McDermott, Brian, S.J.

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Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 47 The Spiritual Exercises as Foundation forJesuit Higher Education Article 6March 2015Discernment in St. Ignatius Loyola: Guidelines forIndividual DiscernmentBrian McDermott S.J.Follow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationMcDermott, Brian S.J. (2015) "Discernment in St. Ignatius Loyola: Guidelines for Individual Discernment," Conversations on JesuitHigher Education: Vol. 47, Article 6.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol47/iss1/6Conversations 11Ignatius wrote his guidelines forChristians who are desirous ofgrowing in their relationshipwith God through friendshipwith Jesus and with the guid-ance of the Holy Spirit. Theprocess of discernment helpsthe individual pay close atten-tion to the evidence God isgiving the person who hasactively sought help from God in theirdecision-making. Seeking God’s will in a particularsituation is not a question of trying todetermine what one thing God wantsme to do, what one thing fits into a pre-established plan of God. God’s relation-ship with us is a mystery, but it helps usto choose a way of thinking aboutGod’s will that allows room for bothGod’s freedom and our freedom. Afterall, that’s how God creates us, to befree partners in collaborating with theDivine as God strives to bring about thefullness of God’s reign. (God’s reign isthe world as God desires it to be.)I like to think of God as the masterjazz musician who creatively makes useof whatever good choices we make sothat those choices contribute to therealization of God’s project in theworld, the bringing about of that reign. The two basic conditions forauthentic discernment are (1) the deepdesire to seek God’s will because it isGod’s will and (2) Ignatian “indiffer-ence,” or freedom from bias regardingthe alternatives being considered, sothat we are open to learning whatGod’s will is.We are always seeking which oneamong several morally good alterna-tives will contribute to the “greaterglory of God,” that is, will contributemore to the whole-making of creation(myself included) in union with God. There are some limits to this wholeprocess of Christian decision-making.(Here I am drawing on the great workof Fr. Jules Toner, S.J.)1. Persons discerning God’s will maydiscern only how God wants them touse their own freedom. Ordinarily, Icannot discern how God wantssomeone else to use their freedom.For example, I can discern that Godwants me to propose marriage toanother person, but I cannot discernthat God wants me to marry that per-son. Another freedom is most defi-nitely in play here!2. I am always discerning how Godwants me to use my freedom in thehere and now. 3. Given #2, future events neither con-firm nor deny the rightness of a dis-cerned decision. I may get sicktomorrow and not be able to con-tinue to implement the decisionmade today. That just means that IDiscernment in St. Ignatius LoyolaGuidelines for IndividualDiscernmentBy Brian McDermott, S.J.Brian McDermott, S.J., is a specialassistant to the president and adjunctprofessor of Catholic studies atGeorgetown University.15304_mag_m  1/2/15  9:35 AM  Page 111McDermott: Discernment in St. Ignatius Loyola: Guidelines for Individual DisPublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 201512 Conversationsneed to do some more discerning inthe new “here and now.”4. Another corollary of the above isthat there is not an ounce of predic-tion in discernment. I don’t learnabout the shape of the future, evenof the immediate future, from a wellexecuted discernment process.5. I can discern only about somethingthat I have a right to discern. Forexample, I may not discern to dosomething sinful (to state the obvi-ous) nor may I discern somethingthat does not fit my state of life.Ignatius offers three situations ofChristian decision-making, each charac-terized by a different kind of evidencefrom God. I believe that these are three“pure” cases, which are very helpful forour learning. But in real life, many peo-ple make decisions, even very goodones, in a more complex, zigzag fashion.In the first situation there is actual-ly no need for discernment, at least atthe very moment when the person is inthis situation. There are three elementsto the situation. First, the person findshim- or herself spontaneously drawn toa particular course of action. Second, atthe same time the person has the cog-nitive sense that choosing this courseaction is of God. And third, the personfinds that at the moment he or she isnot able to doubt either the first or sec-ond aspects of the process. This emi-nently clear situation happens moreoften than we tend to think. (That does-n’t mean that the following day somequestions might not arise: for example,what exactly was given me yesterday?Does the course of action fit whatChristian faith tells me? Does the courseof action fit my vocation and who I amas a person?)Let me give a brief example. Anne isin a relationship that is bothering hergreatly. She feels that something is terri-bly askew; she is in danger of losing con-nection with her true self. The sponta-neous impulse arises in her to break offthe relationship. Deep down she sensesthat this is in attunement with her trueself (a way of saying that it is “of God”).She senses a deep conviction about therightness of this move while at the sametime she is very afraid that the conse-quence of this choice might be that shewill be alone the rest of her life. Still,over time, she makes the choice to endthe relationship, trusting in God.The second situation involves thediscerner making use of feelings of spir-itual consolation and spiritual desola-tion. Spiritual consolation is a light orjoyful feeling that is simultaneouslyexperienced as encouraging deepertrust in God; spiritual desolation is aheavy or depressive feeling that issimultaneously experienced as discour-aging one from trusting God or encour-aging one to believe that God doesn’treally care. Ignatius further wants thediscerner to determine whether thespiritual consolation is deceptive orauthentic, that is, over time does it leadto God and the things of God or in theopposite direction. As another example, for a couple ofweeks David finds himself drawn anumber of times to make a weekendsilent retreat. He notices that each timethe spontaneous impulse emerges outof authentic spiritual consolation. Theimpulse and the feeling are connected,with the latter acting like a root ormatrix whence the impulse arises. Thisconnection gives David reason to thinkthat the impulse is of God. But then fora stretch of time he experiences himselfa couple of times as drawn to spend theweekend with his aging father. Onceagain the spontaneous impulse isaccompanied by authentic spiritual con-solation. Because this situation confus-es him, he brings the two experiencesto someone experienced in spiritualguidance. It becomes clear that the spir-itual consolation accompanying theimpulse to visit his father is consider-ably stronger than the earlier consola-tion. His guide suggests that this can beevidence that visiting his father wouldbe more to God’s glory. In the third situation, the person isrelatively calm and, as in the other situ-ations, deeply desirous of doing God’swill. Not having intuitive certitude orspiritual feelings, the individual uses hisor her reason, weighing pros and consand considering possible consequencesof the various courses of action. Theperson asks the Holy Spirit to guide thereasoning process to lead to what Goddesires for the person. The process iscompleted when the person senses thatthe questions that needed answeringwere indeed answered by the Spirit-guided reasoning process.Jane, a young professor of socialethics at a Jesuit college, needs to makea decision about how to spend her sab-batical semester. Over time it becomesclear to her that she could spend thewhole time writing several articles andtrying to get them published. But shealso recognizes that she might prof-itably spend a few weeks volunteeringat a nearby L’Arche, a faith communitywhose core members are people withintellectual disabilities. She prays earnestly for the HolySpirit’s guidance while carefully weigh-ing the pros and cons of the alterna-tives. She asks for Ignatian “indiffer-ence” as well, so as to be open to God’sdesire about the alternatives. Over timethe most convincing reason for the sec-ond alternative is that it would providean opportunity for her to be exposed topeople on the margins, the kind offolks she teaches about all the time. Sheconcludes her discernment processwith the tentative decision to combinetime at L’Arche with time devoted towriting. She offers her decision to Godand asks for confirmation, if God iswilling to give it. After some days shehears within herself the words:“Become friends with poor people!”She accepts this as confirmationbecause of the deep place within herfrom which the interior words emerged.All three times are valid, each in itsown right. Ignatius says that if timeallows, we, like Jane, can ask God forconfirmation, either by God’s giving us adifferent kind of evidence or a repetitionof the evidence that helped us earlier.Ignatian discernment of God’s willis a process of partnering with God inone of the most important dimensionsof human living: decision-making. Byparticipating in this process we areseeking to discover how we can bestcontribute to God’s project in theworld, the transformation of all thingsinto the new creation God is laboring tobring about.  ■15304_mag_m  1/2/15  9:35 AM  Page 122Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 47, Iss. 1 [2015], Art. 6http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol47/iss1/6

Discernment in St. Ignatius Loyola: Guidelines for Individual Discernment

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Discernment in St. Ignatius Loyola: Guidelines for Individual Discernment

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