ASSISI - Discerning God's Holy Will

The Church of San Damiano outside of Assisi
The original cross was moved by the Poor Clares
to the basilica in Assisi dedicated to St. Clare

St. Francis of Assisi's Prayer before the Cross

Most high, glorious God, 

illuminate the darkness of my heart. 

Give me right faith,

certaihope,

perfect charity,

profound humility.

Give me Lord,

judgement and discernment

to fulfill your true and holy will.

The first time I can recall the word, "discernment," it
appeared in several letters of recommendation that priests had written for my application to the seminary.  I am sure I had seen the worn before, and surmised that it was a synonym for the process of decision  making.  Because several priests used the word to describe my inquiries regarding my vocation, I was led to guess there was also a deeper meaning to the word.  During the years ahead, I came to know that my instincts were correct.

Discernment, in the scriptures, and in the spiritual life, is not simply the process of making a decision but a holy and sacred dialogue.  It is what St. Ignatius Loyola called the “motions of the soul.” Spiritual discernment involves becoming sensitive to the interior movements within us, consisting in thoughts, imaginations, emotions, desires, feelings, repulsions, and attractions.  Reflecting on these movements within, we attempt to understand where they come from and where they are leading us.  Perhaps most importantly, discernment is the process by which we surrender our own will and assent to the will of God

Saint Ignatius of Loyola

But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22) 

Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1)

Discernment is not simply one moment in time, or something done occasionally when a decision needs to be made but a lifetime disposition for we Christians.  Our lives are not personal quests but a movement to eternal life with Jesus as our companion, the one with whom we have this dialogue of discernment.  As St. Francis asks in the prayer quoted above, discernment is the process in which we seek to fulfill the Father's "true and holy will."  And what is the Father's will? It is as Jesus says in John's Gospel: 

For this is the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day. (John 6:40)

I spent this weekend with another priest in Assisi, the city of Saint Francis. In having an opportunity to visit this holy city, I not only made a pilgrimage to the places where Francis lived, preached, formed a community and died - but I was in the place where he came to see and believe in Christ.   In 1205 he had been praying at the church of San Damiano which at the time was a very run down building. As he meditated on the cross there, he heard Christ's call to restore his church. St. Francis did repair San Damiano, but he eventually discerned that God's message to him was to restore the Church as a whole, rather than physically repair that particular church. St. Francis' two-fold discernment was a result of his seeing, hearing and believing in the Son.  

The processional cross at Holy Family, Hicksville, NY
is a replica of the cross of San Damiano.  

My visit here to the the holy places, coupled with an extensive hike through the preserved woodlands, helped give me clarity in understanding why I have been given this privileged sabbatical time.  My time is an extended time to discern and fulfill God's holy will, through a deeper knowing of the Son and His Church.  In praying before that sacred cross, now preserved in the Basilica of Saint Clare, I desired to genuinely pray as St. Francis did 810 years ago.  I was mindful not just of my own discernment but that of my whole parish back home. Together we did, in fact, physically rebuild our church. Like St. Francis,however, we are called to something more. With a replica of the cross of San Damiano proceeding us, we enter into the Eucharist and we are sent forth, with a desire to know and believe in the Son and together rebuild his Church. 

Thank you for your continued prayers.  Know that I continue to offer mass daily for all of you.

I would also like to share with you a brief video on some of the sights and spirit of Assisi.