As I have mentioned in a previous bulletin article, I have been involved for the past two years in a Spiritual Direction Training Program offered by the Institute for Priestly Formation. At the heart of the teaching is understanding and applying the 14 Rules of Discernment proposed by St. Ignatius of Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises. These rules have their origin in an experience the saint had while recovering from an injury. As he thought about different directions he might follow in life upon his recovery, he became aware of an important truth, described in his autobiography:
From experience he knew that some thoughts left him sad while others made him happy, and little by little he came to perceive the different spirits that were moving him; one coming from the devil, the other coming from God. (Autobiography, no. 8)
The fact that we have two opposing voices speaking to us is something we as Catholics generally acknowledge, but perhaps our best image of this is those cartoons which depict a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, leaving the person to try to figure out which voice to follow. While this image may capture the reality generally, it is far more complex than that, thus the several rules of discernment proposed by St. Ignatius. All the rules of discernment can fall under a basic formula that we as Catholics can follow. The formula involves three steps: 1) Be aware 2) Understand 3) Take action.
For the next three weeks, before we begin Lent, I would like to reflect briefly on these three steps, one each week. While there is so much more that can be said, I am hopeful this introduction will open us all to a more attentive experience of prayer, such that we are able to discern when the Holy Spirit is speaking, and when another voice, not of God is speaking. In knowing which voice is speaking, we can choose how to act based on that understanding.
The first step is being aware. Whether we know it or not, there is always a voice that is speaking into our lives. That is the first thing to acknowledge. By knowing that, we can pay closer attention to what has our attention. In other words, we are invited to notice our thoughts, feelings, and desires as they come up throughout the day. This is the raw data for the discernment of spirits. Having thoughts, feelings, and desires are not inherently sinful. It is rather what we choose to do with them that determines their moral value (more on that in a later article).
Living a life of spiritual maturity is more than just taking time to pray each day at specific times, necessary as that is. A truly spiritual soul is one who is always aware of God’s presence, and the moment-by-moment opportunity that we have to consciously choose to love Him and follow Him as He communicates to us. But we will never make those decisions to follow Him and reject the voice of the enemy if we are not aware of what is going on in our hearts and minds throughout the day.
Perhaps an exercise you could try this week is set an alarm or a reminder at some fixed intervals throughout the day – perhaps every hour, or a few times a day. Then pause and just notice what your thoughts, feelings, and desires are. Don’t think too much about them, or try to figure them out. Just notice them, perhaps jotting them down. This does not take much time or effort at all, but it is an important start to realizing what St. Paul encourages us to do, that we should “pray at every opportunity in the Spirit.” (Eph 6:18)
Father Alford