When we speak about discernment, it is more helpful to speak of God’s hopes and desires for us rather than of God’s will. The gift of freedom is key to the discernment process for God does not impose His hopes and dreams on us. Rather, God graciously invites us to collaborate with Him and with one another in order to bring them about. Our true freedom lies in our capacity to respond to this invitation: to cooperate with God in creating a world that enables us to become - now and in the future - the person that God desires us to be.

Making decisions - especially major ones - clearly involves a lot of struggling and wrestling. Discernment requires a life grounded in prayerful listening. It involves the practice of becoming aware of the action/presence of a loving God in our lives. When we are trying to discern we need to take time to reflect and to listen - listen to self, to God, and to others. This may involve confronting some of the illusions we might have about ourselves, and learning how to face our uncertainties, our insecurities, our lack of control and indeed that we don’t have all the answers. Journeying through this process takes time and effort and often involves challenging some of our deepest held attitudes and dispositions. Ingrained patterns of looking at the world and responding to situations are often difficult to negotiate. Discernment is a process, and every process goes through various stages and takes time. We cannot hurry it along; it asks us to be patient and to let time take its course. There is no simple shortcut.

These steps are simply offered as a support as you journey through the discernment process: