Choosing Wisdom Over Speed

The word Discernment is well known to those who are thinking about their future and what they want to do with their life. It is an important part of any serious decision making. We Comboni Missionaries admit that we quickly pass to action as we identify the challenges that a situation confronts us with. We have begun to take more time for discernment, our recent documents remind and encourage us not to rush the discernment phase.

The Institute, after the first phase we call "to see" enters the second which is to discern and the final phase is to act. It begins on the personal level and in our communities… It is about discovering the signs and presence of the Spirit in our journey ~ to adequately respond to the needs and challenges we have to face.

We are living in times of individualism, when man wish to organize themselves without having to refer to anything that is above or beside themselves. At the same time, we are constantly influenced by thousands of different messages, which claim to impose on us certain ways of thinking and of behaving that are not always in conformity with what God requires of us. Discernment in this context, is a means to get away from an ego that is centred exclusively on self and from a way of life that is far from the Gospel.

The Comboni Missionaries try to foster conditions for a good discernment ~ a fraternal climate that allows for sharing and a serious and constant prayer life.

As the ancient proverb reminds us: "In the rush to action, we may lose our way; but in the patience of discernment, we find God's path. The longest journey begins not with the first step, but with the wisdom to know which direction to walk."