As I’ve been researching for this discernment course, I chatted with a priest friend and picked his brain about the topic of discernment in NFP. He said something about discernment (as a whole) that really impacted me:
๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ป๐ผ๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ๐. ๐ช๐ฒ’๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ & ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น (๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐บ๐๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ) ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ.
Here’s the deal with discerning two goods: you can’t really go wrong. So, pick one! Allow God into the process and realize that it is a GIFT to discern two goods. When we come into discernment from a place of gratitude and abundance, we are more clearly able to receive from God and to hear His voice. We’re not panicking and acting out of a place of scarcity, which often causes us to make hasty, rash decisions!
St. Ignatius contributed Discernment of Spirits to the Catholic Church and one of the biggest points is this: never make a decision in desolation. When we are in desolation, we aren’t thinking clearly, we think with a scarcity mindset, and God is not at the center of what we do. This is when prayer is essential, guidance from a spiritual director or mentor is needed, and we need to wait it out a bit. Decision-making needs to be done in consolation!
So, keep in mind that in the process of discerning two goods it’s important to have an abundance mindset, prayerfully inviting God into the decision, and making sure we’re in a space of consolation in our life and prayer.
This doesn’t mean putting on tons of pressure on yourself and making sure the circumstance is perfect. It will never be perfect!
Make the decision to the best of your ability, following the principles above, and know that God sees you and loves you in this! Discerning two goods is a gift and it’s not cause for alarm & panic. At the end of the day, if you’ve made the wrong call: PIVOT! I’ll talk more about that next week.
What do you think?? What questions do you have?!
