June 2018 SPECIAL EDITION July 2015 Issue | Page 2

July 2015

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Discernment 101

ave you felt a certain stirring in your
heart that you know you must investigate further? Has someone told
you, "Have you ever thought about being a
priest" or "Have you ever thought about being
a nun"? You want to put God first in your life
and find out what his plan is for you but you
don't know where to begin. The outline below
will help you to take the first step in discerning God's will and give you some additional
insight into your true vocation.
First, look at Christ's love and see
what that stirs in your heart. When you stop
and think about his sacrifice, are there times
you want to follow him, to be totally his, to
give yourself to him without reserve, and to
put everything you have into bringing him to
others?
Second, take a good look at all he has
given you: the gift of life, the gift of faith,
your health, the opportunities you have had,
possibly your conversion. See if there are
some things that might point in the direction
of a vocation, like the difference between the
way you look on life to the way your friends d
Third, get some advice from a good
priest. Go over your life with him and be
frank about the good and bad you see there,
and ask him if he believes anything in your
past might be a definitive obstacle to your
having a vocation. If he doesn't, it is one more
reason to look more closely at the vocation.
Fourth, visit a seminary or community
that attracts you and see what God stirs in
your heart while you are there. That would
also be a good time to have an in-depth talk
with the vocation director, similar to the one
you had with the priest. See if based upon
what you tell him he recommends that you
take a further step. If both he and your priest
encourage you to follow up on it, these as
well as the interior attraction you feel would
be the main signs pointing toward a vocation.
Fifth, some advice regarding your feelings:
they are fickle, they change on the shortest
notice with or without warning. One day they
can be so positive that you find it impossible

to doubt a thing, and the next they can be so
negative that you can see nothing for sure. Your
response to a vocation can't ride on that rollercoaster; it has to be on the level of your will and
not your feelings. This means basing it on reasons and motives that are more solid and lasting,
more based on reality (supernatural realitygrace, God's love, god's fidelity, the needs of
souls…) Christ's love was not based on feelings,
even though positive feelings can help to begin
the journey. But the journey has to bring us to
the level of love, of total surrender out of love.
That is what a priestly or consecrated vocation is
about.
Parallel to taking these steps, you will
need to develop and follow a program of spiritual growth. It will be a great help to have a spiritual director for this. Our spiritual progress depends upon God's grace, and any program we
set for ourselves is simpl HH[