Difficult Questions Part 2

Religion, for the most part, has made the bold claim that it can say something about the divinity that is hidden in the darkness beyond the finite/infinite boundary. It attempts to do so based on insight gained from the experience of a prophet or a people. Often this is gathered into a classic text. The text may include bits of wisdom from the historical experience of the people or the words of the prophet. The classic text may be formal scripture; such as the Torah, New Testament, or the Koran. It may be legends and sacred stories of an oral tradition that are passed from one generation to the next, as with Native American communities.  It may take the form of dance and ritual; as with Bali and many indigenous communities. In every case these religious expressions attempt to give us insight into the darkness.

Christians make the bold claim that God is manifest in Jesus of Nazareth. In Jesus of Nazareth God crossed over the boundary from the infinite to the finite. So, that when we encounter Jesus of Nazareth, we encounter God. We may still fail to comprehend God but In Jesus we can come a bit closer to that because what we can grasp about God is open to our perception and experience in Jesus. We can get a sense of how God relates to people because we can reflect on how Jesus related to people. So, are not lost in the profound darkness of a God who is beyond the finite/infinite border but Christ, who is both human and divine, stands at the border and sheds bright light into the infinite through the brightness of his life. Indeed, that same light illumines the world of the finite as well allowing a clear perception of this material world.

We want to know about God not from curiosity but because we sense that the relationship with the divine is important to us.  That relationship gives our lives meaning.  In the context of that relationship, “Who is God calling me to be?”  “What is God asking of me?” “What is my personal vocation?”

Our desire to know who we are is intimately linked to our sense of purpose. It is having an idea of our purpose that gives us meaning and a sense of who we are. If I know what God asks of me, the task is that God has placed me on Earth and given the talents and grace to accomplish, then my life has meaning in the accomplishment of that task. If I know what God asks of me, then I know who I am.

I read a book not too long ago by Fr. Hector Alfonso SJ. The name of the book was “Discerning Our Personal Vocation.”  The book is based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. Fr. Alphonso identifies several elements from the Spiritual Exercises that are particularly important. In gaining a sense of what God is asking of us.

The first is prayer. Not only does it orient us to God and leave us open to God’s call, but it helps us find the inner freedom to respond to that call. We must be people of prayer.

Prayer is defined as raising our hearts and minds to God. This is a very broad definition, leaving room for many approaches to prayer.  It needs to be broad because God remains beyond our grasp, but prayer disposes us to be open to the divine that we cannot grasp but with whom we are in relationship.

There is room for formulary prayers, such as the Liturgy of the Hours or the Rosary. There is room for conversational prayer. There is room for Scripture reading and Lectio Divina. There is room for silence and for centering prayer. Prayer is communication with God and with all forms of communication it is two way. It is necessary that we express ourselves and that we listen.

While a wide variety of prayer forms are helpful, our discernment is particularly aided by reflective prayer. We need to listen to what God is saying to us. We need to pay attention to what God is saying in the deepest corner of our heart. We need to use reason and logic in the process of discernment, as well as pay careful attention to the movement of our heart. We need to empty ourselves of our preconceived ideas and presumptions and be open to what God is working in us. We must take a close look at ourselves to understand what God is doing in us. This is where reflective prayer, such as the Examen, plays an important role.

The Examen blends the active and passive aspects of prayer. It is a form of examination of conscience in which we begin by expressing gratitude to God, we then reflect on how God has touched us in the concrete aspects of life that day and finally on how we fell short of what God asks of us. It is also an opportunity for God to speak to us in the movement of our hearts and minds as we contemplate our relationship with God that day. It is an opportunity for us to listen.

Fr. Alphonso has us look for our vocation in our life stories, as our personal vocation is part of who we are. It is a unique, God-given life script that animates and gives direction to our lives at the deepest level. However, the way that personal vocation plays out in our life at any point in time is certainly influenced by the circumstances of our lives. If our personal vocation is the constant and consistent source of meaning in our life, what happens as we live out that vocation is that it becomes more deeply meaningful. Once our personal vocation is discovered then it becomes the core criterion for every other decision we must make in life.

Personal vocation is our unique way of giving and surrendering self. It is how we open out onto the community; encountering its social reality, as well as our responsibilities and commitment to others. It brings us into greater communion with others, service is a way to give expression to communion. So, in discerning our personal vocation, we must look at whether our life is moving in the direction of greater communion and service.