Summary of the catechesis
We may think: but how complicated it is to discern! In reality, it is life that is complicated and, if we do not learn to read it, complicated as it is, we run the risk of wasting it. But discernment is not something we do alone. We have aids that can facilitate this exercise of discernment.
A first aid: a confrontation with the Word of God and the Church doctrine. You are to help us to read what is moving in the heart, learning to recognize the voice of God and to distinguish it from other voices, which seem to impose themselves on our attention, but which in the end leave us confused.
The Bible warns us that the voice of God resounds in calm, in attention, in silence. God’s voice does not impose itself, God’s voice is discreet, respectful, humble, and, precisely because of this, it is pacifying. And only in peace can we enter into the depths of ourselves and recognize the authentic desires that the Lord has placed in our hearts. And many times it is not easy to enter into that peace of heart, because we are busy with so many things all day long… But please, calm down a little, enter into yourself, into yourself. Two minutes, stand up. See what your heart feels.
For the believer, the Word of God is a living presence, a work of the Holy Spirit that comforts, instructs, and gives light, strength, rest, and joy in living. With the Bible, we open the door to God who walks.
This affective relationship with the Bible, with Scripture, and with the Gospel, leads to an affective relationship with the Lord Jesus. affective relationship with the Lord Jesus. The Word of God touches your heart and changes your life. Let us take the Gospel, let us take the Bible in our hands: five minutes a day, no more.
Another great help is the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is present in us, instructs us, makes alive the Word of God that we read, suggests new meanings, opens doors that seemed closed, and indicates paths of life where there seemed to be only darkness and confusion. It is the Holy Spirit that gives life to your soul! Let him in. Speak to the Spirit, as you speak to the Father, as you speak to the Son. In Him is the strength of the Church, He is the one who carries you forward. The Holy Spirit is discernment in action, God’s presence in us, He changes you, and He makes you grow.
In the life of Mother Candida
In the Constitutions of the Daughters of Jesus there is a curious “refrain” that runs through them: according to the grace with which the Holy Spirit will help them. She is aware that following Jesus is a call and response, determination, and effort… but, above all, we will go forward with the grace of the Spirit.
How about you?
Have you read the Constitutions in this key? Are you aware of the presence of the Spirit, the Word, in your life and in the lives of those around you? What triggers this awareness in you? Does it change anything in the way you approach life and treat people? Do you think, when someone bothers you, that the Spirit is also in her? Do you live from there or from the fact that only you have the full truth?
Synodality speaks to us of this, of listening together to the Spirit. How is this way of being Church today taking shape in your life?
