Time and again, the best part of a talk — for the speaker as well as the audience — is the question period. I was reminded of that again recently, the occasion being a talk I gave a few weeks back to an audience of commendably serious-minded Catholics in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
I'd been asked to speak about one of my favorite topics, personal vocation. As I usually do, I stressed the practice of discernment as a way of finding out what in particular God has in mind for each one of us.
When I finished my prepared remarks, a priest voiced some friendly skepticism. Very often in the last 40 years, he pointed out, discernment has been used — or misused — by individuals and groups as an excuse for doing some genuinely bizarre things. Wouldn't it be better to talk about conscience formation instead?
My answer was along these lines:
"Father, you're entirely right-in the last four decades we've been subjected to a lot of really dreadful stuff at the hands of people who claimed they'd received instructions from the Holy Spirit to do whatever craziness it was they wanted to do even before they discerned. At times pseudo-discernment like this has been used in group settings by heterodox majorities seeking to impose their will on orthodox minorities.
"But granted all that, it doesn't follow that something is wrong with authentic vocational discernment. It has a long and honorable place in Christian tradition. St. Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises, for instance, are an outline for a discernment process that retains its relevance today.
"So where does conscience formation fit in? I don't believe it's a replacement for discerning. Rather, it's the foundation of sound discernment.
"Conscience formation comes first. People with well-formed consciences are in a position to undertake discernment to their profit. People whose consciences aren't well formed should be discouraged from discerning until formation of conscience has taken place. Discernment without conscience formation is an invitation to disaster."
A little later a young man asked another question that carried the discussion a step further: Suppose someone has discerned a vocation tries and tries to act on it but finds the door closed — what then?
This is what I said:
"I'd give such a person three pieces of advice.
"First, persevere. Keep trying. The fact that one door is closed doesn't mean all doors are. Explore other possibilities for doing what you believe God wants of you.
"Second, somebody in this situation has to accept the fact that compatibility with the Church's teaching and discipline is a decisive test for the authenticity of any vocation.
"And, finally, I'd point out — supposing the person is able to receive the message — that the disappointment, frustration, and even injustice sometimes involved in running up against closed doors may themselves be important elements of the personal vocations God gives us. Ultimately, after all, our calling as Christians is in some way to re-enact the life of Christ in our own lives. But persecution, suffering, and death were part of Jesus' personal vocation, and if we try to follow Him honestly, we can be sure that they will be part of ours."
Those were two excellent questions. I hope my answers weren't too wide of the mark. Personal vocation, whether recognized or not, is a foundational reality in the life of every Catholic, and discernment is an important tool for learning what one's personal vocation is. Today, thank the good Lord, more and more people are waking up to the implications of that.
