Louisville Process Theology Network

Discernment

Apr 09, 2007

The Catholic concept of "discernment" as described in a little book I read a few weeks ago appears to parallel process theology in some significant ways.

See "Probing the Spirit" by Ladislas M. Orsy, 1976. This book was suggested to me by friend who belongs to a Catholic religious order.

Basically, it follows 35 "theses" identified by a Jesuit led seminar on the subject.

The book's subtitle "A Theological Evalutation of Communual Discernment" emphasizes its over-arching thesis; that discernment is not a solitary effort. We need to hear the perceptions of others.

(Compare this to process theologian Henry Nelson Wieman's writings on prayer.)

Page 13 lays out an understandable explanation of what discernment is about and where it might take you. "Contemplative insight means knowledge obtained not so much by human effort and creativity as through God's gracious gift; knowledge akin to intimate understanding and relish of the truth ...

Such knowledge is discovered, appropriated, and authenicated through consolation with God, such as peace, joy, and encouragement. It is not merely the outcome of the reasoning process.

We might even say that community discernment is the discovery of a gift; the discovery of God's plan for the community through the light of faith infused into the minds of its members ...

In this contemplative process, there is interplay between two poles. One is the plan of God to be known and the other is the human spirit that reaches out for it and intends to articulate it in some conceptual form ...

Wholeness is the clue to understanding the fragments."