Discernment

So for a few months now, the prospect of joining the religious life has been on my mind. I mean for all that matters, I am really just open to any vocation God calls me to follow. There is no particular vocation which I'm more swayed towards to, be it single life, marriage, of religious life. It's all a very neutral feeling. It's hard though, to actually figure out what God's plans are for us. It is not an easy task. It is not an overnight thing where you ask God to tell you what He wants you to do and the next day, BAM, there you go – you realize what you're supposed to do all this while. No. It doesn't work that way. If only it was this simple.

As we all know, God works in mysterious ways. Discernment is a long process that often lasts for years. We need to first have a relationship with him. Praying and having a community is important. As Sr. Jane (one of the senior FMM nuns) shared, discernment is not an individual journey but one that we take with others. We need to have a community to help us so that they can help us determine the parts of us that we cannot see – our blindspots – to make a better decision because choosing a vocation is not a decision we simply make. It doesn't mean that when we feel that yeah, this is something I can do and feel comfortable in doing, it is the right choice. God always calls us to do something much more than what we think we can do. That is why we are often called to take this leap of faith.

Martin (a mission worker in St. Thomas More) also shared that we often think of discernment in the wrong way in the sense that given 2 choices, we are suppose to discern which is bad and which is good. That's not what it is though. Discernment is having choices of something good and something greater. So if God were to call us to something greater, and we feel that we are not up for it or choose not to take that choice, we would still end up with the other choice which is still good. No matter which way we go, there is no vocation/calling that is bad. As someone shared, God ultimately wants us to be happy so He won't blame us for not accepting the calling He has for us. However, that being said, this is not an excuse for pushing God's plan for us aside.

In every vocation, we partake in marriage some form or another. When man and women are joined in the union of the sacrament of matrimony, they become one and their spousal union reflects the union of Christ and His bride, the Church. In religious life, the priests, brothers, and sisters becomes celibate and gives up their entire life to be with Christ, and hence, they are spiritually married with Christ and are in union with Him. Those who are called to live a single life are called to give their gift of self to Christ. No matter what our calling is, we would ultimately be glorifying God and doing His will.

Today, Sr. Angeline shared a lot about her story about how she became a nun. She felt a special calling towards religious life mainly because of God's love for her. Also, she doesn't particularly have the want and need to marry somebody so why not consider the religious life? It wasn't an easy journey for her, as I could say the same about everyone else making this journey. I think in the end, when talking about discernment, we really need to continuously pray, and to have people by our side to journey with us. Having a spiritual director would definitely help us as well. I myself have no idea where God wants to bring me to but I trust in His plan that in time, it will slowly be revealed to me. God bless, everyone. :)

Hahaha I found this funny. :P Would you rather a rolls-royce vocation or a toyota vocation?