What is Discernment in Hebrew?

Discernment for the saint is simple, while discernment for the sinner is complex. Fr. Thomas Dubay wrote this in his book Authenticity. I think if you want the best advice on discernment, then read this book, but realize it is a wrestling match that will stretch you and hurt you. Over the next couple of days I will roughly outline the book.

Discernment is a most perplexing exercise. We proclaim that we want to hear what God has to say and we even think that we want to follow what God has planned for us. If only He would speak with more force, if only he would call me on my cell phone, if only he would text message me the answer. We listen and we strain to listen hard, only to tire and return to our normal life frustrated that God did not speak to us. And yet we probably wasted a great deal of time and energy listening to God in the manner we want and under the circumstances we want.

If you look in scripture for discernment techniques and tips, you will not find them under discernment. You must use the word authenticity. The meaning of this word is getting to the mind of God. It can be further defined as not being false in appearance, but instead being true and as God would see us. A genuine person is one who measures up to Jesus, but is humble enough to know who he actually is. The main problem with discerning God’s will is that we are not humble enough. And we live in far more error than we want to admit. We are a people who are prone to sin because of our fallen nature. While baptism forgives us of original sin, it does not remove the stain. We live with the stain of sin every day of our lives.

Sin causes us to do one of three actions with a message that we receive from God. First, we will take the message as Gospel. Second, we will allow the message that we have received to be separated from what the Church has taught. Third, we can take the message an exaggerate beyond the intended message.

An example is that we think that some particular gift we have been given by God dictates what should be done with our life. For instance, if I have the gift of memory I may believe that this dictates that I become a lawyer or a scientist; certainly God would not want me to squander this gift in another vocation. I could believe that, with an aptitude for medicine, I could better spread the Gospel as a doctor rather than as a religious. We are people who want to help God, but because we are fallen, we have a natural tendency to want to choose how this “help” is accomplished.

We need to be people who know the origin of our thoughts, inclinations or desires. Then we need to be able to evaluate if a given course or action seems to be of God or not. Because of the stain of original sin, we can find ourselves in the midst of sin. So the more honest we are with ourselves, and the more humility we have, the better we can cooperate with God’s gift of Grace.