The Best Discernment Advice.

[Veritas]

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[size=4][font="Arial Black"][b]8 Steps to Discerning [/b][/font][/size]

[b]Be Quiet:[/b] In order to hear the Lord's voice calling, take time to pray and meditate in silence about your vocation, especially in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

[b]Find a spiritual director[/b] - somebody you can be open with, who can help you to develop your relationship with God and to help you know yourself better.

[b]Ask a priest, brother or sister [/b]in your parish to put you in touch with the vocation director.

[b]Read up on religious and priestly life[/b]. Look at the good periodicals on vocations and check out the ads.

[b]Write to the communities[/b] that interest you.

[b]Visit the ones[/b] you feel called to you.

[b]Build a relationship with the one[/b] with which you have a sense of coming home. Get involved in its summer and monthly programs. Don't just talk the talk - walk the walk with them as well.

[b]Wait for the Lord[/b]; discerning your vocation is a process. God's timing is always perfect - but seldom seems soon enough.



[font="Georgia"][center][i]
[b]Prayer For Guidance[/b]

"Most high, glorious God
enlighten the darkness of my heart
and grant me, Lord,
a correct faith,
a certain hope,
a perfect charity,
sense and knowledge,
so that I may carry out,
Your holy and true command."[/i][/center][/font]
~ [url="http://franciscansisterscfr.com/discernment1.htm"]http://franciscansisterscfr.com/discernment1.htm[/url]

Edited July 15, 2007 by Veritas

[Guest AndyMacOP]

[size=2][font="Tahoma"]If you really want a great resource, pick up "Religious Vocations: An Unnecessary Mystery" by Richard Butler, OP. He was a friar of our Province who wrote this book in 1961 and it is as timely as ever, mostly because it is rooted in the theology and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.

My favorite parts of the book are the fact that if you believe you have a call, you should ONLY talk to those who will encourage the call, none of this devil's advocate stuff when dealing with a vocation. Also when he says that Thomas tells us what to do if you father lays in front of the door to prevent you from entering into a vocation: STEP OVER HIM!

Awesome.

Pax,

AndyMacOP[/font][/size]

[littlesister]

[quote name='Veritas' post='1329572' date='Jul 15 2007, 01:38 PM']+

[size=4][font="Arial Black"][b]8 Steps to Discerning [/b][/font][/size]

[b]Be Quiet:[/b] In order to hear the Lord's voice calling, take time to pray and meditate in silence about your vocation, especially in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

[b]Find a spiritual director[/b] - somebody you can be open with, who can help you to develop your relationship with God and to help you know yourself better.

[b]Ask a priest, brother or sister [/b]in your parish to put you in touch with the vocation director.

[b]Read up on religious and priestly life[/b]. Look at the good periodicals on vocations and check out the ads.

[b]Write to the communities[/b] that interest you.

[b]Visit the ones[/b] you feel called to you.

[b]Build a relationship with the one[/b] with which you have a sense of coming home. Get involved in its summer and monthly programs. Don't just talk the talk - walk the walk with them as well.

[b]Wait for the Lord[/b]; discerning your vocation is a process. God's timing is always perfect - but seldom seems soon enough.

:bigpray:

[font="Georgia"][center][i]
[b]Prayer For Guidance[/b]

"Most high, glorious God
enlighten the darkness of my heart
and grant me, Lord,
a correct faith,
a certain hope,
a perfect charity,
sense and knowledge,
so that I may carry out,
Your holy and true command."[/i][/center][/font]
~ [url="http://franciscansisterscfr.com/discernment1.htm"]http://franciscansisterscfr.com/discernment1.htm[/url][/quote]

[littlesister]

These steps are really good. Pope John Paul II's advice was to "strike out into the deep." A commentator added to that, "Yes, but when you get there, don't row around in circles. Drop the line and catch something!" So don't be afraid to take the next step.
The first one can be the hardest.

[MC IMaGiNaZUN]

All i can say is
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
do not be so proud to believe that you can discover God's call for you all on your own.
Jesus loves you
shalom
bro mark

[Veritas]

[quote name='MC IMaGiNaZUN' post='1466256' date='Feb 20 2008, 02:22 PM']All i can say is
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
do not be so proud to believe that you can discover God's call for you all on your own.
Jesus loves you
shalom
bro mark[/quote]

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Amen, brother! -IF you have a GOOD SD around!

[tinytherese]

When I discerned with the Benedictine Sisters of Mary Queen of Apostles, the prioress gave me some advice to know if a community is the right one for you.

1. You pray well.

2. You sleep well. (Not on the first couple of nights but for the most part, since a lot of communities have week long visits or longer.)

3. You eat well. (Not that it needs to be fine dinning but not to join a community that has food that you absolutely don't like or can't keep down.)

4. Your heart and head agree on the community.

5. You're mature enough.

[Sister Rose Therese]

This is an excellent article written back in the 50s. It follows Ignatian spirituality. You should be able to relate to at least one of his categories and the advice is very solid.
[url="http://religiouslife.com/a_learn_discern.html"]http://religiouslife.com/a_learn_discern.html[/url]

[Rising_Suns]

People seem to find the following website to be helpful in discerning religious life; [url="http://www.religious-vocation.com/"]www.religious-vocation.com[/url]

It addresses the following things;
[b]1.[/b] [url="http://www.religious-vocation.com/differences_religious_orders.html"]What are the differences between religious orders?[/url]
[b]2. [/b][url="http://www.religious-vocation.com/"]Why the Consecrated Life is a higher calling than marriage[/url]
[b]3.[/b] [url="http://www.religious-vocation.com/redemptive_suffering.html"]What the Saints say about suffering and religious life[/url]
[b]4.[/b] [url="http://www.religious-vocation.com/discerning_religious_vocation.html"]How to discern religious life[/url]
[b]5.[/b] [url="http://www.religious-vocation.com/media_links.html"]Videos, Media, and Links to vocations websites[/url]

Something that I find is important for those discerning religious life is to realize that this life is not a spiritual vacation, but rather, a "school of mortification", to use the words of St. Francis De Sales. Religious life is not a place of continual spiritual bliss, but rather, it is to learn to suffer well and to do penance for one's own expiation and the salvation of souls. If people enter religious life for any other reason than to offer themselves as a holocaust for love of God, then they will impede God's plan for their lives.

[b]Saint Francis De Sales[/b]
"Let us consider whether we have sufficient courage and resolution to crucify and annihilate ourselves, or rather to permit God to do so. You must understand what it is to be a religious. It is to be bound to God by the continual mortification of ourselves, and to live only for Him. Our heart is surrendered always and wholly to His Divine Majesty; our eyes, tongue, hands and all our members serve Him continually. Look well into your heart and see if you have resolution enough to die to yourself and to live only to God. Religion is nothing else than a school of renunciation and self mortification.”

Blessings.

Edited July 18, 2008 by Rising_Suns