0
0
POPE FRANCIS GENERAL AUDIENCE
Paul VI Hall – Wednesday, 31 August 2022
Catechesis on Discernment: 1. What does it mean to discern?
Matthew 13:44-48
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today we begin a new cycle of catechesis: we have finished the catecheses on old age, now we begin a new cycle on the theme of discernment. Discerning is an important act that concerns everyone, because choices are an essential part of life. Discern choices. You choose a food, a dress, a course of study, a job, a relationship. In all this a plan of life is realized, and also our relationship with God is concretized.
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of discernment with images taken from ordinary life; for example, he describes the fishermen who select the good fish and discard the bad ones; or the merchant who knows how to identify, among so many pearls, the one of greatest value. Or the one who, plowing a field, comes across something that turns out to be a treasure (cf. Mt 13:44-48).
In the light of these examples, discernment presents itself as an exercise in intelligence, and also in expertise and also in will, to seize the favorable moment: these are the conditions for making a good choice. It takes intelligence, expertise and also will to make a good choice. And there is also a cost required for discernment to become operational. To better carry out his job, the fisherman takes into account the fatigue, the long nights spent at sea, and then the fact of discarding part of the catch, accepting a loss of profit for the good of those for whom it is intended. The pearl merchant does not hesitate to spend everything to buy that pearl; and so does the man who came across a treasure. Unexpected, unplanned situations, where it is essential to recognize the importance and urgency of a decision to be made. Everyone has to make the decisions; there is no one who makes them for us. At some point adults, free, can ask for advice, think, but the decision is their own; you cannot say: “I lost this, because my husband decided, my wife decided, my brother decided”: no! You must decide, each of us must decide, and for this reason it is important to know how to discern: to decide well it is necessary to know how to discern.
The Gospel suggests another important aspect of discernment: it involves Joy. Those who have found the treasure do not feel the difficulty of selling everything, so great is their joy(cf. Mt 13:44). The term used by the Evangelist Matthew indicates a very special joy, which no human reality can give; and in fact it returns in very few other passages of the Gospel, which all refer to the encounter with God. It is the joy of the Magi when, after a long and tiring journey, they see the star again (cf. Mt 2:10); joy is the joy of women who return from the empty tomb after hearing the angel’s announcement of the Resurrection (cf. Mt 28:8). It is the joy of those who have found the Lord. Making a good decision, a right decision, always leads you to that final joy. Perhaps on the way you have to suffer a little uncertainty, think, seek, but in the end the right decision benefits you with joy.
In the final judgment God will make a discernment – the great discernment – towards us. The images of the farmer, the fisherman and the merchant are examples of what happens in the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom that manifests itself in the ordinary actions of life, which require taking a stand. This is why it is so important to know how to discern: great choices can arise from circumstances that are at first sight secondary, but which prove decisive. For example, let us think of Andrew and John’s first encounter with Jesus, an encounter that arises from a simple question: “Rabbì, where do you live?” – “Come and see” (cf. Jn 1:38-39), Jesus says. A very short exchange, but it is the beginning of a change that, step by step, will mark the whole of life. Years later, the Evangelist will continue to remember that encounter that changed him forever, he will also remember the hour: “It was about four o’clock in the afternoon” (v. 39). It is the hour when time and the eternal have met in his life. And in a good, just decision, we meet the will of God with our will; the present path is encountered with the eternal. To make a right decision, after a path of discernment, is to make this encounter: time with the eternal.
Therefore: knowledge, experience, affections, will: these are some indispensable elements of discernment. In the course of these catecheses we will see others, equally important.
Discernment – as I said – involves a struggle. According to the Bible, we are not faced, already packed, with the life we have to live: no! We must decide it continuously, according to the realities that come. God invites us to evaluate and choose: He created us free and wants us to exercise our freedom. For this reason, discerning is challenging.
We have often had this experience: choosing something that seemed good to us but was not. Or to know what our true good was and not to choose it. Man, unlike animals, can be wrong, he may not want to choose correctly and the Bible shows this from its first pages. God gives man a precise instruction: if you want to live, if you want to enjoy life, remember that you are a creature, that you are not the criterion of good and evil and that the choices you make will have a consequence, for you, for others and for the world (cf. Gen 2:16-17). You can make the earth a magnificent garden or you can make it a desert of death. A fundamental teaching: it is no coincidence that it is the first dialogue between God and man. Dialogue is: the Lord gives the mission, you must do this and this; and man every step he takes must discern what decision to make. Discernment is that reflection of the mind, of the heart that we must do before making a decision.
Discernment is tiring but indispensable for living. It requires me to know myself, to know what is good for me here and now. Above all, it requires a filial relationship with God. God is Father and does not leave us alone, he is always willing to advise us, to encourage us, to welcome us. But he never imposes his will. Because? Because he wants to be loved and not feared. And God also wants us to be children not slaves: free children. And love can only be lived in freedom. To learn to live one must learn to love, and for this it is necessary to discern: what can I do now, in the face of this alternative? May it be a sign of more love, of more maturity in love. Let us ask that the Holy Spirit guide us! Let us invoke him every day, especially when we have to make choices.
