Before delving deeper into this topic and its important application in life, it is important, first of all, to conceptualize the word discernment in general.
According to Marcozzi, discernment is what determines our will before it is decided. Therefore, we can say that discernment is directly linked to the human will and consequently to their decisions and choices. We can also say that it is an action that starts from the inside to the outside of the human person, however, it is always a conditioned action since there are several elements of discernment.
More than an act of choosing, deciding, deliberating, it is a free and committed process of search and discovery to diligently distinguish what is believed to be the best path.
Discernment is associated with the “search for God’s will”. Therefore, it is a defined and elaborate process that a person undergoes to seek and discover God’s will.
According to Rupnik, discernment is an expression of a contemplative intelligence, it is an art that presupposes knowing how to contemplate to see God.
The human being exists because God spoke to him, called him into existence, called him to be his interlocutor. Vocation is the word that God addresses to man and that makes him exist, imprinting on him the dialogical mark. It can be said that the vocation precedes the person himself. Man can understand his life as time given to him for this dialogue with God. If man is created by conversation with God, and thus he is called to speak, to express himself, to communicate, to respond, the time he has at his disposal can be understood as the time to fulfil his vocation.
Discernment is defined, therefore, as the art through which man understands the word addressed to him and, in this word, opens the path he must follow to respond to the Word. Then, the vocation is not an automatic fact, but a process of maturing relationships, starting from that foundation with God.
At all times, human beings are challenged by themselves, by others and by everything that surrounds them; they are always “called” to make choices, to make decisions, in short, to make discernment.
Generally, the person who begins a process of “spiritual discernment” (that is to live according to the Holy Spirit, according to God’s will) is driven by a desire for correspondence to God’s love; feels that he needs, in some way, to respond to the various motions; who needs to “‘know clearly’, ‘distinguish’, ‘judge’ and ‘decide’ what would be the best path to follow”; he desires to give coherent responses to himself, to God, to other people and to the world in accordance with what he believes, in faith, to be God’s will.
The spiritual discernment assists in the decision-making process. From this we can say that discernment has the power to determine the human will. The paths that are believed to be the best must be chosen with great freedom, because when there is an absence of this talent, what was previously a search for God’s will becomes a search for what pleases me most, what for myself I believe to be the best.
Self-knowledge is a valuable tool! Knowing ourselves allows us to follow a true and straight path towards God’s will. And to come to know God’s will, human beings need to delve into their most intimate being, because their God dwells with all his intensity.
Pope Francis says, in Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation to Young People – Christus Vivit Nº 285: «When seeking to discern our own vocation, there are certain questions we ought to ask. We should not start with wondering where we could make more money or achieve greater recognition and social status. Nor even by asking what kind of work would be most pleasing to us. If we are not to go astray, we need a different starting point. We need to ask: Do I know myself, quite apart from my illusions and emotions? Do I know what brings joy or sorrow to my heart? What are my strengths and weaknesses? These questions immediately give rise to others: How can I serve people better and prove most helpful to our world and to the Church? What is my real place in this world? What can I offer to society? Even more realistic questions then follow: Do I have the abilities needed to offer this kind of service? Could I develop those abilities?»
These questions, continue Pope Francis, should be centred less on ourselves and our own inclinations, but on others, so that our discernment leads us to see our life in relation to their lives (Christus Vivit Nº 286).
When God calls us to fulfil his will, he certainly calls us to do something that is possible, within our reality as humans. Our adherence to his call has priority in God himself, because being love, he wants and desires to communicate with us. And precisely because he communicates, we have the possibility of getting to know his projects, his dreams, his desires. Hence, we say that God places us and places himself at the centre of ourselves to know his goodness and will. The Holy Spirit acts as the tuner between God’s action and my response.
Fr. CHAUQUE Calisto Roberto, CM
