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Debbie Stollery

Discernment: A spiritual practice for a synodal Church


We continue our blog series on the spirituality undergirding synodality. Now that the Instrumentum laboris for the October 2024 synod has been published, I think this blog series is critical to understanding the 'why' beneath the 'what.' The Second Assembly will be focusing on "how" to become a synodal Church. But said a different way, the focus will be on how to incarnate deeply spiritual concepts such as unity, reciprocity, harmony in diversity, conversion and reform. Spiritual practices provide some of the how.


I am part of a small community of people who are making our way through The Pastoral Parish in the Modern World by Bill Huebsch with David Wells. In the video that accompanies the chapter on "Discernment" Bill (we are acquainted with one another so I know he won't mind the familiarity) asks the question, "What does God want?" and then, without missing a beat answers it. He says we already know the answer. God wants us to live the same way Jesus did, to follow Jesus. God wants us to be a people of mercy, forgiveness, friendship, and justice. How do we figure out what that looks like in our personal and communal lives? We pray, using the contemplative practice of discernment. Why? Because Jesus sent his Spirit to us, to continue to teach us, guide and correct us, to console us and give us what we need to carry out Jesus' mission, the Kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. We commune with that Spirit in the contemplative act of discernment.


Discernment is the prayer practice that allows us as individuals and communities to answer the question, "What does God want of me/us now/next/now?" We turn to discernment to discover responses to this question that flow from the Holy Spirit, Whom Christ sent to us. We turn to discernment to ask the Holy Spirit to continue to teach us, guide us and empower us to do as God desires, in our place and time. This is why Towards a Spirituality for Synodality declares "The synodal Church is a discerning Church" (SS,27).


Before I share more about what the document says about discernment, a note about this being a contemplative practice may help us. Contemplation is using our hearts, minds and sometimes our imaginations to recognize God's presence and to fix our gaze on God-with-us. Its purpose is to seek a union with God and it is characterized by silence, stillness and rest. In Towards a Spirituality for Synodality, discernment is placed within this kind of contemplative prayer, for discernment seeks to align our minds and hearts with God's, so that we can act as God does/desires in the circumstances about which we are discerning. This understanding also explains why there's so much silence, so much time given to quiet "marinating" of ideas, and time and distance as parts of the discernment process. All of these practices of quiet, silence and rest create the space within which we become of one mind and heart with God.


Now on to what this document says about the prayer form called discernment. "In order to be sure that it is the path on which God is leading her, the Church is always actively engaged in discernment. Although it may entail some sort of intellectual and reflective processes, discernment may be distinguished from prudential decision-making. Discernment is essentially a theological act; it is the gift of wisdom to see all things in relation to God and to recognize God's desires for the lasting human good revealed in Christ" (SS, 27). (Another characteristic of contemplation is that it is a gift from God . We do not create it or earn it. We enter it. So, while the word may be new to some of us, and incorrectly used as a synonym for decision-making by others, discernment is a specific, purposeful, prayer form.) And it is a form of contemplation, for to truly hear the Spirit speak takes time, guidance, multiple sources of the Spirit's voice, and a real laying down of our personal preferences and viewpoints in favor of the Spirit's desires. It takes silence, stillness and resting in God's presence. A discerning person or community is genuinely searching for what God desires, with the absolute intention to act accordingly, no matter the difficulty. A discerning person or community is seeking the Holy Spirit's gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, courage and right judgment for this place and time so that they may be a visible sign of God-with-us, of the Kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. This is why it's true to describe a synodal Church as a discerning Church, for this is at the core: to hear and follow the Lord's voice, coming through the Holy Spirit today and then to resolve to act according to the Spirit's desire.


Continuing to quote Towards a Spirituality for Synodality, because it is expressed so beautifully: "Discernment is an expression of our heart's desire to love God and find the best ways of serving God's saving purpose in the ever changing and complex circumstances of our lives, without ever losing sight of the ultimate destiny and goal to which Christ calls us. This means that discernment commits us to a continual process of conversion of our ways of seeing and knowing, loving and acting, as we come to see the world though and in Christ and perceive God's constant work of redeeming grace in our world. This is also the life of the Holy Spirit working in us and in the Church that conforms us to Christ and leads us into truth" (SS, 27). So discernment is a prayer form, an action that makes possible the spiritual concepts of conversion, of surrender, of humility, and reform. I hope you are seeing that this is the WAY of being more than some sort of decision-making approach!


What provides the fertile soil for individual discernment and communal discernment to be possible? There are several elements: the life of the Church, the faith-filled lives of its members, the rhythm of the liturgy, the attention to the living word of scripture and the celebration of the sacraments (SS,30). As you might expect, each of these contributes something essential for us to be able to hear the voice of the Spirit and have the humility, courage and trust to respond. Let's look at each of these elements and name just one contribution each makes to our ability to hear the Holy Spirit.


  • The life of the Church. Right now, we have the three-year work of the Synod on Synodality, leading us into a new way of being Church. Following this part of the "life of the Church" and seeing how it is impacting many elements of our ways of being, gives us impetus to do the same in our parishes. But there's a lot to this category: history, Tradition, reform, repentance, re-structuring. As we follow the life of the Church locally, we see that this will provide us many opportunities to discern our expressions of synodality.

  • The faith-filled lives of members. Discerning people are people of personal prayer, of sacramental life, of mission orientation. Discerning people are seeking how to live as Christ desires in the ordinary workings of their lives. Discerning people want to be part of parishes doing the same discovery work so that they are challenged, encouraged, nourished and corrected by their parish practices.

  • The rhythm of the liturgy. The liturgical year takes us through Christ's entire life, revealing his disposition, his teaching, his circumstances and his wisdom. As we walk through each part of the liturgical year in prayer together, we uncover the timeless speech of the Holy Spirit, alive in our time, pertinent to today in the Word proclaimed, prayed and preached and in the Holy Spirit's transforming actions through the Word and upon the bread, wine and us.

  • The attention to the living word of the Scriptures. We believe that the Sacred Word was both inspired by the Holy Spirit and is a living word for today. It is a primary source of the Spirit's voice then and now. We surrender to it. We live by it. We continually search it for direction, for meaning and for correction. And we allow it to form us into the new creations Christ intends, especially through our communal encounter with the Lord speaking to us in the sacred word during the liturgy.

  • The celebration of the sacraments. We meet the living Christ, present through the Holy Spirit, in the sacraments. We know ourselves to be privileged to encounter the Lord's real presence, especially in the Eucharist, where the Holy Spirit acts mightily to forgive, instruct, admonish, nourish and commission us. Sacraments are encounters with the living Christ, the Holy Spirit and so contribute to forming us into Spirit-linked disciples.


Discernment is an essential element in a synodal Church. It's a contemplative prayer practice that enables us to discern what God wants of us and of our parish/Church in today's circumstances. It is different from prudential decision-making. It takes time, practice, openness and courage. And, while it has long been a part of our lives as the People of God in concept, it is now coming to the forefront as a primary means of being synodal: of listening together for the voice of the Spirit, of working together to come to agreement on what that means for action, of planning together to carry out what the Spirit directs, and of seeking always to make sure we remain doing what God wants, repenting and reforming when we lose our way.


And that's enough on this very large subject for now. If you want to begin to learn more about discernment in common, our website has useful video resources. The Discerning Leadership Program is excellent! Our partners at the Pastoral Center have an entire section of resources devoted to discernment. And as always, we hope you will share with us resources that you are finding helpful here!





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