As you prepare to enter the “Listening to the Call” Discernment Retreat, keep in mind these three foundational & guiding principles:
Seek God first and foremost (CLEAR INTENTIONALITY).
Pray & Reflect (ATTENTIVE LISTENING).
Engage with open mind & heart (GENEROUS TRUST).
Identifying and framing the main question or issue you’re wresting with is vital to a discernment process. This question always points to a choice between two morally good options, not between a good or bad moral decision.
The following exercise helps you identify the decision that faces you or the issue you need to resolve. Moreover, it helps frame your key question in a prayerful way such that you can listen to where God invites you to unpack. Use the below recording or following prompts to practice the “Frame Your Key Question” exercise for 20’:
Let the silence deepen around you. Enter into it. Ask God for the desire to follow God’s call in and through the decision you will be making. Take your time. Simply turn your attention to God, as you experience God, and address your desire to God.
Describe the decision that you wish to discern.
Elaborate in your journal the aspects of this decision that seem important to you at this point.
State as concisely as you can the decision before you. Try to formulate your issue in a question that can be answered yes or no (for example: “Should I study abroad?” or “Should I serve the homeless in Los Angeles?”).
Bring the issue and the process you’ve engaged in thus far to God and attend to any thoughts or feelings that arise in you. Note these stirrings in your journal. Your first statement of the decision before you may shift; if so, repeat steps 4 and 5 until you sense that you have as clear and concise a statement as possible at this point. (Even if you can narrow down to two good questions, it will still be helpful.)