by Father Robert Lauder

Fifth in a series

From the time that Pope Francis was elected, there has been considerable speculation about what having a Jesuit as pope will mean for the Church. I went to Xavier High School, a Jesuit high school situated on West 16th Street in Manhattan. I imagine all the Jesuits who taught me, in fact all the Jesuits who were there almost 60 years ago, are now in heaven. However, I like to imagine how excited they would have been to have a Jesuit become pope.

Certainly, the pope already has emphasized St. Ignatius’ notion of discernment. Re-reading the famous interview of Pope Francis that took place in August but was published in several Jesuit magazines in September, has helped me to appreciate discernment in a new way. It now seems obvious to me that everyone, not only priests and religious, should engage in discernment especially when they are involved in making an important decision, a decision that will have serious ramifications in their lives.

‘Instrument of Struggle’

Pope Francis said the following:

“Discernment is one of the things that worked inside St. Ignatius. For him it is an instrument of struggle in order to know the Lord and follow Him more closely. I was always struck by a saying that describes the vision of Ignatius: non coerceri a maximo, sed contineri a minimo divinum est (‘not to be limited by the greatest and yet to be contained in the tiniest – this is the divine’). I thought a lot about this phrase in connection with the issue of different roles in the government of the church, about becoming the superior of somebody else: it is important not to be restricted by a larger space, and it is important to be able to stay in restricted spaces. This virtue of the large and small is magnanimity. Thanks to magnanimity, we can always look at the horizon from the position where we are. That means being able to do the little things of every day with a big heart open to God and to others. That means being able to appreciate the small things inside large horizons, those of the kingdom of God.

“This motto … offers parameters to assume a correct position for discernment, in order to hear the things of God from God’s ‘point of view.’”

What has struck me especially about Pope Francis’ comments about discernment is that we should strive to see things from God’s “point of view.” It seems to me that in any important decisions that we make, we should want to have God’s “point of view” to guide us.

I am thinking of three big decisions that I made in my life. With each of them, I was preoccupied with doing the will of God. Probably “doing the will of God” in practice is the same or at least similar to seeing things from God’s “point of view.”

Making God Real and Personal

For me, the expression “seeing things from God’s point of view” not only includes the idea of God’s will, but also makes God’s will more real and personal rather than some abstract, distant power to whose rule we should submit.

There are all sorts of realities that can make seeing things from God’s “point of view” very difficult. Our sinfulness, especially our pride, and the secular nature of our surroundings present obstacles to seeing things from God’s “point of view.” How we live will greatly enhance or hinder our being in tune with God’s “point of view.” Do I really want to “hear the things of God from God’s point of view” or are my deepest desires coming from a selfish point of view in which I place myself, consciously or unconsciously, above God? In every sin, we place ourselves above God. Has my sinfulness not only made me deaf to hearing God’s point of view but also moved me to replace God’s point of view with my own point of view?

In addition to having someone with whom I can regularly discuss my relationship with God, usually called a spiritual director, I have discovered or re-discovered in recent years how personal prayer can help us to see in new ways. If we allow ourselves to be totally honest with God and welcome God’s loving presence, I think we will find that God “speaks” to us. I think we will see in a new way and have a sense of God’s presence in a new way – a way that makes God’s presence seem more real.[hr] Father Robert Lauder, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn and philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica, writes a weekly column for the Catholic Press.