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Offline Zeitun

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Discerning Gods Will in Our Lives
« on: May 07, 2014, 12:53:48 PM »
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    • It's difficult to discern God's will for us in our lives sometimes.  We are blessed that our faith has the gift of the Doctors and many holy moralists who have left directions for us in written form. Here's my dilemma:

    How do we discern when God is directing us AWAY from something that is not objectively immoral but rather doesn't conform to His will for our lives?  For instance should we interpret a long string of events that continually prevent us from pursuing a particular thing or path as God manifesting His will that we NOT do something?  I appreciate responses that may include a particular Church source or book that I can follow up with on my own.

    Thanks.
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    Offline Cantarella

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    Discerning Gods Will in Our Lives
    « Reply #1 on: May 07, 2014, 01:00:57 PM »
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    • This booklet deals with this type of questions:

    Uniformity With God's Will

    By. St Alphonsus de Ligouri

    http://www.catholictreasury.info/books/uniformity_with_Gods_will/index.php

    "Finally we should consider the events which are happening to us now and which will happen to us in the future, as coming from the hands of God. Everything we do should be directed to this one end: to do the will of God and to do it solely for the reason that God wills it. To walk more securely on this road we must depend on the guidance of our superiors in external matters, and on our directors in internal matters, to learn from them God's will in our regard, having great faith in the words of our Lord: "He that heareth you, heareth me[1]."

    Above all, let us bend all our energies to serve God in the way he wishes. This remark is made so that we may avoid the mistake of him who wastes his time in idle day-dreaming. Such a one says, "If I were to become a hermit, I would become a saint" or "If I were to enter a monastery, I would practice penance" or "If I were to go away from here, leaving friends and companions, I would devote long hours to prayer." If, If, If -- all these if's! In the meantime such a person goes from bad to worse. These idle fancies are often temptations of the devil, because they are not in accord with God's will. Hence we should dismiss them summarily and rouse ourselves to serve God only in that way which he has marked out for us. Doing his holy will, we shall certainly become holy in those surroundings in which he has placed us".    ...
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    If anyone says that true and natural water is not necessary for baptism and thus twists into some metaphor the words of our Lord Jesus Christ" Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit" (Jn 3:5) let him be anathema.

    Offline nipr

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    Discerning Gods Will in Our Lives
    « Reply #2 on: May 12, 2014, 11:09:45 AM »
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    • The book referenced above by St. Alphonsus is wonderful, and I also highly recommend "Holy Abandonment" by Rev. Dom Vitalis Lehodey, O.C.R. (written before Vatican II and goes into great detail about how to find God's Signified Will and His Will of Good Pleasure in your life, discusses ways in which God manifests His Will for you, how to deal with inspirations, using prudence in discernment, etc.  A real gem of a book).  I consider this a MUST HAVE for a spiritual reading library.    

    Another good one is "The Holy Will of God:  Source of Peace and Happiness" by Fr. Leo Pyzalski, C.SS.R (also written before Vatican II).  I recommend getting both because even though they address the same subject, they do so in different ways.  I've used both since childhood even though they are written for adults.  

    I recommend reading "Holy Abandonment" by Lehodey first.  It gives a good foundation to build from for discernment in particular circuмstances.

    I hope you find the help you're looking for.
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