Discernment

Discernment is the ability to judge wisely and objectively. Discernment is an important and common trait of religious and spiritual tradition and education and, as such, is a key characteristic in discussions of religious and spiritual development. The concept of religious and spiritual discernment is most famously described and modeled by St. Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises (1548/1997) in which he describes a unique method of prayer and meditation in which one carefully attends to or “discerns” one's feelings for the movement of the Holy Spirit. Ignatius taught principles of discernment to others by founding schools and directing silent, 30-day retreats. By the time of his death in 1556, Ignatius and his companions had founded 35 schools and had conducted hundreds of retreats. Today there are more than 20,000 members of the Society of Jesus, the religious order Ignatius founded, over 200 “Jesuit” schools worldwide, and 56 retreat centers in 24 U.S. states and 17 foreign countries.

[Page 123]Ignatius believed and shared with others that God establishes relationship in the human heart, the interior dimension of the person. In the heart, the person discovers God's purpose or vocation for his or her life. Each person is seen to have both a general and a specific vocation. At a general level, humans are called to “praise, reverence, and serve” God, but specifically how they are to do this is seen to vary from person to person. Ignatius discovered that when the call of God presents itself to the heart, it stirs the emotions. Thus, the way to know the will of God for one's own life is to discern with the intellect the various stirrings of the heart. The will then puts what the intellect has discerned into action in the world.

The overall goal of Ignatian spiritual development is to be able to “find God in all things.” In order for this to occur, Ignatius believed that the whole person—body, intellect, and soul—must be educated. In particular, the body and the intellect must be freed from “inordinate attachments” that prevent them from being open to discerning the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Such attachments include physical passions and appetites, as well as psychological needs for esteem, power, and wealth. Ignatius guided others on the development of discernment. His teachings frame contemporary applied efforts to develop discernment in children and youth.

The ability to discern depends upon the commitment of parents, teachers, and the discerning individual. It is therefore impossible to articulate a series of invariant stages applicable to all individuals. However, given a familial and scholastic environment explicitly devoted to cultivating spiritual discernment in the young, it is possible to formulate a five-phase sequence of change based upon psychological capacities that emerge at particular periods in the life span. Ages, of course, are only approximations.

1.
Custodial Phase (0–1½ years). By most accounts, the human intellect is only crudely developed in infancy. Since the ability to discern depends upon a differentiated intellect, the infant's parents are primarily responsible for the task of discernment during the first years of life. Parents' main task is to discern the infant's emotions and then reflect this information back to the infant in the form of gestures, facial expressions, sounds, and words, e.g., “You're frustrated because you can't reach that toy.” These reflections are crucial because they are external tools of discernment the infant will later internalize and employ as a child.
2.
Transitional Phase (1½–6 years). During this phase, the child begins to internalize and employ the reflected tools of discernment provided by parents and educational surrogates. The child teeters back and forth between being able to discern alone and needing the support of parents and teachers. This phenomenon is analogous to the “private speech” observed by Vygotsky (1986–1934) in which the child labors to make external linguistic tools his or her own. The child is also improving his or her ability to isolate and identify his or her emotions and to appreciate the connection between these effects and the will of God. This period of development is also one of great mental and physical activity. As such, it is an opportune time for the cultivation and practice of habits, for example, moral virtues, daily recitation of prayers, scripture readings, that will dispose the child to be open to the workings of the Holy Spirit.
3.
The Age of Reason (6–13 years). While the previous phase was one of action, during this phase, the child is beginning to deal with the world primarily with his or her intellect. With the growing liberation of the intellect from the passions, logical error, and dependence on authority figures, comes an increased sense of self and presence to the heart. With these psychological achievements, the child is now in a position to perfect the skills of discernment so as to make decisions informed by spiritual guidance. This ability to discern enables the child to understand his or her general vocation to praise, reverence, and serve God, as well as how to concretely apply general moral norms to the decisions of everyday life.
4.
Spiritual Commitment (13–17 years). If the previous phase is the period of the intellect, this phase is the period of the will. It is one thing for the child to understand his or her general vocation, it is quite another for him or her to make a commitment to live it out. Most religious congregations regard the young adolescent as a “spiritual adult” in the sense that he or she is regarded as capable of making mature decisions with respect to participating in the faith. Once [Page 124]the adolescent has made a commitment to live a life guided by the Spirit, the task of parents and teachers is to help him or her identify and overcome internal and external obstacles that threaten to prevent the realization of his or her vocation.
5.
Lifestyle and Occupational Discernment (17–21 years). Assuming a commitment has been made to the general vocation, during this phase, the young adult discerns his or her particular vocation. The particular vocation has two components: “lifestyle” and “occupational” vocation. With respect to lifestyle, some people are seen to be called to the “priestly” state of religious life, others to the married state, and still others to the lay celibate state. With respect to occupation, each person is believed to be called to perform a particular type of work in the world. In familial and educational settings, the young adult is given guidance and skills on how to make these crucial decisions about occupation and state of life. The thrust of these efforts is not “what do I want to do with my life?,” but “what is God calling me to do with my life?”
6.
Incarnational Phase (21–35 years). Assuming the identification of lifestyle and occupational vocation has taken place, during this phase, the young adult commits him or herself to living out or “incarnating” these vocations in the world. This may involve beginning a career, taking religious vows, or getting married. As most formal education ends during this time, it is important that the young adult begin to incorporate regular periods of prayer, reflection, and conscience examination into his or her daily life to ensure ongoing access to the spiritual guidance necessary for the full and proper realization of lifestyle and occupational commitments. Such “spiritual hygiene” may also involve devotional reading, retreats, and/or professional spiritual direction.

The development of discernment within an individual depends upon the back-and-forth movement between parents, culture, and religious tradition on one hand and the innate strivings of the individual on the other. Certainly context has an important influence on the development of discernment. As such, experience in religious and/or spiritual traditions, level of participation in religious and/or spiritual practices, the community of religious and/or spiritual adherents in which one is immersed, etc., all have an impact on the development of individual discernment. St. Ignatius has left us with a framework from which to model healthy discernment. It is of little surprise that his teachings remain key guideposts to those interested in and invested in the development and practice of discernment.

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