Discernment: what shall I choose? What helps you to make the right decisions in your life?

St Ignatius of Loyola Watch the movie. Summarise what happened to Ignatius. What did he discover?

After his conversion to follow Christ, he met a Muslim on the road. The muslim started saying that the Virgin Mary was not a virgin. This made Ignatius boil inside. He did not know whether he should kill the Muslim or let it go. He let the donkey to make the decision. A fork came up in the road and the donkey went the other way to the Muslim. Is this a good way of making decisions?

St Ignatius of Loyola went on to think very deeply about how to find God’s will. His discoveries, became the “Ignatian Exercises on the Discernment of Spirits”. He found that went he daydreamed about fame, being popular and adored, winning medals, it made him very happy during the daydream, but afterwards, left him feeling low and tired. He found that went he daydreamed about out-doing the Saints, eg giving up his life to care for the sick, or leaving all his wealth behind to find God, he not only enjoyed these daydreams, but afterwards, his mood remained upbeat and joyful. Try this exercise for yourself. In the first half of the meditation, imagine yourself doing some amazing, glorious things that would really make everyone admire you. In the second half of the meditation, imagine yourself doing something “good”, something perhaps Jesus himself might do, or want you to do. Consolation can be felt as: feeling peaceful, connected, joyful, relieved, connected, happy. Desolation is felt as feeling heavy, low, depressed, confused, dark, upset. If you are making a decision, identifying whether it gives you consolation or desolation can give you a pretty good idea whether your choice was right for you at a deep level, and was God’s will for you, or not.

Examination of Conscience What good things happened to me today? Where did I find God in these events? What choices brought me consolation or happiness today? What choices brought me desolation or sadness today? Were there any missed opportunities I didn’t take? To help someone? To show generosity? Who wore God’s face for me today? Was I the face of Christ for anyone today? Where did I get in the way of Christ for someone today? What would it be for me to be the face of Christ for someone tomorrow?

Do you think you might “try this at home”?