The Formation of Christian Conscience for Discernment

Indecision is the most common of conflicts because the inability to come up with a decision is the outward manifestation of deep-sitting psychological problems especially in relationships. When one is afraid to come to a decision, it is possibly because one is afraid of failure, afraid of criticisms, afraid of the responsibilities which come along with each option, inability to grasp the necessity and urgency of the decision, or afraid to stand by the consequences of the decision. I might be wrong at some specifics but I am sure that indecision or at least the delay of decision is about fear ultimately.

“Do not be afraid” -this is the message of the Angel Gabriel to Joseph. The angel assured Joseph that the option God was laying before him is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Ordinary human mind can never fathom a virgin having a child, or your wife is pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is only by faith that understanding these mysteries are made possible in the hearts and minds of people. It is only made understandable to believers. St. Joseph, is a man of faith that he believed in his role in the plan of salvation, and willingly participated in God’s plan.

Certainly, St. Joseph had his plans. He must have planned to marry Mary, have lots of children with her, one he could actually call his own. But all these he had to let go because of a bigger and greater plan. He had to let go his own plans. It is an invitation for us towards discernment. We will never be in the place of Joseph, and we will never have the same gravity of letting go he had to make but we are called to see our decisions in the eyes of faith. St. Joseph is the model of discernment. Pope Francis shared with us his devotion to the sleeping St. Joseph, where he would put a letter underneath the statue and help him pray for discernment.

Pope Francis says to his audience in Vatican: Ask what the Lord wants from you, and be brave.

The song Better than I puts it so beautifully. “You know better than I, you know the way. I let go the need to know why for your know better than I.”

Joseph woke up. He would have downgraded it as a mere dream just like other dreams. But he chose, in faith, to make that dream happen. He chose, in faith, to take that dream as a message from God. It is an invitation for us towards discernment, to know what God wants, to appreciate it and to know that it is the best, and to wake up and make it happen, and standby its consequences.

What are the immediate consequences? That Mary must remain a virgin so that the prophesy of the prophet Isaiah would come true. The Virgin shall conceive a child. Joseph honored this instruction by the angel everyday until the last breath of his life. He respected the commandment, and he respected Mary as a woman. In a highly sexualized culture and public consciousness, God proclaims to us the life and story of St. Joseph as a model of chastity and fidelity to God’s designs.

This is what St. Paul is teaching us in our Second reading. In Christ, we are made apostles in baptism, and so we have the duty to bring about the obedience of faith. Like St. Joseph, and Mother Mary, we should be ready to stand by and serve at the pleasure of God above our own preferences because conformity to the will of God is our source of happiness in the here and now.

The world we see today, a world which has found itself at odds with the values of the Kingdom of God and at odds with the will of God, has become a sad depressed world. This sad and depressing world was definitely engendered by the refusal to do God’s will, the rejection of his love, and not bothering to love at all.

Happiness and sense of fulfillment are the consequences of following God’s will for our lives, following the life path God has prepared for us. Look at the characters which God used to serve his plans.

Look at Mary. Look at Joseph. Look at Simeon. Look at Zechariah and Elizabeth. God created them for a purpose and they lived with it, and they received a sense of purpose and the sense of fulfillment in the end of their lives. Paul consoles us: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)

In the Old Testament God communicates his message through dreams. The Egyptian Pharaoh's dream was interpreted by Joseph which spared the Kingdom of Egypt from being conquered by a foreign power Genesis 37:1-11. God likewise made his message known through dreams to Abraham (Genesis 15:1), Abimelech (Gen. 20:1-7), Jacob Genesis 28:10-17, Samuel (1 Samuel 3), Solomon (1 Kings 3:5), Daniel (Daniel 2; 4) and several Pharaohs.

In the New testament, God manifested his will through visions and Dreams of Zechariah, Joseph, and the annunciation of the Angel to the Blessed Mother. The message in dreams are always about God's message and the fulfillment of God's salvific plan in Christ. After the birth of Christ, God conveys his message no longer through mediums and intermediaries but through his Christ. In Christ, God relays to us face to face his message. In Christ, we communicate with God directly unhindered.

Today, we no longer need to dream of beatific visions in order to know the will of God. Christ is the mouthpiece of the Father. He is the Word of the Father. Apart from that, God has given us an inner voice, an inner connection where he could speak to us directly in Christ, that is through the Conscience. The conscience is the voice of God in us, the inner sanctuary wherein we can be alone with God and discern what he wants from us. It is therefore an imperative to form, to shape, and configure this conscience according to how God wants it. According to catechism of the Catholic Church, the best way to form conscience is through the following:

1. Word of God in Christ and who is Christ himself,

2. the lives of witnesses or the saints,

3. and the liturgical and devotional services of the Church.

Check here: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P60.HTM

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READINGS

First Reading – Isaiah 7:10-14

The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.

Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (7c and 10b) Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory. The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it. For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

R. Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.

Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? or who may stand in his holy place? One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.

R. Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his savior. Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

R. Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.

Second Reading – Romans 1:1-7

Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel – Matthew 1:18-24

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.