Discernment

Pope Francis has said, "Discernment is a choice of courage."

In this little wisdom book, Professor Ladislas Orsy shows contemporary readers a well-tested way to listen to the Holy Spirit within and among us as well as offering a way of navigating life's questions through communal discernment. Community discernment is the discovery of a gift by another gift: the discovery of God's plan for the community through the light of faith infused into the minds of its members.

While this text was originally written for Jesuits living in community to help them to live God's calling, the principles of Ignatian spirituality outlined here have broad application beyond such a setting today. As such it is:

• Rooted in history but not a history of discernment
• Theological but not a doctrinal treatise
• Practical but not a how-to manual
• Spiritual but does not belong to any specific school of thought.

Succinct and very readable, this book contains a collection of insights suitable for both individual and group discernment exercises.

Ladislas Orsy, SJ, is visiting professor of jurisprudence at Georgetown University Law Center. During Vatican Council II he was professor of canon law at the Gregorian University in Rome; he had the opportunity to witness the council’s activity and absorb its spirit. After the council he taught at Fordham University, The Catholic University of America, and Georgetown University. His main publications are Open to the Spirit; Theology and Canon Law; Receiving the Council: Theological and Canonical Insights and Debates.