God's Voice

[nikita92]

Last Saturday...I went to confession...I mentioned the fact that I felt confused and mentioned a spiritual director. His comment was..."those are to find" Needless to say...I felt that certainly wasnt a supportive thing to hear, nor did anything to help my state of mind about my confussion. Out of the two Catholic churches in my area (one I was baptised in) the one that has the adoration chapel(room) in it has a combo lock on it that I can never seem to open. Plus...call me difficult,but the Monstrance does NOT have the luna in the middle...and I cant shake the feeling...that it is MISSING a part that is vital...and it comes off to me as being EMPTY! Maybe I watch to many Benediction and Devotion on EWTN because the priests always insert the luna before and remove it after.

[nikita92]

Sorry...I spelled Confusion wrong. I am using a tablet.

[carmenchristi]

[quote name='nikita92' timestamp='1353368946' post='2513250']
Last Saturday...I went to confession...I mentioned the fact that I felt confused and mentioned a spiritual director. His comment was..."those are to find" Needless to say...I felt that certainly wasnt a supportive thing to hear, nor did anything to help my state of mind about my confussion. Out of the two Catholic churches in my area (one I was baptised in) the one that has the adoration chapel(room) in it has a combo lock on it that I can never seem to open. Plus...call me difficult,but the Monstrance does NOT have the luna in the middle...and I cant shake the feeling...that it is MISSING a part that is vital...and it comes off to me as being EMPTY! Maybe I watch to many Benediction and Devotion on EWTN because the priests always insert the luna before and remove it after.
[/quote]
Spiritual directors are hard to find, but it's not impossible. Pray for The Lord to guide you. It may take a while, but he knows what you need when you need it. Sometimes we would like a director and cannot find one. Maybe God is telling us that we need to stand on our own 2 feet a little more.

Also, don't get hung up on technicalities. I used to be very attached to forms. They are still important but don't let frustration with what you can't control hinder your spiritual life!!

[Freedom]

His voice sounds like my voice but much more powerful!

[Freedom]

[quote name='cmariadiaz' timestamp='1353351310' post='2513044']
That's a hard read. Just a warning -- I ended up getting two books (from Susan Muto) that explains passages in both of St. John's works.
[/quote]

It wasn't translated correctly, that's why it's a hard read.

[the171]

[quote name='Freedom' timestamp='1353549936' post='2514585']


It wasn't translated correctly, that's why it's a hard read.
[/quote]

Also, it is a really deep spiritual piece. Not something you just jump into without commentary.

[Gabriela]

This is actually what I'm writing my thesis on. Right now I'm doing a smaller, preparatory piece that considers how Catholic nuns distinguish God's voice from their own and from the devil's (mostly from the former; the latter's usually pretty obvious to a nun). If you want me to send you a bibliography from this paper, I'd be happy to. I should have it finalized in a few days (God help me!). Just PM me with your email address.

I can also send you several academic articles that have interviewed/surveyed people on the topic. They use evangelical Protestants, due to their strong emphasis on hearing God's voice. Some of their views are therefore not kosher according to Church teaching. But it gives you an idea of how people make the distinction. And I can pass along some citations for Catholic works as well. Unfortunately, I have not found a single academic study on how Catholics discern God's voice. But that's good in a way, as it appears that mine will be the first. :-)

[Gabriela]

As it happens, someone else on PM referred me yesterday to St. Teresa of Avila's [i]Interior Castle[/i]. Chapter three lists very concisely some signs of true locutions. ("Locutions" are the most concretely "verbal" of God's communications. Of course, He can communicate in infinite other ways, as well. But this is what I've got for ya' at the moment. ;-) Here are her signs, as I understand them (PMers, please correct me if I'm wrong!) and as I condensed them for incorporation into my thesis:


[b]St. Teresa of Avila’s Signs of Genuine (Divine) Locutions[/b][list=1]
[*]They carry “power and authority” (chapter 3, paragraph 7), i.e., they affect immediate change for the good in the soul (accompanied by positive affect).

[*]Pious calm and peace, a desire to praise God (chapter 3, paragraph 10).

[*]They are impressed indelibly upon the memory and there is an unwavering certainty of their truth, even when it seems impossible (chapter 3, paragraph 11).

[*]The language used is exceedingly clear and distinct (chapter 3, paragraph 20).

[*]Often the hearer was not thinking about the content of the locution at the time that it occurred, and may not have even known anything about the subject (chapter 3, paragraph 21).

[*]“The soul seems to listen to the words,” in contrast to imagination-constructed locutions, with which one can perceive the process of their construction step by step—i.e., divine locutions occur suddenly, and the hearer receives them passively rather than actively constructing them (chapter 3, paragraph 22).

[*]Single words in divine locutions seem to have “a depth of meaning” far beyond what our mind could imbue into even a whole phrase (chapter 3, paragraph 23).

[*]One understands from the locution a great deal more than is contained in the literal meaning of the words themselves (chapter 3, paragraph 24).

[*]The result of the locution is humility, not pride (chapter 3, paragraph 25).

[*]One cannot desire these locutions into existence, nor ignore them, not listen to them, or distract one’s mind from them as they are occurring (chapter 3, paragraph 27). In other words, they compel attention.
[/list]
Just FYI: These overlap with the opinions of many other authorities, including both Catholic and academic sources.

Perhaps more to the point: When God speaks to you, [i]you just know![/i] So, at least, say 35 nuns. :-)

Edited November 22, 2012 by curiousing

[mantellata]

There is a difference between a "locution" and ..... shall we say "interior knowledge" which is usually more "run-of-the-mill" experience that people speak about when they say God "spoke to them".

[4LoveofJMJ]

I know I have made a topic like this before but I don't think it answered my question so I'll ask it again. How is one supposed to know Gods voice in discerning a vocation? I feel like I know exactly where God is leading me and it may be that this is completely true and I am just impatient but often times I doubt this voice and just assume its my own imagination creating what I want my life to be... besides a spiritual director what would y'all suggest?

Thank you so much for making this thread! I also have times where I feel like God is leading me somewhere, mainly the religious life, but then I am overcome with doubts and fears about it. I dont know If I am just talking myself into it because I have thought about it for so long and that the religious life is the only vocation I can think about because I have never dated before, so I dont know what the love of a man feels like. ( this is my mom's main argument when ever I talk with her about it) Svo I really need some advice as well

Also what would you consider a spiritual director? I have been talking about this to a friend of mine who is in the religious life studying to become a priest and I was wondering if he counts as a spiritual director. God bless!!!

[MarysLittleFlower]

Thank you so much for making this thread! I also have times where I feel like God is leading me somewhere, mainly the religious life, but then I am overcome with doubts and fears about it. I dont know If I am just talking myself into it because I have thought about it for so long and that the religious life is the only vocation I can think about because I have never dated before, so I dont know what the love of a man feels like. ( this is my mom's main argument when ever I talk with her about it) Svo I really need some advice as well

Also what would you consider a spiritual director? I have been talking about this to a friend of mine who is in the religious life studying to become a priest and I was wondering if he counts as a spiritual director. God bless!!!

 

I know what you mean! I also feel like God is leading me somewhere, I'm trying to figure it out and what His will is. Sometimes I have doubts and fears too. I feel drawn to religious life and i've also never really dated before. I think though - if someone feels like they just want to be with Jesus, it's a lot like when someone found who they want to marry and there's no reason to look at others! :)

 

I think it's really good to have a priest as a spiritual director or a religious... it seems spiritual directors have different approaches so it's good to find one that really understands you spiritually. It can happen that God just leads you to the priest one.

 

God bless :)

[MarysLittleFlower]

I think with hearing God's voice... I read a booklet called "Is Jesus calling you to be a Catholic priest" - even though clearly, I can't be a priest :) one of the points there that really made me think was focusing on how you feel when  you're close to God, not when you're confused. So if you feel drawn to religious life when you're at Adoration, that's more significant than the doubts you might feel when you're worrying about your future.

 

But I wish I knew more about this! Maybe something to talk to a good priest about, so he can teach more about prayer, and of course we must pray in order to recognize God's voice better :) the more we know Him, the easier it would be to recognize Him, right? I think it's true that when God speaks to us, there's really no doubt about it. I think for me it's confusing with things like - feeling an attraction to religious life.. I guess that's where an SD can give more advice... on how to tell if that is God's will too. God can make it clear in prayer if that is His will and if we are ready I guess.

Edited December 11, 2012 by MarysLittleFlower

[4LoveofJMJ]

I know what you mean! I also feel like God is leading me somewhere, I'm trying to figure it out and what His will is. Sometimes I have doubts and fears too. I feel drawn to religious life and i've also never really dated before. I think though - if someone feels like they just want to be with Jesus, it's a lot like when someone found who they want to marry and there's no reason to look at others! :)

I think it's really good to have a priest as a spiritual director or a religious... it seems spiritual directors have different approaches so it's good to find one that really understands you spiritually. It can happen that God just leads you to the priest one.

God bless :)

Yes there are times where I feel with perfect clarity that I am called to the religious life and that I would feel like I would be cheating on my husband with God if I choose marriage. But then there are times where I feel like even God does not want me to be His. So I think about marriage But deep down I think I'm being called to the religious life. I'm kinda scared because its been getting kinda sureal for me.