Below is the text of Pope Francis’ weekly Wednesday audience, delivered on Dec. 7, 2022.
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Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Within the means of discernment, it is usually vital to stay attentive to the stage that immediately follows the choice taken, as a way to either catch the signs that confirm it or those who disprove it. I actually have to make a call, [so] I make the discernment, pro or con, my feelings, I pray… then this process ends and I make the choice after which comes that part where now we have to watch out, see. Because in life some decisions usually are not good and there are signs that disprove them, while however, good ones are confirmed.
Indeed, now we have seen how time is a fundamental criterion for recognizing God’s voice amidst so many other voices. He alone is Lord of time: it’s an indicator of His originality, which differentiates Him from imitations that talk in His name without actually doing so. One among the distinctive signs of the nice spirit is the proven fact that it communicates a peace that lasts in time. Should you consider more profoundly, then make the choice and this offers you a peace that lasts through time, that is sign and indicates that the trail was good. A peace that brings harmony, unity, fervour, zeal. You come out of the “deepening” process higher than once you entered it.
We will recognize some vital points that help us read the time after the choice as a possible confirmation of its goodness, because the next period confirms the goodness of the choice.
For instance, if I make the choice to devote an additional half hour to prayer, after which I find that I live the opposite moments of the day higher, that I’m more serene, less anxious, I do my work with more care and zest, that even relations with some difficult people grow to be smoother… These are all vital signs in favour of the goodness of the choice taken. Spiritual life is circular: the goodness of a alternative advantages all areas of our lives. For it’s participation in God’s creativity.
We will recognize some vital points that help us read the time after the choice as a possible confirmation of its goodness, because the next period confirms the goodness of the choice. In some ways now we have already encountered these vital points in the midst of these catecheses but now they find their further application.
A primary aspect is whether or not the choice is seen as a possible sign of response to the Lord’s love and generosity toward me. It just isn’t born out of fear, not born of emotional blackmail or compulsion, but born out of gratitude for the nice received, which moves the guts to live liberally in relationship with the Lord.
One other vital element is having a way of 1’s place in life—that tranquility, “I’m in my place”—and feeling that you simply are part of a bigger plan, to which one wishes to make a contribution. In St. Peter’s Square there are two precise points—the focal points of the ellipse—from which one can see Bernini’s columns perfectly aligned. Similarly, a person can recognize that he has found what he’s on the lookout for when his day becomes more orderly, when he feels a growing integration amongst his many interests, when he establishes a correct hierarchy of importance, and when he’s in a position to experience this with ease, facing the difficulties that arise with renewed energy and fortitude. These are signs that you could have made decision.
Only God knows what is really good for us. Possessiveness is the enemy of goodness and kills affection.
One other good sign of confirmation, for instance, is the actual fact of remaining free with regard to what has been decided, being willing to query it, even to offer it up within the face of possible denials, trying to seek out in them a possible teaching from the Lord. This just isn’t because He desires to deprive us of what we hold dear, but as a way to live it with freedom, without attachment. Only God knows what is really good for us. Possessiveness is the enemy of goodness and kills affection. Be attentive to this: possessiveness is the enemy of fine, it kills affection. The various cases of violence within the domestic sphere, of which we unfortunately have frequent news, almost all the time arise from the claim of possession of the love of the opposite, from the seek for absolute security that kills freedom and stifles life, making it hell.
We will only love in freedom, which is why the Lord created us free, free even to say no to Him. Offering Him what we hold most dear is in our greatest interest, enabling us to live it in the most effective possible way and in fact, as a present He has given us, as an indication of His gratuitous goodness, knowing that our lives, in addition to the entire of history, are in His benevolent hands. It’s what the Bible calls the fear of God, that’s, respect for God—not that God frightens me, but a respect, an indispensable condition for accepting the gift of Wisdom (cf. Sir 1:1-18). It’s the fear that casts out all other fears, since it is oriented to Him who’s Lord of all things. In His presence, nothing can disquiet us. It’s the wondrous experience of St. Paul, which he expressed in this fashion: “I do know methods to be abased, and I do know methods to abound; in any and all circumstances I actually have learned the key of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and wish. I can do all things in him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:12-13). That is the free man, who blesses the Lord each when good things come and when not-so-good things come: May he be blessed, and allow us to go forward!
Recognizing that is critical to good decision-making, and it reassures us about what we cannot control or predict: health, the longer term, family members, our plans. What matters is that our trust is placed within the Lord of the universe, who loves us immensely and knows that we will construct with Him something wonderful, something everlasting. The lives of the saints show us this in probably the most beautiful way. Allow us to go forward, all the time attempting to make decisions in this fashion, in prayer and feeling what’s occurring in our hearts, and going forward slowly. Have courage!
