Greetings,

As we continue on our Lenten journey, I would like to share some of my thoughts on the subject of discernment. How do we know when God is working with us, directing us, subtly communicating with us to choose a certain direction in our life or to make a good decision when things seem to be confusing at best? There are a number of different ways and assumptions that I am working with that help me. I hope they are helpful to you as well…
The very first assumption I am working with in my relationship with God is that He will communicate with me in a way that I will understand. If a person is not aware of his presence ever, I suspect that they are not praying (maybe not consistently or from the heart). If we quiet ourselves down in silence and solitude with an open and humble heart, consistently and with sincerity, then I believe that God will fill all of our needs. We have to start with a good disposition that is not demanding nor full of expectations. We need to be open to the way God wants to work with us. We have to learn to be docile to His subtle movements. It cannot be the way I want it, how I want it, why I want it. This makes it all about me, when truly it needs to be about God… the way God wants it, how He wants it, and why He wants it. Another assumption that I hold is that God hears all of my prayers and answers them perfectly every time. They may not be answered in the way that I want them answered (for God sees the big picture) rather, He will answer them in the way that best helps me to grow in the spiritual life, to come closer to Him.
When we are in the middle of a God experience by ourselves or with others, another helpful skill is to look for the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Is there a peace and joy, gentleness, kindness, generosity and mildness, a willingness to suffer well, chastity and self-control. St. Paul speaks of these fruits as a way for us to understand God’s presence in our lives. But let us not be fooled. Sometimes these so called fruits can be deceiving for a short time.
Another wonderful tool of discernment is that of the unselfish embracing of the Cross. We always know that we are following our Lord if we are unselfishly saying yes to picking up our crosses daily to follow Him. Humility is the saying yes to God and what He asks of us even when it might be painful or unpopular. We have to be careful also here, because many things can masquerade as humility that may be false.
One last full proof way as Catholics to discern whether something is of God or not is if it conforms to the Official Magisterial Teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Our Catholic Church is without error in it’s teaching on faith and morals and will never let us down. We have God’s promise that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it…
I also believe that if we are bound and determined to follow God no matter what… To be open and honest with a sincere heart, that eventually we will come to know His will for us in our life. We have to be unconditionally committed to an open and honest heart. To go wherever He leads, especially when it leads to the places we absolutely don’t want to go. There is nothing more difficult then to really learn how to put God first in our life, and nothing more rewarding. Some people think praying and trying to develop a relationship with God is uncool or boring. But for me, It’s more like when we truly desire to make God first in everything, acting on it and truly living it out in our daily life, hang on to your hat, because you are in for a ride. There is nothing more exciting than doing it God’s way. He will challenge us to the core of our being and in doing so make us more authentic. Why not give it a try?

Peace, Fr. Tom

Greetings,

At St. Mary of Czestochowa this next weekend, Bishop Lee Piche will be joining us at the 8:30am Mass and then to the Pancake Breakfast following. We are offering him a spiritual bouquet (please sign up and be generous in offering your prayers and sacrifices) and a banner to be signed by all (if possible) downstairs in the church basement. I would like to invite all of us to come, be present and show the bishop how vibrant, alive and spirit filled our parish community is. He lived at the rectory of the church for a summer many years ago as a young priest and has a fond place for St. Mary’s in his heart. It would be great if we could show him all of our love and support for his difficult but fruitful ministry as a bishop.
At St. Boniface, I would like to inform everyone that we have a 40 Hours Devotion beginning Thursday March 4th at the 5pm Mass (all of St Mary’s parishioners are invited as well). We will be exposing the Blessed Sacrament immediately following Mass continuously all the way through until the 9am First Saturday Devotion Mass here at St. Boniface. From Thursday evening until Saturday morning there will be rosaries, divine mercy chaplets, morning, evening and night prayers. We will have a number of short reflections, Stations of the Cross, I will be hearing confessions at certain times etc… I would like to invite all of you to sign up for an hour of adoration and then help out as you are able with leading some of the other prayers. What a beautiful way to really enter into our Lenten Season with quiet and communal prayer, by celebrating the sacrament of Reconciliation, and by hearing and sharing different insights into how God is working in our life. It has been many years since we have had such a devotion here and my hope is that it helps the whole parish community to feel renewed, refreshed, and closer to our Lord.

Peace, Fr. Tom