of God displayed in the heart of Christ, lets this love of Jesus live in their hearts, thus living a similar life to that of Christ himself, always faithful to the saving will of God in the service of love in regard to people (13; 145; 293; 374). In this way we become, bit by bit, sons and daughters availa­ble in the Son, Jesus; we then take part in the "Me Voici" (Her I am to do your will) and the "Ecce Ancilla" of Mary (Behold the handmaid of the Lord). People find rest, peace and confidence in God in obscure moments, when their hearts are in harmony with the Heart of Christ.

                To live as Jesus, the Son of the Father, a form of readiness to help in salvation of people and at the same time keeping the Heavenly Father in mind, is a challenge that we need to make real within the limitations of our own situations (107; 162; 490; 184; 586), according to how we think God is calling us personally (262). It is at this point that we try to act with love without limit, a self­abandoning to the will of God, and to total service in regard to people. The fidelity to this position is the daily incarnation (birth of God's love into the world) of the transcendent love which it has pleased God to manifest in Christ. All of this is a source of spiritual joy.

2) Spiritual Perspective

                The capacity to be faithful to the saving will of God, at a level which people are united in the joy of God, is often obscured by temptation and the tempter, "death and lies", which disturb and fail us even "under the care of angels" (48; 56; 78; 491; 497).

                Temptation is overtaken at the moment when one discovers "the illusion of sin" and when people allow themselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit (88; 293; 309). It is the Spirit of God who lives in Christ who in turn gives peace (3; 4; 111; 283; 371), and reveals what pleases the Heavenly Father (154; 321; 338; 626; 398) and brings about the unity and solidarity of the church (13; 340; 368; 384).

                The Holy Spirit fills the hearts of people and strengthens them against the "ambushes of the enemy" above all when we pray, at the same time revealing in a splendid manner the conditions for and the possibilities of the Kingdom of God. Prayer (l03; 174; 334; 342; 368) unites us to God in a very real way and in the very heart of Jesus the Son, and the solidarity of Christ.

                As well as this objective way of working, the Holy Spirit cuts across the objective thinking of the church, in particular by way of the people charged with authority at the level of rules and church projects (113; 172; 205; 257; 398). This objective dimension of discernment of the Holy Spirit is the ultimate proof that movements envisaged, the things for and against, springs from the Holy Spirit of God. From this objective look at things it is possible to conclude the CER­TAINTY that we are in the process of realising the will of God.

3) Moral Perspective

                We are called to give a generous, courageous and faithful response, given that we in turn have been called to take part in the redeeming work of Christ as contained in the "Me Voici" and that we are trying to live in God's will, discovered through the interior action of the Spirit and within the effective work of the Church: that is the total gift of self (132; 590; 356; 352) to God's will; as did God's servant, Mary (31; 374). It is the same generosity that the Father has put into his own apostolic work (494; 541; 552) and which is a source of hope and joy (311; 352).

II° - THE METHoD oF DISCERNING THE WILL oF GoD IN THE LETTERS oF ST MICHAEL

                In many of St Michael's letters we discover methods, thoughts, as to how to get to know God's will. It is possible to say that he commits himself and those he speaks to, to a search for the will a God. What we refer to forms the practical and pastoral to get to know the will of the Father. I refer to three letters.

1) Letter No. 10

                It shows the following ways of getting to know the will of God:

* "Pray fervently to the God of all light and consolation".

* "Examine seriously what one is and feels".

* "Reveal faithfully what God has given us to reveal".

* "Wait patiently and follow all these decisions".

                St. Michael summarises four steps: PRAY, EXAMINE, REVEAL AND OBEY. And he declares: "I love you too much to want any happiness for you which is not based on the principles above (...) I desire with all my heart an unshakable fidelity to this guide, because it is the greatest and in fact the only way to happiness".

2) Letter No. 161

He adds a few points missing in the above letter.

* "Double the zeal you put into your commitments".

* "Put aside all your harmful desires".

* "Be prepared to imitate as perfectly as possible the Lord Jesus Christ".

* "While so disposed, ask God what he wants of you at this time".

* "Also while so disposed, speak to God about the reasons for and against this particular path".

* "After all that, having expressed all to Mr X..., in meditation, in faith, in regard to your superior at the time".

* "Mr X... you say that you then must go and complete the task then you have done well, for that was the reason for discerning".

                And to confirm the content of the letter No. l0, he adds: "I can only en­courage you to constantly follow the same method, while promising you a happier life here below and life eternal in the next world. But if you do otherwise I can only condemn your conduct and forecast all sorts of evil in this world and the next".

3) Letter No. 164

Here he develops the points raised in letter No. l0.

* "You redoub1e your zeal in fulfilling the work that you presently have";

* "You renounce completely all harmful or disordered desires; for what good it might do, it would only lead you astray".

* "You beg God to make know his Holy Will for the future; only he knows what you are destined for, only he can reveal it to you; so tho HIM only do you pray, in front of him do you deliberate for or against marriage, for or against the state of celibacy even before the help of your parents, to help until death, or even about the reasons for embracing the community life of religious".

* "Whatever you discover in this prayer and his self-examination, your present to a competent spiritual director".

* "Then you embrace his decision as being God 's will, without delay, without reserve, without turning back, above all for love of the adorable will, rather than any other reason".

                Here Father Michael concludes: "Again I say, do that and you will be secure and happy, no matter what you decided in the decision making".

                Following on, in any of his letters describing real situations, this same com­mon method shows through and develops. This is a method of discovering the will of God which comes up again and again in life. In the background it is possilble to see the Exercises of St Ignatius, especially Nos. 169-189 which refer to the choice of life. This method is useful in the discernment of personal vocation, but it can also be used in other walks of life. St Michael differs in that his method is more subtle and used in daily life; it is more generally pastoral

                In the above letters (l0; 161; 164) we can see the following points:

1) Faithfulness to the correct situation, that is to say to the present work, which excludes all inappropriate affections.

2) Conforming to Christ, especially in the ability to "constantly and coura­geously carry the cross".

3) Opening oneself up to the saving will of God.

4) Seeing during prayer, the necessity letting oneself be directed by the Holy Spirit.

5) "What you discover during this prayer and self-examination": what comes from God brings peace; what comes from the "enemy" sooner or later, brings worry.

6) While we analyse the for and against, God reveals what pleases him.

7) What pleases God appears as a point of unification, that is to say brings about communion.

8) The ultimate stated objective, of what is of God, shows itself in an attitude of obedience to the mediation authorised by the Church. God's will is discovered through a person's spiritual director and a competent supe­rior.

9) From that moment, one needs to respond with generosity, courage and faithfulness, "without waiting, without reservation, and without turning back", out of love rather than for any other reason.

10) In as much as we respond in this manner, we experience true joy.

SELECTION OF EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS TO CLARIFY AND DEEPEN THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF HIS METHOD OF DISCERNMENT

1)            Position

(107)       “Why should we look so closely at our own position on this matter?”  I don’t doubt that it might well be the will of God that you see here before you. Regarding this, now and always, ask nothing, refuse nothing, God wants it; no turning back, no “ifs”, no “buts”;

                “If you are doubtful; do it, and make the best of it so that you can in your situation, rely only on God, without worrying what someone else might or might not do, and without worrying about the success of your endeavours.  What happens is what God wants.

                “It is true, there is a lot to do; don’t waver, so that you can exercise the enormity of love within the boundaries of a situation, with a big heart, and a soul that wants to.”

2              Conforming with Jesus Christ

(13) “Begin by winning over the hearts and goodwill of people”.  Go along with what they are familiar with rather than what you want, developing what you have in mind for them, at the same time, with the feelings of a father, a mother, a nurturer, a doctor; being totally to each and everyone of them,  the example of Our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Love them without reservation, because God loves them, and because they too are capable of loving him, and always encourage with gentleness.  God descended from his throne as a vulnerable mortal man... shamed and disgraced in order to win our hearts; there’s our model a God humbled in order to raise us up.  He above all loved us so much; Our Saviour Jesus Christ has suffered so much in order to conquer our hearts; grab hold of his example, to win the love of your sisters.

(145) “It is the example given to us by the crucified Jesus Christ, being separated from his mother, in no longer giving her the gentle name of mother, and then giving her over to a stranger.  And when God gives us such an example to imitate, when he gives us such a great sign of his love, don’t we in all ways find ourselves proud and happy to be able to say: God, Father, yes, my God, without delay, without holding back, without turning back; Vere, dignum, aequum et salutare?  (It is truly right, just, fitting and wholesome)”.

(293) “God, from which all good comes, asks of his completely spoiled instruments that above all and entirely given over in their hearts to the actions of the Holy Spirit to the great law of obedience, that we follow the example of Our Saviour, following two particular ideas: Spiritus Domini super me, propter quod unxit me (the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me); He is annihilated and made obedient to death on the cross; which is summarised  in these simple words: Here I am;  Ecce Venio; Fiat voluntas tua, in me sicut in coelo ( Here I am, that you will may be done in me, as it is in heaven)”.

(374) Your heart will no longer be your own heart, but rather the Heart of Jesus; your interior and your exterior, the same as that of Jesus; and that will be even easier, even gentler and more agreeable than all that the liar and killer has sought to make you believe.  Say to all of that: I am completely able to complete what he helps me to, a heart completely united to his, entirely given over to him; and then, always making progress”.

3) The Saving Will of God

(118) “I am very happy to learn that you are very happy with God’s will.  Yes, my Sister, thanks to Our Saviour Jesus Christ for being true and just, we can and we must always and above all say, each from our own situation: “I am very happy with the will of God; nothing is lacking, etc.  “Then, to live and to die with this attitude, saying: ‘Your Will, O Father, Here I am’.”