Discerning Advent is a four-week Advent series examining Ignatian discernment and decision-making in the light of the Mystery of the Incarnation. Read, listen, and pray with each week in order as you go from Darkness to the light of the Nativity.

Read the reflection or listen to it by clicking the download link.

	Week One :: Darkness Incarnation occurs all the time, even in our decisions. We are in a whirl of confusion and feel like we’re in darkness. Advent is a time of sitting with those raw feelings and emotions because discernment begins with observation. (Download mp3)
	Week Two :: Annunciation God illumines a light into the world through the Annunication. Mary’s yes comes in a place of freedom, hope, and not clinging. Ignatius gives us several exercises for making decisions with this kind of freedom. (Download mp3)
	Week Three :: Preparation People had to discern John the Baptist’s message. Was he the messiah? What were the signs they saw? Discernment includes many signs, consolation and desolation, and movements from the spirits that prepare the way to a choice. (Download mp3)
	Week Four :: Nativity God’s incarnation makes sacred our very decisions and even the process of discernment. Every decision we make becomes an incarnation, a little Christmas through which God enters the world. (Download mp3)