Knowing God’s will is often difficult when it comes to the complicated situations of our lives. One thing that makes it easier to know His will is to know what God would not ask us to do. The first thing to remember is that God will not ask us to do something contrary to the Faith, the Gospels or the teachings of the Church. God never asks us to do something that is a sin or that will lead someone else into sin. God will not ask us to do something that will take away from us fulfilling the obligations of our particular vocation (marriage, holy order, religious life, consecrated single life). This is why it is most important to know our Faith, the Gospels and the teachings of the Church. This is why its important to know our Faith even down to the “nitty gritty” details. Details like what actions/thoughts/omissions are actually sins. It will also help us to know what the obligations of our particular vocations are, or what our Faith teaches about a very specific subject.
Another very important factor in discerning God’s will is the fact that Jesus Himself gave us His Church and its hierarchy. The hierarchy of the Church includes the Pope who is the successor to Peter. It also includes the bishops, the successors to the apostles, and priests, the representatives/helpers of the bishop. The bishops are the rightful authority of a local Church. In an instance such as the one we find ourselves with Beacons of Light and the merging of parish territories, some may be wondering if the parish merger is truly the will of God. We can say that even though it is difficult, and there will be loss experienced, this is the will of God because the rightful Church authority, Archbishop Schnurr has asked us to do this and in obedience we should follow what he has discerned to be the best for our Archdiocese. This is not a blind obedience but obedience guided by carefully informed consciences and a studied understanding of what is being asked. The Archbishop is not asking us to do anything sinful, he is not asking us to do anything that is contrary to the Gospels or the Faith and he is not asking us to abandon our faith. However, he is asking us to restructure the parish territories of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati of which he is the rightful authority.
Another part of the Church’s authority is to hand down the truths of the Faith. This is done through the Teaching Magisterium of the Church. In discerning God’s will, it is important to study what the Church teaches on a particular subject. Learning what the Church teaches can come quite simply and clearly through studying the writings of the saints as well as how they lived their lives. It is also handed down through the Catechism of the Catholic Church or papal documents and instructions put out by the Vatican. Scripture is also a good way to hear the voice of God but this must also be interpreted through the lens of the Church’s teachings. It cannot be interpreted in such a way that it leads us away from the practice of the one, true Faith, the Catholic Faith.
These are all ways to help to know the will of God through the Church’s authority. It is important to remember when searching for God’s will in our lives, that we should be humble. We need to practice the virtue of humility, especially when there is something that the Church teaches that seems difficult to follow. This is when we need to ask for the grace of humility and remember that the Church is a loving mother who wants what is best for us: eternal salvation.
Fr. Jacquemin
