Deepening Spiritual Foundations – “What am I to do?” The Discernment of God’s Will in Everyday Decisions with Fr. Timothy Gallagher
Fr. Timothy Gallagher and Kris McGregor, they discuss the importance of laying a good foundation in one’s relationship with God for effective discernment and the significance of developing a disposition of complete availability to God’s will, likening it to Mary’s fiat: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.”
He highlights the role of grace in cultivating this disposition and how it lightens the burden of discernment. It’s never too late to discern God’s will, emphasizing God’s boundless mercy and the Church’s role in providing support through pastors, spiritual directors, and spiritual friends.
Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions:
- Foundational Relationship with God: How can I deepen my foundational relationship with God, recognizing His eternal and profound love for me?
- Disposition of Heart: Am I cultivating a disposition of complete availability to God’s will, like Mary’s fiat, in my life?
- Overcoming Obstacles in Discernment: What obstacles, whether spiritual or emotional, hinder my ability to discern God’s will effectively?
- Mercy of God: Do I believe in the limitless mercy of God, even in the face of past mistakes and failures?
- Importance of Spiritual Community: Do I actively seek support from pastors, spiritual directors, and spiritual friends in my discernment process?
- Role of the Holy Eucharist: How central is the Holy Eucharist in my spiritual life and discernment process?
- Future Spiritual Practices: How can I incorporate sacred scripture, silence, spiritual direction, and reviewing spiritual experiences into my discernment practice?
From The Discernment of God’s Will in Everyday Decisions:
“Three Times in which a Sound and Good Choice May Be Made
The first time is when God Our Lord so moves and attracts the will that, without doubting or being able to doubt, the devout soul follows what is shown to it, as St. Paul and St. Matthew did in following Christ our Lord.
The second time is when sufficient clarity and understanding is received through experience of consolations and desolations, and through experience of discernment of different spirits.
The third time is one of tranquility, when one considers first for what purpose man is born, that is, to praise God our Lord and save his soul, and, desiring this, chooses as a means to this end some life or state within the bounds of the Church, so that he may be helped in the service of his Lord and the salvation of his soul. I said a tranquil time, that is, when the soul is not agitated by different spirits, and uses its natural powers freely and tranquilly.
If the choice is not made in the first or second time, two ways of making it in this third time are given below.”
Father Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V., was ordained in 1979 as a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Fr. Gallagher is featured on the EWTN series “Living the Discerning Life: The Spiritual Teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola”. For more information on how to obtain copies of Fr. Gallaghers’s various books and audio which are available for purchase, please visit his website: frtimothygallagher.org
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