This is the year of discernment for all of us who are part of the Glory of God International Covenant Community (GOGICC), which the ICPE Mission falls under. We are encouraged to do the consciousness examen* (an excellent method of discernment) every day so that we become sensitive to God’s promptings in our hearts and therefore know the Father’s heart.
Last Saturday, this message was reinforced at the General Assembly of the GOGICC via Zoom and it was inspiring to not only hear the testimonies of a couple and one sister from Malta and Korea respectively, but to see what the leaders had to say about discernment.
First of all, we were all reminded that following Christ was not easy for it required the ability to discern His will, and to have the enduring strength to go where He leads. Be prepared to be misunderstood by the rest of the world, even scorned and attacked. Nevertheless, hold fast to Christ and the process of knowing His will which will lead us to seek carefully the highest good, to detect grace in all things, and to ultimately respond to God in freedom.
When we consciously and regularly contemplate Jesus in our day, this soon becomes our way of being, of doing, and of knowing. We consequently act in freedom and in love regardless of where we find ourselves in life for our enhanced self-knowledge and awareness enables us to see unvarnished and perhaps unwelcome truths and respond to them with great spiritual maturity.
Don’t worry if you get it wrong, you will, invariably. The focus is not on making perfect decisions but on growing an intimate relationship with God. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 27 puts it: The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself.
Just as He draws us to Himself all the time, we need to lean into Him constantly in harmonious synchronicity. And when we do, we won’t veer too far off the narrow path. We will, as Saint Ignatius puts it: I want and I choose what better leads me to God’s deepening life in me.
As we become more attuned to the truth that God can be found in everyone, every place and everything, then we will become more thankful and reverent, more devoted to God, more deeply in love with our Creator.
We will thus be at peace with the world, even if it is at war with us for we can always identify movements in our hearts that lead us to love God, serve and honour Him more and more. Be still, and listen.
* For a quick take on the consciousness examen, go to https://kahalableu.blogspot.com/2009/03/
No comments:
Post a Comment