Paul tells us to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who of his good pleasure works [Gr. energeō] in you both the will and the performance” (Philippians 2:12-13).
Who is in a position to test whether this energeō from the Holy Spirit is even within us, and that we are not making our own intuition and preferences automatically equivalent to the Holy Spirit? Do we wait for someone to give us an answer before we act? Are we even required to wait? I think that it is best to give the Holy Spirit the benefit of the doubt lest we end up doubting God and not making use of the supernatural discernment that we are supposed to have. No one can be a replacement for this, anyway, whether we have it or not.
We must discern in the context of being in the body of Christ, which is the Church. God gives us the capacity to discern, but that capacity is mediated by His body. Especially when it comes to big discernments, we ought to defer to Christ, whose Body is the Church, and the Church who is "The pillar of truth." Once we put ourselves above His body as an individual member, we act as though we can exist, discern, and pray apart from the community.
There is no complete discernment without the Church. There is only severance as a member of His body in our heart.
Jan 20, 2023·edited Jan 20, 2023Liked by Fr. Chris Pietraszko
I agree, but supernatural discernment is also required for making decisions within our everyday lives. It is applied both inwardly and outwardly. It is an aspect of the Holy Spirit who is within a person, and is not willed into existence. It is either there or it is not there. Another word for it may be prudence.
Yes, I think I was reading your comment as if it simply stood alone. A gift of the Holy Spirit and Charism can definitely be discernment. Its just good to test these things. As St. Ignatius would say, if what is proposed to us contradicts scripture or the Church, it needs to be disregarded, immediately.
Do we let God put limits on our liberty; or, do we let the Church put limits on our liberty? These are not one and the same. When the Holy Spirit within us tempers our fallen nature by grace, then we can be truly free. When the Church attempts to do it only by imposing rules and regulations, then we are not truly free. “For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13. Cf. 5:4; Romans 8:21; 2Corinthians 3:17). There will always be those who use freedom for the purpose of sinning, but this does not invalidate Christian freedom. Without it, we are rejecting the liberation that the Holy Spirit can bring us. There is no Christianity without this; and we are left with a powerless form of godliness.
Much to ponder deeply by being honest with our own self!
Paul tells us to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who of his good pleasure works [Gr. energeō] in you both the will and the performance” (Philippians 2:12-13).
Who is in a position to test whether this energeō from the Holy Spirit is even within us, and that we are not making our own intuition and preferences automatically equivalent to the Holy Spirit? Do we wait for someone to give us an answer before we act? Are we even required to wait? I think that it is best to give the Holy Spirit the benefit of the doubt lest we end up doubting God and not making use of the supernatural discernment that we are supposed to have. No one can be a replacement for this, anyway, whether we have it or not.
We must discern in the context of being in the body of Christ, which is the Church. God gives us the capacity to discern, but that capacity is mediated by His body. Especially when it comes to big discernments, we ought to defer to Christ, whose Body is the Church, and the Church who is "The pillar of truth." Once we put ourselves above His body as an individual member, we act as though we can exist, discern, and pray apart from the community.
There is no complete discernment without the Church. There is only severance as a member of His body in our heart.
I agree, but supernatural discernment is also required for making decisions within our everyday lives. It is applied both inwardly and outwardly. It is an aspect of the Holy Spirit who is within a person, and is not willed into existence. It is either there or it is not there. Another word for it may be prudence.
Yes, I think I was reading your comment as if it simply stood alone. A gift of the Holy Spirit and Charism can definitely be discernment. Its just good to test these things. As St. Ignatius would say, if what is proposed to us contradicts scripture or the Church, it needs to be disregarded, immediately.
Do we let God put limits on our liberty; or, do we let the Church put limits on our liberty? These are not one and the same. When the Holy Spirit within us tempers our fallen nature by grace, then we can be truly free. When the Church attempts to do it only by imposing rules and regulations, then we are not truly free. “For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13. Cf. 5:4; Romans 8:21; 2Corinthians 3:17). There will always be those who use freedom for the purpose of sinning, but this does not invalidate Christian freedom. Without it, we are rejecting the liberation that the Holy Spirit can bring us. There is no Christianity without this; and we are left with a powerless form of godliness.
The human element is always worth nuancing but it isn’t the object of this post. Rather the Divine Law as taught by the Church