I Think I Know What Discernment Is All About, Finally.

[TeresaBenedicta]

Waiting.

[FutureSister2009]

Yes it is. We all have to do it but with the hope that it will all be worth it in the end

[MargaretTeresa]

Lots of waiting and praying. And ing yourself whenever you realize something that is in plain site...

And going [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/crazy.gif[/img]

[Clare~Therese]

[quote name='MargaretTeresa' timestamp='1308687468' post='2256928']
Lots of waiting and praying. And ing yourself whenever you realize something that is in plain site...

And going [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/crazy.gif[/img]
[/quote]

Exactly.

[Lisa]

and then waiting some more!

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb7TSGptd3Y[/media]

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='Lisa' timestamp='1308698650' post='2257049']
and then waiting some more!

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb7TSGptd3Y[/media]
[/quote]

Haha, yup!!

At least I moved from "anxious waiting" to "peaceful waiting". Mostly because I've done so much waiting that I can't help but just say, "Alright Lord!"

[AccountDeleted]

Try to look at it like this... Jesus kept telling everyone "My time has not yet come." but that didn't mean that He stopped living or doing what was in front of Him. He didn't let 'waiting' control His life. Our attitude to waiting can mean the difference between wasting this time and using it to strengthen our relationship with Him.

I think it is a great danger to think that anything will be any different after we finally 'achieve' whatever our particular goal is at the time. Once we are there, the goal line might shift to waiting for clothing, waiting for first profession, waiting for final profession, etc. A life well lived is more important than milestones along the way.

As humans, we seem to need goals, short term, medium term, and long term. But the main goal for every Christian is beyond this life, so all of this so-called 'waiting' is about preparing ourselves for that final goal. So, we need to stop waiting, and start living, as the hymn says... 'one step enough for me'.

Not one of us knows how long we will live - what if we die while we are 'waiting'? Just a few thoughts from one who spent a lot of time 'waiting'....

I never get tired of this poem...


[b][u]Wait
[/u][/b]by Russell Kelfer


Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1308707931' post='2257130']
Try to look at it like this... Jesus kept telling everyone "My time has not yet come." but that didn't mean that He stopped living or doing what was in front of Him. He didn't let 'waiting' control His life. Our attitude to waiting can mean the difference between wasting this time and using it to strengthen our relationship with Him.

I think it is a great danger to think that anything will be any different after we finally 'achieve' whatever our particular goal is at the time. Once we are there, the goal line might shift to waiting for clothing, waiting for first profession, waiting for final profession, etc. A life well lived is more important than milestones along the way.

As humans, we seem to need goals, short term, medium term, and long term. But the main goal for every Christian is beyond this life, so all of this so-called 'waiting' is about preparing ourselves for that final goal. So, we need to stop waiting, and start living, as the hymn says... 'one step enough for me'.

Not one of us knows how long we will live - what if we die while we are 'waiting'? Just a few thoughts from one who spent a lot of time 'waiting'....

I never get tired of this poem...


[b][u]Wait
[/u][/b]by Russell Kelfer


Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."
[/quote]

Well said.

It's something I've come to be 'at home' with. And not simply waiting for entrance... but waiting in general. It's part of what it means to be Catholic. It's a part of our liturgical year. It's the constant state of our souls as we await Heaven.

[BigJon16]

Jesus waited 30 years before beginning his public ministry.


In 1 Corinthians 13:4 Paul tells us that "love is patient". After all, true love waits! God is always patient with us. He is slow to anger and is always willing to "hear us out" when we trespass against Him. When a person is discerning, they are seeking the path that God has chosen for them. "Seek and you shall find", but "seekeing" is not an instantaneous thing, it requires time and patience. That patience comes from the love that we have for Him, and the love that He has for us. Its a mutual thing. Our true vocation is doing what we love, and in turn spreading that love to others. We love Christ, so therefore, we spread His love. That is our vocation as Christians, the problem is, there are so many different paths that one can travel to fulfill that vocation, we just have to find the right one for us. But one day we shall find that right path, as long as we have patience and love.



And good song, by the way! And a very beautiful poem! thanks for sharing both!

[das8949]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' timestamp='1308710810' post='2257143']
Well said.

It's something I've come to be 'at home' with. And not simply waiting for entrance... but waiting in general. It's part of what it means to be Catholic. It's a part of our liturgical year. It's the constant state of our souls as we await Heaven.
[/quote]

When and where are you actually entering?

[FutureSister2009]

I love that song and that poem is very helpful too. Once I am completely 100% certain of which community I belong to, I hope I don't have to wait nearly as long as I'm waiting right now until my entrance. I guess since I still don't know what community to enter, it is good that I am going to school so I can think about it more.

[Chamomile]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1308707931' post='2257130']
"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
[b]That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.[/b]
[/quote]


I like this a lot... because it shows that what we should always be doing is focusing on Him - living in relationship with God. We tend to focus on things or status instead of being present to those around us. And God is always with us, so sometimes that request that we wait is more like a plea for us to realize His presence and to abide with Him, in peace and love.


[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' timestamp='1308710810' post='2257143']
Well said.

It's something I've come to be 'at home' with. And not simply waiting for entrance... but waiting in general. It's part of what it means to be Catholic. It's a part of our liturgical year. It's the constant state of our souls as we await Heaven.
[/quote]


Part of why Advent is such a beautiful liturgical season.

But even though we're always "waiting" in Advent, Our Lord is always with us [i]every moment[/i]. And yet, yes, we're still waiting... really, how the liturgical year relates to our spiritual life is a mystery. I love how we relive it each year, experiencing those same events yet in a completely different place ourselves.

We're called to live out our union with the Trinity every day regardless of circumstances. And in that way, it's sort of like the Ethiopian that St. Philip spoke with - he asked what could prevent him from being baptized [i]at that very moment[/i]? There's also nothing that should prevent us from living fully in communion with God even while waiting for external circumstances to change (but in reality, I know I put a lot of things in the way to prevent that from happening).

Sorry if I've been confusing or unhelpful! Just rambling on a bit... Prayers as you continue to discern!

Edited June 22, 2011 by Chamomile

[faithcecelia]

I also think its worth noting Mary's role in Jesus's 'wait'. In the Gospels we have the story of the child Jesus in the Temple, and Mary going to fetch him, effectively telling him 'not yet'. Then when he is grown and the time is right it is Mary who prompts him to begin his ministry - at the wedding at Cana she had so much faith that the time [i]was [/i]right that she ordered the servants to listen to him, even though he had just told her 'My time has not yet come'.

I think this shows us a couple of things. Firstly, that we should ask her to intercede for us regarding our vocations (indeed, the name 'Mother of Vocation' is beginning to come into use, and who better?) but also that those in the position where their parents still have responsibility should listen to and respect their parent's wishes.

Yes, waiting is hard. Waiting is also something that will stay with us all throughout our lives - whether we enter religious life or are shown that our paths are elsewhere, so we might as well get used to it now!