Discernment as an act of love...

I was cleaning out my closet just a few moments ago (blame it on the crazy Texas weather - spring cleaning is hitting here early) when I stumbled across a small notebook - an unexpected surprise in a pile of shoes! Upon opening it I found the beginnings of a small talk I prepared for the Girls Retreat back in July. As I was reading it was thinking "Yes!.. Exactly.. Mhmm" and started to wonder where I had found this stuff. Silly me.. I wrote it!

Discernment is an act of love in faith. Out of love for God we respond to His call in faith - faith that says: if we allow Him, He will lead us to Himself in the most perfect way and in the most perfect time - perfect because it is in His way and in His time.

Our lives have no meaning outside of Christ. Indeed, all purpose flows forth from Him. In His love for us, He will, with our dedication, reveal to us our purpose.

We all (each one of us) are called to Him and to follow Him. Therefore, our purpose (and the discovering of that purpose) is made clear through our union with Him. This is why prayer and the Sacraments play such a vital role in discernment, and simply, in our lives as Catholics. For truly, the Sacraments allow for so many graces to be poured out on us! They provide us opportunities we might not otherwise have and through His goodness, they allow us to grow closer, more intimate, with Him who loves us beyond our ability to understand.

In His great mercy He calls us, His sinful children - children who abandon and crucify Him - to Himself to love Him as He loves us. We are all called to love and to serve, of that you can be sure, but each of us is called to do that in different ways.

I carry on in my notes about the "8 Steps for Discernment" and recommended reading. The very last thing is probably my favorite:

"Cast yourself into the arms of God and be very sure that if He wants anything from you, He will fit you for the work and give you strength." --St. Phillip Neri

How awesome is our God that He does this for us. We need not worry or stress over these things. We need simply trust that God is preparing us for the big 'yes'.