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.
Each of the four week’s reflections for the Discerning Advent series is posted here. Read the reflection or listen to it by clicking play or download on the SoundCloud player.
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.
Week Two :: Annunciation
God illumines a light into the world through the Annunciation. 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.
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.
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.
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