Discerning
a Vocation
by Fr. Anthony
Bannon, L.C.
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Over the years I have had occasion to speak
to many young people who have told me they were trying to discern if they had a vocation
to the priestly or consecrated life, and I have had to tell them, sometimes to their
surprise and consternation, that they were on the wrong track, that they should not be
“discerning” but doing something else.
Let me explain lest you think I am against vocations.
The big problem with discernment, at least as many understand it, is this: it often turns
what should be a vital conversation with God, the experience of the breath of God on
one’s life, the stirring of our deepest and noblest aspirations, into a cold
examination and spiritless calculation of risk, preferences and rewards, and the ceaseless
rummaging for signs. Instead of increasing trust, discernment — as practiced by many
— stifles it, robs our search of all elan, and overrides love as a factor in our
decisions.
The nature of discernment itself has something to do with this, and also the fact that in
the matter of vocation, discernment is only one element, and perhaps the one that we have
least control of, though it commandeers most of our attention and is the one we are most
anxious to embark upon.
The Whole Context
The fundamental truth about a vocation is that its source is not us but God. God calls.
From when he creates us God has a specific dream for each of us. It follows that God in
his providence and intelligence will make sure we receive sufficient indication of what it
is he wants of us. We need not worry about that.
The other side to the equation is that for God’s plan to come true we have to
perceive it and act upon it. This perception and acceptance has to happen at all levels of
our nature, not only the intellectual but also the spiritual and the emotional.
Though a person will pray about it, what is commonly understood as discernment is the
process of trying to satisfy our skeptical intellect as to the existence of our call.
Purely and simply. This involves many an omission.
We do not normally take into consideration as a factor, for example, our willingness to
accept the call — nor do we consider the influence of this willingness on our ability
to perceive it, nor the obstacles that there may be within us to perceiving and acting
upon a call. Yet all of these are of enormous consequence in our vocational search, and
frequently are the hidden factors in determining its success or lack thereof. |
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>>> The Key to
Successful Discernment |
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