Day 84. The Call: Listening with the Mind and Strength
…in every good election so far as it depends on us, the eye of our intention ought to be simple, looking only to that for which I was created.
Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises 16; 23
To understand the listening we do with our minds, we look again to Ignatius who offers a third way or “third time” for Godly decision making. It may happen, he observes, that a seeker does not receive that clear, certain call from God, which the saint refers to as the “first time” (“first” indicates the most reliable way, and “time” refers to the time for making a decision). While others get answers infused, I remain confused. Further, after paying careful attention to spiritual consolations and desolations, which Ignatius designates as the “second time”, there is still no answer forthcoming on key questions. Instead I experience something called tranquility. In the context of the “third time” tranquility isn’t necessarily a peaceful, easy feeling. This state is felt by one has no clarity or even clues from spiritual consolations and desolations.
Since the “second time” – the discernment of spirits – takes practice, I describe the “third time” in order to fill out the picture. We shouldn’t take it as an encouragement to prematurely leave the other ways behind. If after making a good effort at listening to God through consolations and desolations I remain in that tranquil state, my mind may be called upon where my heart and my will remain silent. Rational analysis is the approach we’re describing here; weighing pro’s and con’s. As decision-making goes this should be familiar ground. Still, Ignatius adds important dimensions that bring about greater clarity and accountability.
The rational approach must begin in faith and hope. Thus Ignatius directs that I first consider my end – that is, the end of my life. There are many goals I can hold in mind as I consider a proper vocational course – personal happiness, success, popularity, etc. – but for the disciple of Jesus, there are only two: the glory of God and the salvation of my soul. If this sounds familiar, it is the third pillar from our Table of Self-Knowledge. Through this whole process we are attempting to ground our Hope of Happiness on the cornerstone of God’s will so that we can attain heaven.
I start with a prayer, and ask that God direct my decision so that it brings him praise and glory. I also pray for the detachment that, as we learned on Day 34, enables me to shift the pillars in my Table to rest on the Cornerstone of Christ. By God’s grace, and as much as I am able, I set my heart in a neutral disposition concerning the decision – I am willing to be lead in either direction.
The process is a point by point deliberation. I prayerfully write down at the top of a piece of paper the question stated as clearly as I can. “Should I pursue a celibate vocation?” or “Should I tell my parents that I’m looking into a vocation?” or again “Should I go on a discernment retreat this weekend even though I have a TON of homework?” I write down all the positive reasons for taking the proposed course of action in one column. Then, when I’ve run out of reasons, I consider the negatives; what is the down side of taking the action under consideration? Flipping the page, I consider the opposite: what are the positives and negatives of not taking the course of action? Again, the primary standard is whatever will bring God the most glory and whatever will best assure my progress toward heaven.
Next I use my imagination in three mental exercises. First, I imagine a person I’ve never met coming to me and asking my advice about the same issue. Supposing that I desire all the best for the person, what would I say to him or her? Second, I picture myself at the hour of my death. Which course of action would I be more content to look back on from that vantage point? Finally at the judgment seat of heaven, I imagine that I am presenting my decision before God. Which choice would I be most confident in giving an account for? On all three, Ignatius’ advice is the same: do likewise. “The rule which I will then wish I had followed is what I shall apply now, in order that then I may be in complete contentment and joy.” (#187)
In the process of listing the positives and negatives surrounding the choice of a vocation, I’ll want to consider my strengths. In this way I not only listen with my whole mind, but I also listen with my whole strength. Strength, here, is more than physical. I identify my abilities and gifts, my potential and my possibilities. I consider my talents – administration, creativity, listening, public speaking, teaching or study. I may have good physical endurance or a solid work ethic. I might indicate that I can lead well or that I’m a good organizer. I could write that I am very good with children or with the elderly. In doing this, I must be careful to continue listening carefully to the Spirit. Only he can impart to me God’s mind on my various strengths.
For example, if I love children, I might place that as a positive for a married vocation. However, a religious sister who serves in a school or in an orphanage is simply a different kind of mother to children than a married woman is. Love for children may have more than one outward expression. Pray to be open to all the possibilities.
I should also mention a phenomenon that continues to amaze me, although I suppose it shouldn’t. I’m struck by how often God calls very talented people – concert violinists, accomplished dancers, five star chefs, successful lawyers and doctors – to completely abandon their areas of expertise to pursue a vocation. I’ve read about a cloistered nun who was previously a star in a renowned ballet company. I’ve served with a priest who played piano in Carnegie hall. One would think that they are burying their talents in the ground, yet their joy and the fruitfulness of their lives debunks the thought.
Why does God call people who have clear gifts in one area to drop them and serve in a way that's totally different? I offer my own guess. Often, it seems to me, our evident gifts are external expressions of internal, foundational, hidden gifts. So, a gifted scientist has a more foundational gift of a logical and analytical mind. A good musician has a gift of empathy that can discern, internalize and express the emotion of a particular piece of music. The artist has a creative perceptivity in seeing reality and capturing it through a given medium so that others can see it and recognize truth, goodness and beauty.
Therefore, as we consider our strengths and gifts, we should be aware that God may want to reveal deeper gifts of which our known gifts are only one facet. Maybe these other gifts I would never discover if I simply followed the most obvious track. It's scary to strike out in a new direction when we’ve got some comfortable area of expertise or specialized competence. We must allow God to push us and to stretch us – we’ll be so much the better for it!
One last thought on this. In my own life, when I surrendered my gifts to God, I thought I would never be permitted to use them again. This was true for a few of them. But most he blessed and rendered more fruitful; even adding other gifts to the mix! He also deepened my appreciation for gifts I would not have prized so highly – like prayer and humble servanthood. I have found it helpful to reflect on the story of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his son Isaac (Genesis 22). Here is an image of the kind of radical trust it takes on our part to let God have our treasures; to allow him to choose whether they live or die.
Novena Prayer
Jesus says: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Pier Giorgio responds: To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth – that is not living but existing.
Let us Pray: Blessed Pier Giorgio, teach me silence in the face of personal humiliation and unjust criticism. But guide me to be courageous like you in standing on the side of God’s truth. Help me to be faithful to Him in all things, so that His will may be done in and through my life. Show me how to persevere in the struggle for those things which are holy and honorable.
Blessed Pier Giorgio, I ask for your intercession in obtaining from God, Who is the source of grace and truth, all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare. I confidently turn to you for help in my present need: (in your own words, ask for the Lord to give you the grace to listen with your whole soul).
A Book of Prayers in Honor of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, by Rev. Timothy E. Deeter
Make it My Own
Daily Discernment Workbook
A QUOTE TO NOTE
1. Counting My Treasure: Making My Gifts List
To consider our strengths, we have to consider what gifts God has given us. That’s a problem. No question is more certain to leave us cold, to erase every idea from our minds, than to sit and consider: “What are my particular gifts?” Maybe others can list them fairly easily, but for us it always seems like a short list full of ordinary and unremarkable things. No doubt I have gifts. But how might I come up with a reasonably complete list?
First, I quiet my heart and invite the Holy Spirit to guide my reflections: “Come Holy Spirit and enlighten my mind with knowledge and appreciation for the gifts you have given me.”
Second, I consider the following:
What do other people most often point out to be my positive traits?
What abilities do I (humbly) take pride in?
What positive attitudes to daily life do I consider distinctive to me? To get a better idea, I consider what most annoys me in other people’s attitudes? (for example negativity, or self-centeredness, or being inconsiderate). Then I consider what in my own attitudes is the opposite of these.
When I go back and consider what grounds my Sense of Self (all the way back to Day 4), in the Table of Self-Knowledge, what gifts emerge from that?
What strengths do I think I show in my approach to work?
What are my spiritual gifts? (for example, a love for the poor, a love for scripture or an ability to pray consistently for the needs of others).
EXAMINE MY HEART
2. Weighing My Treasure: Which Gifts Do I Value Most?
Which of these gifts are most dear to me – which do I consider closest to who I am as a person?
What gifts would I find most difficult to leave behind if God called me to follow him in a celibate vocation? I list them below along with how I feel about them…
GOING DEEP
3. Investing My Treasure: What Will Bring Greatest Glory to God?
Now I talk to God about my gifts, especially those I treasure most. I ask the Lord what he thinks of my gifts and what would bring him greatest glory in my use of them. I write below what I believe God would say.
A QUOTE TO NOTE
4. Wanting What God Wants – Only Love Makes This Possible
There is still fear in giving over my treasures to God. What will become of my dreams? What will happen to the things that make me unique? Love drives out this fear, as Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his first encyclical. We find that God’s will and our will are joined in perfect communion and we become not less, but rather more fully ourselves in the process.
Idem velle atque idem nolle—to want the same thing, and to reject the same thing—was recognized by antiquity as the authentic content of love: the one becomes similar to the other, and this leads to a community of will and thought. The love-story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in a communion of thought and feeling, and thus our will and God's will increasingly coincide: God's will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from outside by the commandments, but it is now my own will, based on the realization that God is in fact more deeply present to me than I am to myself. Then self- abandonment to God increases and God becomes our joy (cf. Ps 73 [72]:23-28).
Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, God is Love, 2005, #17
MY FAITH BUILDERS
5. The Ignatian Third Time: Try it Out!
At the end of the 99 Days (it’s coming up in two weeks!) we’ll have an opportunity to consider the specific question of a vocation. For now we want to get more familiar with this approach to decision-making called the “Third Time.” Below I follow the steps indicated to weigh the pro’s and con’s of an important decision I have coming up.
Prayerfully I consider something I need to make a decision about. It should be a significant decision (not something trivial) but it doesn’t have to involve life-changing issues. For example, I consider an invitation to attend a spiritual retreat or conference, or a specific place I might go for my vacation this year, or whether to stay with my roommate next year or find a new apartment and roommate.
I ask God to guide my reflections and call to mind the end for which I was made – namely to give glory to God and to attain the salvation of my soul.
I write my question in the form of a statement at the top of a blank piece of paper. I phrase it as specifically as possible: “I re-sign my lease and continue to live in my current apartment for another year,” or “I go back to school at the end of this year and get my graduate degree,” or more simply, “I fly home next month for my little brother’s graduation.”
I divide the paper into two columns. At the top of the first column I write “Reasons for…” and write as many as I can think of for the proposed course of action. When I’m finished, I write at the top of the second column, “Reasons against…” and write as many as I can think of against the proposed action.
Next I flip over the page and write the opposite version of the statement. If before I wrote, “I fly home next month for my little brother’s graduation,” I now consider, “I don’t fly home for my little brother’s graduation.” Again I divide the page into two columns and write, “Reasons for…” and “Reasons against…” at the top of each. Some of these reasons may overlap with what I wrote before, but often we get new insights when we turn the question around.
In order to weigh the importance of these reasons, this approach is suggested, though it is not from Ignatius. I assign numbers counting down from ten to one to the reasons that carry the most weight according to our criteria of bringing glory to God and salvation to my soul. The highest number, ten, is given to the most important reason and lesser reasons receive a lower number going down to the number one, which is least. I can only use each number once, so at the end I should have ten reasons remaining that have the greatest importance for my decision – with the most important reason being ten.
Now I divide reasons ten through one into two groups – those that support my proposition (what I wrote at the top of the first side of the page), and those that don’t support my proposition. Adding up the number value of each, what seems to be the strongest side?
I take this to prayer: “Lord, I believe the reasons I have considered lead me to the following decision [ ] , I lay this before you and I ask you to confirm this by your grace and consolation.”
I use the mental exercise described above in today’s text. First, I consider what advice I would give to someone else who comes to me asking about the same situation. Second, I imagine myself at the hour of my own death and consider what course of action I would have wished that I had taken (okay, admittedly this can seem extreme, but it may still be helpful). Finally, I place myself before God on the day of my judgment. What decision would I wish at that time I had made regarding my proposed course of action?
Based on this reflection, my conclusion is that I should do the following about the action or decision in question:
PROCEED TO THE SIXTH CONSECRATION BELOW
Conclude with
“Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be.
World without end, Amen.”
SIXTH CONSECRATION
The elements for this consecration are the same as before.
You’ll need: olive oil, a teaspoon , a small dish or plate, a candle and the small stone you wrote your name on – your stone of help. You’ll also need a towel or some paper towels.
Go to your quiet, private place. On a level surface, place the dish with your Ebenezer in the center. Near the dish, place the candle and light it. Have the olive oil to your right along with the teaspoon.
PETROS: THE SIXTH CONSECRATION RITE
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
[Read aloud the dream about the stone that became the Lord’s mountain from the book of Daniel (Dan. 2:26-45)]
Lord Jesus, you sent forth your Holy Spirit to renew the whole earth. You breathed your Spirit upon the apostles and sent them to be your witnesses. They went forth in the power of the Spirit to the ends of the earth to bring the message of your saving Gospel. By your word you destroyed earthly empires and shattered the idols of human pride. Your Spirit guided these first apostles to establish communities centered on your holy Eucharist and thus your Church grew to fill the whole earth.
Lord Jesus, today your Holy Spirit continues to move women and men to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world. You continue to cast down the proud and the mighty – not only in the world, but also amongst the members of your household, the Church. As a member of this household, Lord, I see in myself much that remains “proud and mighty” which cries out for conversion by resisting your reign.
Lord Jesus I ask that your Holy Spirit will crush within me all the idols that set themselves up in opposition to you.
Come Holy Spirit and crush the golden idol – the egotism of pride – in me.
Come Holy Spirit and crush the silver idol – the lust for pleasure – in me.
Come Holy Spirit and crush the brass idol – the attachment to possessions – in me.
Come Holy Spirit and crush the iron idol – the unrighteous pursuit of power and control – in me.
Come Holy Spirit and crush the clay idol – the hungering for popularity – in me.
(pour olive oil into teaspoon, and then pour the teaspoon out over the stone in the center of the dish).
Jesus, I consecrate this stone to you and I rename it Petros. The name is for your Church’s foundation stone, chosen by you, the wise builder. The stone’s name reminds me that at the heart of any vocation is a confession – a statement of faith in you, the Messiah, the only Son of God. Lord, keep me mindful that he who first confessed your true identity amongst your disciples later denied that he even knew your name. Lord when I am tempted to deny your role as Lord and Master of my life, I will take hold of this ebenezer and confess you saying, “Lord Jesus, not to my name, but to your name be the glory.” Jesus, when I pray, grant me the courage to entrust the whole of my life to you and to confess you not only with my voice, but also with my choice – my choice of a vocation that is pleasing to you.
All this I ask in your name, Lord Jesus, who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
Amen.
Hail Mary…
Dry off your Ebenezer and return it to your pocket.
So You Won’t Be Caught By Surprise
The final consecration rite with your Ebenezer will require some preparation. You’ll need to locate a cemetery in your area – the larger the better. Your final consecration, on Day 98, will be performed at the cemetery.
Also, contact your Discernment Advisor if you have not yet made arrangements for a time of personal retreat to conclude the novena.
[0] Ignatius, of Loyola, Saint, 1491-1556. The Spiritual Exercises of St.