Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

Lectionary: 457/650



The king granted my requests,
for the favoring hand of my God was upon me.



In his recent interview, Pope Francis emphasized the process of discernment. If you know anything about Jesuits you have heard of discernment; it is the key to Jesuit spirituality.


Saint Ignatius of Loyola, who founded the Society of Jesus, claimed he learned everything from Saint Francis of Assisi. (We Franciscans can't help but boast of that.)


Jesuit discernment brings a conscious discipline to Francis' life in the Spirit. Francis’ way of discernment was to pray continually day and night, and then do whatever seemed right. Occasionally, for the biggest decisions, he consulted with others and waited for days and weeks until the decision seemed to make itself. 

But he was as likely, at a crossroads, to spin around like a child until he fell down on one of the four roads, and then set off in that direction. What difference did it make to him? Whatever happened was good; wherever he went he found God. He was a man of divine impulse.


Saint Ignatius admired Francis’ simplicity but he was a soldier; he loved discipline. So he developed a way of discovering God’s specific will for him. It was based upon Francis’ pleasure in seeking and finding God’s will but it made allowance for human misunderstanding and human sin. After several hundred years, the world had seen more than a few “spiritual” friars following their impulses into mischief.


Ignatius teaches us first to pray for a total openness to the will of God. God wants only good for us. Trusting that, we need have no special agenda for ourselves. Whatever God wants is good. 

Yes! (by the way) God does have an intention for each of us. We're not children of destiny, fate, karma or luck. Life is not a roll of the dice. Our duty is to learn what that plan might be as we take up our crosses each day and follow in Jesus' steps.  

Ignatius urged his disciples to spend much time in the contemplation of God’s goodness and ridding themselves of every preference.


Once we have become thoroughly open to anything God wants -- like soldiers in combat who await orders from their leaders -- we consider the options. We can eliminate the immoral, absurd and impossible immediately. Eventually we might settle upon two or three possibilities. We ponder each one in turn. Each one has merits; each is a good idea. Perhaps we experiment for a day or a week saying, “This is what we will do," without making a firm commitment. Then we ask, “How does that feel? Does it make me glad, mad or sad? Am I eager or fearful?” 

If it feels wrong, it probably is. If one's mood is dark and oppressed and fearful, the Spirit is not in it. Assured that I want only what God wants, what I don’t want is not God’s will. Hopefully, as we consider the alternatives, we will feel delight in one particular choice. The finger of God will be upon it; the willing heart discerns its glow.


The beauty of this system is the assurance that my desire may be God’s desire. Saint Augustine put it succinctly, “Love God and do what you want.” Saint Francis, with his constant, intense prayer and his willingness to agonize through long, lonely periods of uncertainty, trusted his own instincts. At a critical juncture of his life, as the road of poverty suddenly appeared to him, he cried out, “This is what I want; this is what I long for with all my heart!"


Saint Ignatius found that treasure also and Pope Francis would teach the world about discernment.


These are hard times for the spirit and no one can foresee the future. The wizards of this world are everywhere. 

We have only God to guide us but our God is a good God. As we discern God’s Holy Spirit leading us day by day, we walk with confidence.  

May your Guardian Angel also shepherd you in the way.