DISCERNMENT
VOL. 2, NO. 1 MARCH 2011
In the February issue of Discernment, we looked at one way that one becomes aware of God in the seasons of one’s life. In this issue, I will look at two practical steps in becoming aware of the vocation to which one is being called. The first step is an awarness of God’s call itself. That call comes from deep within one’s soul, as does the call to any of the other vocations in life. In the deep recesses of one’s soul, God speaks, God invites, God offers the gift of consecrated life.
A prerequisite to awareness is a listening stance. To hear God’s voice, one needs to create an environment in which one’s quiet, inner voice can be heard. That whispering voice of God’s Spirit can easily be drowned out, shut out, ignored by the noise of other voices that shout at us from outside the self. God is not in the screaming voices that demand this or that of us or that corral us into doing domething or choosing something just because everyone else is doing it or choosing it. For each of us, God is in the choices that are right for us, that are His will for us. The prophet Elijah teaches us this truth. Elijah was in hiding—what was happening around him was too much to bear and scary to listen to. God summoned him to leave his place of hiding and ascend the mountain (a symbol of seeking and praying to the Almighty) and God would pass by. A powerful earthquake shook the earth. Then a fire broke out followed by a quiet, “murmuring” breeze. God was not in the earthquake nor in the blazing fire but in the gentle, whispering breeze. God is not in that which the world promotes as making us powerful, prestigious, popular or wealthy—the next blazing hot commodity or experience above all experiences, accomplishment that exceeds all accomplishments—but in His will for us.
Like Elijah, we need to come out of hiding—the hiding that can occur by being super busy, overextended, connected 24/7, wired 24/7, addicted to whatever--and listen alone to God on the “mountaintop”. To discover God’s plan for our lives, we need to want to make that discovery. God’s will for us may, in fact, be different from that which our parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, co-workers want for us. How will one know? By taking in what one hears, looking at it from within, seeking enlightenment, wisdom, counsel, understanding from God. We need to pray for the grace to see what God sees, hear what God hears, especially if God’s will is different from what we hear everyone else saying it is. We need to ask God to make us aware of His plan through whatever source He chooses and let go of ours.
Once an individual is conscious that God is calling her to religious life, that person is then faced with a second step in the discernment process. That step is gathering information about different religious communities. There are 1000’s of them. How does one know which one is the right one? The same way a young woman called to marriage knows which man is the one with whom she will enter the married state. The knowing is an inner knowing. One arrives at that knowledge by getting to know men to whom one is attracted. One arrives at knowing which religious community is right by getting to know different religious communities: doing research, visiting, spending time with its members (praying with, listening to, discussions with), learning about the founder/foundress, the community’s charism, spiritualitiy, mission life, ministries, prayer life, community life. At some point, both you and that community believe this is the right choice for you, as two people believe they are called to marriage.
Sister Dorothy Ann Dirkx, SSM
Vocation Director of the U.S./Caribbean Province of the
Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother
