See, Judge, Act: The Discernment of Spirits

Readings at Mass 

Jean Pierre de Caussade, an 18th Century French Jesuit priest wrote a small book that has had a great impact. Abandonment to Divine Providence encourages Catholics to accept that every moment of their life is a sacrament. Over time, the Church has taught that Christ instituted seven sacraments. But, the seven sacraments do not limit the sacramental reality of life. Every day, God comes to us under visible signs that direct us to an unseen reality. Here is what Fr. Jean Pierre wrote,

“If we could lift the veil and if we watched with vigilant attention, God would endlessly reveal himself to us and we should see and rejoice in his active presence in all that befalls us. At every event we should exclaim: “It is the Lord!” – Jean Pierre de Caussade Gallagher, Timothy M. . The Discernment of Spirits (p. 35). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.

How do we see the Lord active in our lives? This is called discernment of spirits.

St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Discernment of Spirits
Faith is an act of the will. That means, in short, that it is a rational act. There are those who would marginalize the experiences of believers by asserting that it is all just feelings. Believers can get carried away by emotion, just like the scientist. However, faith is a rational act – that is – a choice. Faith is not a feeling or emotion, although feelings and emotions are very important in the life of faith. You see, you make a judgment and then you act, that is, make a choice. You ask why is there something rather than nothing. You conclude nothing comes from nothing. Something must have a source and we call that source God. That is rational. You can discuss that thinking process, understand it and make a choice to believe or not.

In each of our lives we have impulses, intuitions, compulsions and choices. The rational act of faith is the choice to make a judgment about all the influences driving or drawing us and subjecting them to our rational understanding of our lives. A good example is the role that discernment played in the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola, one of the founding fathers of the Society of Jesus.

Inigo, as he was known, started out life as a minor nobleman and soldier in 16th Century Spain. He was wounded in a battle at Pamplona and his leg was badly damaged. While recuperating, he was given some books to read. Some of the books were about chivalry, romance and war. Another was about the life of the saints. Inigo was a typical Catholic of that time and place and, bored out of his skull, he began to read the books. Reading and studying is often the last resort of the Catholic.

As he read them over many times, he became rather fond of what he found written there. Putting his reading aside, he sometimes stopped to think about the things he had read and at other times about the things of the world that he used to think about before. Of the many vain things that presented themselves to him, one took such a hold on his heart that he was absorbed in thinking about it for two or three or four hours without realizing it: he imagined what he would do in the service of a certain lady, the means he would take so he could go to the country where she lived, the verses, the words he would say to her, the deeds of arms he would do in her service. He became so conceited with this that he did not consider how impossible it would be because the lady was not of the lower nobility nor a countess nor a duchess, but her station was higher than any of these. Gallagher, Timothy M. . The Discernment of Spirits (p. 36). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition quoting the Autobiography of St. Ignatius[i], p. 23.

Notice that Ignatius was drawn into thinking and feeling about this story. The thought of great deeds affects him, moves him emotionally and his mind runs away with him; his dreams, however, are fantasies, not reality. His reason and intellect will tell him that because our fantasies do not ring true. Spain was a very rigid, class conscious society and Inigo could never pursue his dreams with a lady so far above him. He, like us, only had choices that were real and rational. His autobiography continues

Nevertheless, Our Lord assisted him, causing other thoughts that arose from the things he read to follow these. While reading the life of Our Lord and of the saints, he stopped to think, reasoning within himself: “What if I should do what St. Francis did, what St. Dominic did?” So he pondered over many things that he found to be good, always proposing to himself what was difficult and serious, and as he proposed them, they seemed to him easy to accomplish. But his every thought was to say to himself, “St. Dominic did this, therefore, I have to do it. St. Francis did this, therefore, I have to do it.” These thoughts also lasted a good while, but when other matters intervened, the worldly thoughts mentioned above returned, and he also spent much time on them. (23–24)  Gallagher, Timothy M. . The Discernment of Spirits (p. 37). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.

He found himself bouncing back and forth between ideas about fame and fortune and other ideas about sanctity and God. In short, he was torn between two very different projects or spirits in his life.

Yet there was this difference. When he was thinking about the things of the world, he took much delight in them, but afterwards, when he was tired and put them aside, he found that he was dry and discontented. But when he thought of going to Jerusalem, barefoot and eating nothing but herbs and undergoing all the other rigors that he saw the saints had endured, not only was he consoled when he had these thoughts, but even after putting them aside, he remained content and happy. (24)  Gallagher, Timothy M. . The Discernment of Spirits (p. 38). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.

Both plans or projects occupied his thoughts. He, however, felt that one ultimately left him feeling dry while the other inspired pleasant feelings. Then, a moment of grace occurred in Inigo’s life.,

He did not wonder, however, at this; nor did he stop to ponder the difference until one time his eyes were opened a little, and he began to marvel at the difference and to reflect upon it, realizing from experience that some thoughts left him sad and others happy. Little by little he came to recognize the difference between the spirits that agitated him, one from the demon, the other from God. (24) Gallagher, Timothy M. . The Discernment of Spirits (p. 39). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.

The phrase, “until one time his eyes were opened a little” and he noticed the difference between how his thoughts made him feel. This experience became the root of his Spiritual Exercises and, what we know of as the discernment of spirits. This spiritual process has come to be articulated according to the three steps described: becoming aware, understanding, and taking action (accepting, rejecting). This is the basis for teaching spiritual discernment in our seminaries and is at the heart of spiritual direction. Become aware of how you think and feel, understand the effects on you and the sense of reality involved and then do something about it. It is how we listen to God and respond to his voice. That is the heart of the Gospel today.

Matthew’s Gospel: See, Judge, Act
Matthew tells the stories of two sons called by their father to work in the fields. They are headed in opposite directions. Jesus concludes with the upshot of his parable directed at the leaders of Israel

"Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him." Matthew 21: 28-32

Jesus is doing what the prophets - Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel - did; he is indicting the leadership of Israel. Jesus he is speaking to “the chief priests and the elders of the people” who rejected John the Baptist and Jesus. Prophets call us to repentance; that is, to think about what we are doing with our lives.

Ezekiel prophesied of judgment on the people of Israel. He prophesied to the exiles in Babylon in the Sixth Century B.C. As they sat making bricks along the River Chebar, they griped that God was unfair although it was their own choices that brought them to that sorry place in life. They thought they could live their lives any way they wanted and there wouldn’t be any undesirable consequences.

You say, "The LORD's way is not fair! "Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? Ez. 18: 25-28

Our choices in life have consequences. Ideas have consequences. When we discern choices in life, we have to see what is happening, understand how it affects us and then make a judgment about what we should do.  Inigo had to make a decision about following a completely earthly project of adventure and romance out of which no real good could come or of choosing another course of action that was much more open ended and serious. He, obviously, chose the latter and so today we have the Society of Jesus.

Discernment of Spirits
There are certain times in our lives that are watersheds, turning points or that moment of truth. That is what St. Ignatius is describing. Those moments of truth occur in everybody’s life when they are considering a career, a vocation or a moment that can make or break us. But discernment of spirits, asking where will this choice lead me, belongs to everyday life. What is my future like if I just keep returning tit-for-tat in my family, What is my future like if I just keep picking at other people. Not great.

Discerning God’s voice, that is, discerning spirits is to see, judge and act. To choose between the spirit of light and the spirit that, step by step, choice by choice, leads us into darkness. We need some quite time to take stock of the direction in our lives are taking. This is the heart of mental prayer, that is, how our life intersects with the Gospel. We make a judgment about the meaning and purpose in the moment. Then, we act accordingly. Mostly, we probably do this reflexively. But asking the question, where is this path going is at the heart of discerning God’s voice. God’s voice calls each of us to work in his vineyard. Which direction are we taking?

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[i]  Joseph O’Callaghan, trans., The Autobiography of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Related Documents (New York, Hagerstown, San Francisco, London: Harper Torchbooks, 1974), 21–26. Henceforth quoted as Autobiography of St. Ignatius. Inigo told his story to his companion Luis Gonçalves da Câmara, another Jesuit.